Nico Rosberg took his 11th F1 victory which put him level with one of the drivers he shared the podium with – Felipe Massa – as well as Jacques Villeneuve and Rubens Barrichello. He also took his 11th fastest lap.
However pole position went to Lewis Hamilton – his seventh of the season, meaning he has already taken as many this year as he did in the whole of 2014.
It was Hamilton’s 45th career pole position, which means he and Sebastian Vettel are now tied as the currently active drivers who have taken the most.
Michael Schumacher’s record of 68 is still some way off, but when you consider Hamilton has now had 14 poles in the last 27 grands prix, the possibility that Hamilton might pass it – as well as Ayrton Senna’s tally of 65 – is looking ever more likely.
Mercedes were beaten to pole position in Austria last year but have taken every one in the 12-month period since. The last team to do so was Williams in 1992-3, when they set the record for most consecutive pole positions with 24. Mercedes need five more to match that.
Hamilton only led for three laps but it was enough for him to equal Jackie Stewart’s record for heading 17 consecutive races:
| Race | Jackie Stewart | Lewis Hamilton |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1968 United States Grand Prix | 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix |
| 2 | 1968 Mexican Grand Prix | 2014 Belgian Grand Prix |
| 3 | 1969 South African Grand Prix | 2014 Italian Grand Prix |
| 4 | 1969 Spanish Grand Prix | 2014 Singapore Grand Prix |
| 5 | 1969 Monaco Grand Prix | 2014 Japanese Grand Prix |
| 6 | 1969 Dutch Grand Prix | 2014 Russian Grand Prix |
| 7 | 1969 French Grand Prix | 2014 United States Grand Prix |
| 8 | 1969 British Grand Prix | 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| 9 | 1969 German Grand Prix | 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |
| 10 | 1969 Italian Grand Prix | 2015 Australian Grand Prix |
| 11 | 1969 Canadian Grand Prix | 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix |
| 12 | 1969 United States Grand Prix | 2015 Chinese Grand Prix |
| 13 | 1969 Mexican Grand Prix | 2015 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| 14 | 1970 South African Grand Prix | 2015 Spanish Grand Prix |
| 15 | 1970 Spanish Grand Prix | 2015 Monaco Grand Prix |
| 16 | 1970 Monaco Grand Prix | 2015 Canadian Grand Prix |
| 17 | 1970 Belgian Grand Prix | 2015 Austrian Grand Prix |
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Stewart’s streak ended at the 1970 Dutch Grand Prix, where he qualified second and finished in the same position, and the race was led almost entirely by pole sitter Jochen Rindt. Will Hamilton take Stewart’s 45-year-old record on home ground in two weeks’ time?
Hamilton has also equalled the second-longest streak of podium finishes. Yesterday’s was his 15th, equalling Fernando Alonso’s run from 2005 to 2006, leaving him four short of the all-time record held by Schumacher.
Daniel Ricciardo failed to make it into Q3 for the first time as a Red Bull driver. Only the Mercedes drivers have now reached Q3 on every occasion.
Alonso and Jenson Button picked up an unwanted record by being the first drivers to collect 25-place grid penalties. Button already has a total of 40 grid place penalties for the year so far, and that is likely to rise when he inevitably has to fit fresh power unit components later in the year.
Over to you
Coincidentally, Hamilton’s penalty for crossing the pit exit line was announced in a steward’s document which matched his chosen race number – 44. It’s been a while since we’ve seen anyone collect a penalty for this infringement – the most recent example I’ve been able to find was when Rosberg did so at Singapore in 2009 – a race won by Hamilton. Rosberg was given a drive-through penalty on that occasion, but the stewards have Hamilton one of the recently-introduced five-second penalties.
If you can remember a more recent pit exit violation than that please share it in the comments – along with any other interesting stats you spotted in this weekend’s race.
Review the year so far in statistics here:
- 2015 F1 championship points
- 2015 F1 season records
- 2015 F1 race data
- 2015 F1 qualifying data
- 2015 F1 retirements and penalties
- 2015 F1 strategy and pit stops
- 2015 F1 driver form guides
2015 Austrian Grand Prix
- Strong run wins Hulkenberg Driver of the Weekend
- F1 continues to underwhelm in 2015
- 2015 Austrian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2015 Austrian Grand Prix
- 2015 Austrian GP Predictions Championship results
Bleu (@bleu)
22nd June 2015, 11:55
* Hamilton also equalled another record – he has now started from pole position on 22 different circuits, same as Alain Prost did.
* Hamilton has started from pole in 21 different Grand Prix’s – a new record as well. Prost and Vettel have 20. Prost’s tally includes poles in Spa and Zolder as well as Jacarepagua and Interlagos – that makes difference on circuits compared to Grand Prix’s. Hamilton has achieved pole in Hockenheim and Nürburgring.
