Monday 4 December 2017 09:01, UK
F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has another piece of silverware to add to his trophy cabinet after collecting the award for the most fastest laps in F1 races during 2017.
Hamilton set the fastest lap in seven Grands Prix this season, building up an unassailable lead in the Fastest Laps chart even before the season's final Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel's tally of five the next highest return.
Hamilton collected the DHL Fastest Lap Award trophy - won by then-Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in 2016 - ahead of the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Along with Hamilton and Vettel, five other drivers set a race's fastest lap in 2017 prior to Abu Dhabi - Kimi Raikkonen (twice), Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
"It is never our specific target to set the fastest lap in a race - so when we do, it is a sign of how quick our car has been in race conditions," said Hamilton.
"It also shows the consistency of the Pirelli tyres this year. These cars are the fastest we have ever driven in F1 - and it has been cool to set a few all-time lap records. They have been a challenge for us drivers to master, more physical to drive, and that is how it should be."
Meanwhile, Hamilton's Mercedes team also had cause to celebrate after they were crowned 2017's 'pit stop kings' following confirmation they had won the season's DHL Fastest Pit Stop award.
For 2017, the award was configured in a new format. Rather than award the team which registered the highest number of fastest pit-stops in races across the season, this year's award rewarded consistency - and punished any mistakes - by giving points to a team after each race if one of their per pit-stops per car was among the top-ten fastest for the race.
As with conventional points for teams and drivers alike in their world championships, 25 would be awarded for the fastest, 18 for the second-fastest and so on.
With a maximum of 43 available at a race, Mercedes' 51-point lead ahead of Abu Dhabi meant they collected the DHL Fastest Pit Stop award - and gave the Silver Arrows more cause to celebrate 2018.
