Lewis Hamilton’s fastest lap in Singapore GP secures a historic F1 milestone

Lewis Hamilton’s fastest lap in Singapore GP secures a historic F1 milestone. Lewis Hamilton set a historic fastest lap at the Singapore GP.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari SSF-25, front wing, 2025 F1

The Singapore Grand Prix turned into yet another disappointment for Ferrari this season, plunging the team into a results crisis that has proven extremely difficult to understand and even harder to resolve. In the closing stages of the Marina Bay race, Lewis Hamilton also had to deal with a brake issue that forced him to ignore track limits, finishing seventh ahead of a furious Fernando Alonso. Hamilton later responded with a cheeky post on social media, but for these maneuvers, the seven-time world champion was subsequently handed a 5-second penalty, dropping him to eighth place.

A record-breaking fastest lap

It was a weekend and a race to forget, except for one small but statistically significant consolation for the British driver: Lewis Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race. On the surface, it might seem like a minor achievement in a season still without poles, wins, or even podiums (keeping in mind that Sprint races do not count for statistics). However, in doing so, Hamilton established the all-time record of sixteen consecutive seasons with at least one fastest lap.

With this achievement, the English driver surpassed another seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, who had recorded at least one fastest lap for fifteen consecutive seasons from 1992 to 2006, spanning his debut to his first F1 retirement. In fact, Lewis Hamilton had initially broken this record during the Chinese Grand Prix, but it was later annulled due to the disqualification of both Ferraris. Like Schumacher, Hamilton—who previously raced for McLaren and Mercedes—began setting fastest laps from his debut in 2007, missing the top time in only one season, 2009. Despite this exception, Hamilton now holds the record for the most seasons with at least one fastest lap, currently standing at 18. Schumacher, in his second F1 stint, recorded a fastest lap only at the 2012 German Grand Prix, stopping at 16 seasons.