* Kimi Räikkönen has retired three of the last four races where he started outside top 12 on the first lap. These occurred at 2013 Abu Dhabi, 2014 Silverstone and now at Spielberg, while Räikkönen only managed to get through first lap in Hungary last year.
Hollidog
23rd June 2015, 2:53
* Kimi Räikkönen has retired three of the last four races where he started outside top 12 on the first lap. These occurred at 2013 Abu Dhabi, 2014 Silverstone and now at Spielberg, while Räikkönen only managed to get through first lap in Hungary last year.
I came to this article to ask this very question, I wonder why this always happens? It seems strange to me that the majority of the accidents seem to be his fault – that terrible dive at T1 at Abu Dhabi, running off the track and keeping his foot in and spearing back across the track, and the most recent example. Perhpas Kimi cant be arsed running around at the back? Which is also strange to me because I remember a race in Japan (may have been 2006?) where Kimi came from the back to get on the podium and we all know he is quick in the race and can pass cars. Very odd stat to me.
stefano (@alfa145)
24th June 2015, 20:49
It was 2005
DonSmee (@david-beau)
23rd June 2015, 18:30
Kimi is so impatient when he starts mid-pack, I am not surprised at the occurrence of his first lap incidents.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
22nd June 2015, 11:57
Pastor Maldonado has picked up points twice in a row for the second time in his career.
Roberto Merhi picked up his best result in F1 to date, whilst Will Stevens retired from a race for the first time.
Nico Rosberg has now finished ahead of Hamilton on three of the last four occasions. This is the third time since the start of 2013 in which this has occurred (Spain-Britain ’13, India-Brazil ’13, Spain-Austria ’15). Rosberg also became just the third driver to win back-to-back Austrian Grand Prix, with Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher being the other two to achieve this feat. Coincidentally, only Prost won back-to-back races on the Osterrichring, Schumacher on the A1-Ring, and Rosberg on the Red Bull Ring. The circuit remains one of the few in which Lewis Hamilton has failed to win at in F1, yet started a race there.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
22nd June 2015, 12:55
Dammit, that was mine! Fun stat if you ask me…
petebaldwin (@)
22nd June 2015, 13:09
@craig-o – I heard that on the coverage and couldn’t believe that someone who had won a race had never finished in the top 10 twice in a row.
I haven’t done much digging but according to Wiki, he did it previously in 2012 at Abu Dhabi and USA.
Either way, it’s unbelievable that he’s been so regularly poor! In 2012, Bruno Senna managed it 3 times including 3 in a row at India, Abu Dhabi and USA!
hobo (@hobo)
22nd June 2015, 15:04
@craig-o @petebaldwin – To be fair to Maldonado (and I’m no Maldonado apologist), he hasn’t had a car really capable of points finishes prior to this season since 2012. Though as you note, pete, Bruno did it in the same car in 2012 while Pastor spent his time crashing and otherwise dropping out of races. Interesting stat nonetheless.
This year his bad luck has actually been largely others’ fault, but one wonders how much more time his money will hold his seat.
Slowhands (@slowhands)
22nd June 2015, 16:59
Pastor seems to be learning from his mistakes– possibly the nearly universal mockery of his on-track exploits, including even from on-air commentators, has gotten through to him. At one time he actually believed his “I crash so much because I’ve got the biggest balls” line for why he was not able to engage in on-track combat without sending carbon fibre flying (“Problem? What problem?”). But I was impressed with how he handled his wheel-to-wheel moves this weekend. He seems to be finally able to dial things back enough to be assertive but still control his car so that both he and his opponent make it out the other side of a fight. (OK, that swerve with the DRS open was pretty hairy, but he managed to hold it together.) It’s a racing truism that it is easier to calm down a wild but quick driver than it is to speed up one that is too cautious and slow. I like that he’s aggressive– F1 needs more fighting and less management. I’m cautiously optimistic that this might end up being one of his better seasons and allow him to make the most of his potential.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
22nd June 2015, 20:20
+1
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
22nd June 2015, 20:24
@slowhands I cannot remember the last time that Pastor Maldonado actually was to blame for causing an accident. Bahrain last year? That’s over 12 months if so.
ColdFly F1 (@)
22nd June 2015, 12:27
Always like the illustrious names of F1 in this section.
(not talking about Massa, Villeneuve, Barrichello though)
Meander (@meander)
22nd June 2015, 13:04
They have all won 11 races though. No mean feat.
BT52B (@)
22nd June 2015, 14:11
Villeneuve even won a championship, which is also not pretty bad…
kpcart
22nd June 2015, 14:39
against the so called best in michael schumacher who had to resort to the worst tactic in motorsport to try to win. had barichello had the ferrari as number 1 driver, he could have had 25 wins to his career tally. also Massa beat Schumacher at the end of their time as teammates and was one place and 10 seconds away from being a world champion. people need to show some respect, these 3 names are illustrious. Massa drove possibly the best of the f1 field in yesterdays race.
