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I believe it is a form of performance balancing.
Cars have to stay within a percentage of their qualifying speeds; cars wishing to go above a preset limit can lap faster but must carry 15 or 35 or 50 kg extra weight. other cars have to stay within (I think) 105 % of qualifying.
Cars can choose to go all-out and use more fuel, brakes, and tires due to added weight, or to qualify as close to the limit as possible and drive fast, consistent laps. Cars that exceed the target get penalized.
This way slower cars can run flat out, and faster cars can either run flat out or run the same speed as the smaller, slower cars.You might have a ten-liter twin-turbocharged W16 but the guy in the Lotus Evora might be lapping at the same pace.
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