The Fastest Lap in F1 History

The fastest lap in Formula 1 history, judged by average speed over a complete lap, belongs to Max Verstappen, who lapped Monza at roughly 264.7 km/h during qualifying for the 2025 Italian Grand Prix with a time of 1:18.792. He beat the 264.362 km/h mark Lewis Hamilton set at the same circuit in 2020.

There is a catch that makes this record more interesting than a single number. Because every circuit is a different length, a raw lap time cannot be compared between tracks, so “fastest lap” in F1 is measured by average speed. That is why the record always belongs to Monza, the quickest venue on the calendar. Here is how the fastest-lap record works, who holds it, and why there is no one universal figure. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Max Verstappen at Monza

Verstappen’s record lap came in Q3 at the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, where he snatched pole and, in doing so, set the highest average speed ever recorded over a full Formula 1 lap. Monza’s long straights and gentle chicanes let the modern cars run at extraordinary speed, and Verstappen strung together the perfect lap to edge the previous benchmark. He converted the pole into a race win the following day.

The margin over Hamilton’s five-year-old record was small, underlining how close the top laps are once the circuit is held constant. It also showed that even as F1 cars have grown heavier, aerodynamic and power-unit gains have kept the outright pace climbing.

The fastest laps by average speed

The table below ranks the fastest laps in F1 history by average speed. Every one was set at Monza, the sport’s quickest circuit.

Rank	Driver	Session	Lap time	Average speed
1	Max Verstappen	2025 Italian GP qualifying	1:18.792	~264.7 km/h
2	Lewis Hamilton	2020 Italian GP qualifying	1:18.887	264.362 km/h
3	Kimi Raikkonen	2018 Italian GP qualifying	1:19.119	263.587 km/h

The three fastest laps in the sport’s history were all set within seven years of one another at the same track, a sign of how quickly modern F1 pace has risen. Each successive record was set in qualifying, where cars run in their lightest, highest-downforce trim over a single flying lap.

Why there is no single “fastest lap” number

The reason the record is framed by average speed rather than by the clock is simple: circuits differ. A lap of Monaco takes little more than 70 seconds but averages barely half of Monza’s speed, while a lap of Spa or Monza takes longer yet is far quicker overall. Comparing lap times directly would be meaningless, so the meaningful record is the highest average speed, and that has lived at Monza throughout the modern era. Anyone quoting a single universal “fastest lap time” is usually mixing up circuits.

Fastest lap versus top speed

It is easy to confuse the fastest lap with the highest top speed, but they measure different things. Top speed is the peak reading at one point on the track, usually at the end of a long straight or with the aid of a slipstream. Valtteri Bottas was clocked at about 372.5 km/h at the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix, among the highest speeds ever recorded in a race, and even quicker figures have appeared in slipstreamed runs. A lap record, by contrast, rewards sustained pace through every corner. For the cars behind these numbers, see our guide to the fastest F1 cars.

Why the record matters

The fastest-lap record is a pure measure of how far the sport’s technology and driving have advanced, distilled into one perfect lap of its fastest circuit. That the top three marks were all set at Monza between 2018 and 2025 shows how relentlessly F1 keeps finding speed. The drivers chasing it are usually the same names dominating the most F1 poles and the most F1 world championships, because the single-lap pace that sets records is exactly what wins titles.

The short version: the fastest lap in F1 history by average speed is Max Verstappen’s 2025 Monza pole at about 264.7 km/h, ahead of Lewis Hamilton (2020) and Kimi Raikkonen (2018). There is no single universal figure because the record depends on circuit, and top speed is a separate measure entirely.