Vettel wins the DHL Fastest Lap Award!

The German Sebastian Vettel, runner-up to Jenson Button in this 2009 season, also received the DHL Trophy awarded for achieving the highest number of fastest laps in races. The award was presented to him a few hours after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, by a German television commentator and the CEO of the logistics group.

The trophy for the driver who recorded the most fastest laps in a race was awarded at Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) was the big winner of this ranking, which was decided on the penultimate lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last Sunday. Until then, it was Mark Webber, the other Red Bull driver, who was expected to win the trophy.

Vettel indeed set the fastest lap at the Yas Marina Circuit with a time of 1m 40.279s on the 53rd lap. This allowed him to tie with Mark Webber in the standings, each having three fastest laps in races over the 17 races of the 2009 season. In a tie, the ranking then took into account the number of times the drivers set the second fastest lap in a race. With three second places for Vettel against one for Webber, the German was ultimately elected.

« I am very happy, » comments Vettel with the Trophy in hand after the race. « It means a lot to me in the sense that my work is recognized! I wanted to set the fastest lap in the race here, which I was able to do just before the end! I am very happy to leave my mark in the history of F1. It’s more than it deserved… »

The 2009 world vice-champion was presented with his trophy by Christian Danner, commentator for the German television RTL. He commented: « After a very successful season, capped off by his victory in Abu Dhabi, this trophy is the cherry on the cake for Vettel. »

Thomas Nieszner, Director of DHL Global, also acknowledged the skills of the German who completes the work of an entire team: « It’s a real challenge at every Grand Prix [to set the fastest lap] and it completes the work of the whole team. It’s the same for DHL. »

Sebastian Vettel succeeds Kimi Räikkönen. The Finnish driver had previously won the two former DHL Trophies since its inception in 2007. Räikkönen recorded 16 fastest laps in races over 35 Grand Prix in 2007 and 2008. The full standings are available below:

DHL Trophy for Best Overtaking Moves in 2009

Winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) with 3 fastest laps in the race.

Fastest lap of the season: Mark Webber (Red Bull), Brazil (1m13.733s)

Number of Fastest Laps by Drivers:

01 – Sebastian Vettel – 3

02 – Mark Webber – 3

03 – Rubens Barrichello – 2

04 – Fernando Alonso – 2

05 – Jenson Button – 2

06 – Felipe Massa – 1

07 – Jarno Trulli – 1

08 – Timo Glock – 1

09 – Nico Rosberg – 1

10 – Adrian Sutil – 1

Number of Fastest Laps by Teams:

01 – Red Bull – 6

02 – Brawn GP – 4

03 – Renault – 2

04 – Toyota – 2

05 – Ferrari – 1

06 – Williams – 1

07 – Force India – 1