Mark Webber wins DHL Fastest Lap Award 2011

DHL, the world’s leading express and logistics company and a Global Partner of Formula 1, announced Mark Webber as the winner of the DHL Fastest Lap Award for 2011 at a special handover ceremony during the final Grand Prix of 2011 - the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio Petrobras do Brasil on November 25. Red Bull Racing driver Webber won the award with one race of the season still remaining, at the2011 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His best time of 1:42.612, set with just 4 laps remaining in the race, allowed him to establish an unassailable lead (six fastest laps to three) over Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton and his own Red Bull Racing teammate, 2011 FIA Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel. This is the first time that Webber has won the award, having finished runner-up in 2009. The Red Bull Racing-Renault team has already enjoyed a clean sweep of both major honors in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship with Sebastian Vettel winning the Drivers’ Championship and the team winning the Constructors’ Championship.

The award was handed over by Joakim Thrane, Country Manager, DHL Express Brazil, and TV presenter and former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner, at a special handover ceremony in Sao Paolo on the eve of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Joakim Thrane said “The DHL Fastest Lap Award represents speed and excellence, two values which have a strong resonance with DHL. Mark Webber’s achievement in winning the award also shows that no team can be successful without the hard work and commitment of its individual team members, which is very important to us as the international specialists. We’d like to Deutsche Post DHL thank Mark for his role in making Formula 1 such an exciting spectacle in 2011 and congratulate him on winning the DHL Fastest Lap Award for 2011.”

The rules for winning the the DHL Fastest Lap Award are very simple. One point is awarded to the driver who records the fastest lap in every Grand Prix race. The driver with the most points at the end of the season wins the award. Since its inauguration in 2007, the award has been won by Kimi Raikkonen (twice), Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Only one driver, Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, has secured both first place in the Drivers’ Championship and the DHL Fastest Lap Award.