Young Gun
22nd June 2015, 14:54
If Massa was in that Mercedes, he would beat Rosberg and Hamilton with ease.
JCost (@jcost)
22nd June 2015, 15:22
Are you serious?
David-A (@david-a)
22nd June 2015, 18:39
Young Gun if you say so, when Felipe took less podiums than Alonso had wins in 10-13.
Connor McDonagh (@conmcdonaghf1)
22nd June 2015, 18:55
Massa had 11 wins at Ferrari, same as Alonso.
Polo (@polo)
22nd June 2015, 23:58
@conmcdonaghf1 That doesn’t really mean anything. Massa most likely had the best car in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Alonso didn’t even get the best car once.
Connor McDonagh (@conmcdonaghf1)
23rd June 2015, 0:30
I was correcting @David-A who said Felipe had 10 wins to Alonso 13 wins (that’s what I read his comment as)
2006 and 2007 was varying between Ferrari and Renault/McLaren.
David-A (@david-a)
23rd June 2015, 0:36
@conmcdonaghf1 I meant the number of wins Alonso took in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 was higher than the amount of podiums Massa took in those years. Alonso took 11 wins (5, 1, 3, 2), Massa took 8 podiums (5, 0, 2, 1).
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
23rd June 2015, 10:31
@meander We’re getting so used to these records of Vettel and Hamilton that we consider 11 Formula One GP wins not even a special thing…
David-A (@david-a)
23rd June 2015, 11:02
@xtwl Yeah, Vettel and Hamilton have won 11 in one season!
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
23rd June 2015, 11:26
@david-a Then again there are only a few who have had such cars…
Connor McDonagh (@conmcdonaghf1)
22nd June 2015, 16:42
If Massa was at Mercedes, I’d expect him to close to Rosberg
David-A (@david-a)
22nd June 2015, 19:47
@conmcdonaghf1 – To be fair, at least you’re not saying he’d beat them with ease, as the other guy was. I agree Massa would be close to Rosberg, when on form. Massa’s 2008 season was better than Rosberg last year, in my opinion.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
23rd June 2015, 8:42
@david-a
I agree, but I also believe that Rosberg in 2010 was better than any version of Massa, he just didn’t quite have the car to show it.
I quite like Massa and I find him underrated, but I think that Rosberg is a tad better overall.
Connor McDonagh (@conmcdonaghf1)
23rd June 2015, 12:20
Even as a Massa fan,
Rosberg is more consistent and isn’t reckless/aggressive like Massa is however on their day, they can get the results.
Akshat
22nd June 2015, 12:30
A more recent pit lane exit violation was in Brazil 2013 by Massa.
Further, this was the first time in the history of F1 that the top 3 drivers received trophies which were based on the respective track layouts for 3 consecutive race events.
#ForzaJules
Biggsy
22nd June 2015, 12:46
Massa wasn’t penalized for pit lane exit, but for pit lane entry. And he wasn’t pitting. He was simply stepping to far over the pit lane entry lane while doing his regular laps. He was warned a few times, but failed to correct his line through that bend.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd June 2015, 13:03
That was the pit entry, not exit:
Massa slams stewards for “unacceptable” penalty
Can’t read that now without thinking of this…
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
22nd June 2015, 13:24
@keithcollantine Somehow I find it funny imagining you watching Adventure time. But then again I know the show too…
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
22nd June 2015, 12:56
How many Mercedes 1-2-3’s have happened, and were there more Renault 1-2-3’s in 2012-2013?
French Steve (@french-steve)
22nd June 2015, 13:53
http://www.statsf1.com/en/statistiques/moteur/podium/triple.aspx
ColdFly F1 (@)
22nd June 2015, 12:58
Keith, the ‘2015 F1’ links seem to go haywire!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd June 2015, 13:04
@coldfly Thanks – should be fixed now.
thersquared (@thersquared)
22nd June 2015, 14:02
What I find incredible is that all of Rosberg’s wins have come after Massa’s most recent win (Brazil 2008).
ColdFly F1 (@)
22nd June 2015, 14:13
@thersquared, and after Barrichello’s most recent win (’09)!
Interestingly of these four 11-time winners only Barrichello has done it for more than 1 team.
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
22nd June 2015, 15:36
@thersquared Vettel has had 39 wins since Massa’s last!
Park
22nd June 2015, 18:36
Jenson’s 14 wins!!
David (@wushumr2)
25th June 2015, 17:35
Jenson’s first win was Hungary ’06.
Nick (@theawesomefish)
22nd June 2015, 14:24
Pit exit violation?
Maldonado vs. Gutierrez, Bahrain 2014.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd June 2015, 14:35
@theawesomefish Neither of them crossed the exit line, which is what the article is referring to.
Nick (@theawesomefish)
22nd June 2015, 15:01
I know that, I was being deliberately obtuse.
ColdFly F1 (@)
22nd June 2015, 15:32
that’s a word I had to look up ;) @theawesomefish
obtuse (adjective)- annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand. ???
George (@george)
22nd June 2015, 20:56
@coldfly
It’s more of an alternative to ‘vague’:
not clearly or explicitly stated or expressed
D (@f190)
22nd June 2015, 15:02
@keithcollantine – I remember in Monaco Merhi crossed the pit exit and no action was taken. I was surprised at the time as each time I’ve seen some penalty applied. Did Merhi cross the white line or do something else ? I don’t disagree with Hamiltons penalty by the way, I was just wondering if it was inconsistent stewarding or a different violation.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
22nd June 2015, 15:17
@f190 “No conclusive evidence”, according to the stewards:
https://www.racefans.net/2015-f1-season/statistics/penalties-index/#inv146
Strontium (@strontium)
22nd June 2015, 23:18
One of the virgin cars crossed the pit exit line in Monaco in 2010, but that was because Button’s car was being pushed away across the pit lane exit. I don’t think it was investigated. @f190 @keithcollantine
David-A (@david-a)
22nd June 2015, 14:55
Out of Rosberg’s 11 wins, this is the fourth time his trophy has been a map of the circuit he won on.
pH (@ph)
22nd June 2015, 16:31
Here’s a project for statistics wizzards: Are drivers who won a circuit-shaped trophy more likely to repeat their victory on that circuit compared to drivers whose trophies do not remind them every day of proper breaking points? :-)
petebaldwin (@)
22nd June 2015, 16:55
@david-a – That’s a staggeringly meaningless stat! Well done :D
ed24f1 (@ed24f1)
22nd June 2015, 15:34
3rd in Austria was Massa’s 40th podium. He’s had 5 at Interlagos, 3 at Barcelona, Hockenhem, Nurburgring, Bahrain, Istanbul and Magny-Cours, and there are 18 tracks in total on the list.
Looking at some of the most notable omissions, he’s never had a podium at Sepang, Canada, Silverstone or Hungary despite them being (almost) ever present on the calendar during his career.
rm
22nd June 2015, 15:48
That was the eighth consecutive race in which both Mercedes have finished on the podium, which is an (ongoing) record unlikely to ever be broken. The previous record was five consecutive races, owned by Ferrari in 2002 and again in 2004.
There are very few “most dominant car” records left for Mercedes to break. The one for ‘most consecutive pole positions’ will probably fall in Singapore.
pal
22nd June 2015, 16:09
If there is 1 circuit for any 1 driver to make any difference at, my choice would be Vettel at Singapore. But I think Mercedes will keep winning for years to come. I don’t see anyone else getting the pole for another 2 years, as long as they don’t make the sort of mistakes they did in Austria for last 2 years. I don’t think we’ll ever see any reliability issues. I don’t think even wet would make a difference with that car. I was amazed they almost lost the pole to Vettel in Malaysia.
Overwatch (@overwatch)
22nd June 2015, 18:55
They will not get succesive pole positions for 2 years. The probability even with this dominant car is just quite small. You just know there will be some surprise on the way.
Minardi (@gitanes)
22nd June 2015, 17:10
1988: Berger
1989: Patrese
1992: Senna
2011: Hamilton
2014: Massa
2015: ????
Who will be the spoiler to ruin a perfect pole season by one team? I like the fact it’s never happened!
Young Gun
22nd June 2015, 19:28
Vettel
DaveS
22nd June 2015, 17:28
I’m sure it’s been said before, but Jackie did it in only 99 starts!!! And that’s why is’s SIR Jackie!
JMLabareda (@jmlabareda)
22nd June 2015, 17:30
First time in the year that a McLaren finishes on top of a Ferrari
David-A (@david-a)
22nd June 2015, 18:51
@jmlabareda Brilliant! :D
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
22nd June 2015, 20:24
+1
akshay.it (@akshay-it)
23rd June 2015, 0:16
Best one…
Emn
22nd June 2015, 21:19
First time since the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix that Ferrari and McLaren driven by two world champions crashes on the first lap.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
23rd June 2015, 22:25
The podium featured the last 3 drivers to be punished for cutting a pit-lane white line during a race.
Massa’s 1000th point, and Perez’s 200th.
Ericsson has finished each of the last 5 races in 13th or 14th.
Ricciardo is the first driver to finish 10th more than once this year. Still yet to have a driver with more than one 8th place in 2015.
Only circuits on which Hamilton has raced but not scored pole: Magny-Cours, