European GP 2007 facts & statistics

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A crazy race threw up some interesting statistics – we had a rookie driver leading the race, a rare red flag and – give thanks – the first proper pass for the lead on the track!

Here are some of the interesting facts and statistics from the European Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen scored his second pole position of the year – the first since the season opener at Australia. Ironically, having won the last two races from somewhere other than pole, he failed to win this race from pole.

Fernando Alonso made the first pass on the track for the lead this year that wasn’t on a start or restart.

Alonso also became only the second driver to win the European Grand Prix more than once. In 17 races Michael Schumacher won six times, Alonso now twice, and Nelson Piquet, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen, Johnny Herbert, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher once each.

And Alonso is now the only driver to have scored points in every race this year. In fact, he hasn’t finished outside the top eight since his engine blew in last year’s Italian Grand Prix.

On his debut Markus Winkelhock led six laps of the race – one more than Alonso, who won. Winkelhock is the second driver this year to lead his first ever Grand Prix, the other being, of course, Lewis Hamilton.

Spyker also led a Grand Prix for the first time. In its previous incarnation, Jordan, the team won four times.

He is also sixth German to start a Grand Prix this year and is the 51st German participant. There were also four drivers from the German Democratic Republic that entered Grands Prix, but none of them during the period of re-unification. Germany is fifth on the list of countries with the most Grand Prix participations, behind France (68).

The last driver to make his Grand Prix debut at his home race was Zsolt Baumgartner in the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The race had five different leaders (the pair above plus Kimi Raikkonen, David Coulthard and Felipe Massa), the most since six different drivers led the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix.

Lots of Lewis Hamilton’s records came to an end: his string of nine podiums and points finishes. McLaren’s run of scoring points with both drivers in every race also ended.

It was the first time a race was stopped and then restarted since the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix, halted due to an accident involving Luciano Burti and Eddie Irvine.

The only round in Germany this year is called the European Grand Prix, making it the first time the calendar has been without a German Grand Prix since 1960.

McLaren-Mercedes won on the 80th anniversary of the first race at the Nurburgring, won by Rudolf Caracciola in a Mercedes-Benz.

Mark Webber scored his second podium finish, the first coming at Monaco in 2005.

Williams-Toyota now have twice as many points as Toyota, 18 to 9.

McLaren have out-scored Ferrari in seven races out of ten so far this year – conversely, Ferrari have only taken points off McLaren twice.

Photo: Spyker F1 | Peter J. Fox/Crash.net

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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9 comments on “European GP 2007 facts & statistics”

  1. It says alot about a sport that to make it more interesting, it has to rain…… F1 RIP

  2. I disagree,

    This season has been quite interesting, not necessarily by the front runners, but by the back markers. Look at Sato, Coulthard and several other great drives.

    It has also been very tight on top, point wise, and that makes the races and especially qualifying very interesting. You see them pushing the limits and doing what they do best.

    What I do think is sad is that reliability is such a key factor. There should be a need to win, not only save points.. Sad when you hear drivers say, ‘I was content with second, so I didn’t want to push the car/engine.’ The 2 race engine rule is foolish.. This is a pinnacle sport and that means expenses. Overtaking is also a major problem, and steps to increase this should be made as soon as possible.

  3. So, Mr Knut, you’re content with f1 (the pinnacle of motorsport after all!) being ‘quite interesting’????

    If the race yesterday proves anything, it’s that reduced grip makes for better racing.

  4. That’s why they are getting rid of TC in 2008

  5. Can anyone help with this one – I’ve been trying to find out how many families have had three drivers in F1. The Winkelhocks now have Manfred, Joachim and Markus, and the Villeneuves have Gilles, Jacques Snr and Jacques.

    Are there any others?

  6. Sounds like a job for Alianora…! ;)

  7. Alianora here ;) There have also been:

    The Brabhams, who have four members of the same family that have raced F1 cars. David Brabham did 30 races between 1990 and 1994 for Brabham and Simtek. His father, Jack Brabham, was a triple world champion. His brother, Gary Brabham, did two races in 1990 for the ill-fated Life team. His brother-in-law, Mike Thackwell, did five races for Arrows, Tyrrell and RAM between 1980 and 1984. I believe they are the current record holders for “most family members to have done F1”.

    In the “3 family members” category, there are also the Fittipaldis. Wilson Fittipaldi raced 38 times for Brabham and Fittipaldi between 1972 and 1975. His brother, Emerson, won two championships. His son, Christian, did 43 races for Minardi and Arrows between 1992 and 1994.

    That makes four families who have had at least three members reach Formula 1.

    By the way, the most common surname in F1 is “Taylor” – there have been five people with the Taylor surname (Dennis, Henry, John, Mike and Trevor), who have done 37 races between them in the 1950s and early 1960s. However, none of them are related to each other, nor to any other Formula 1 driver.

    I would like to thank ChicaneF1.com for the information.

  8. The Brabhams! *slaps forehead*

    And the Fittipaldis, of course.

    Cheers Alianora :-)

  9. You’re welcome, Keith. Feel free to ask me research questions of that sort any time.

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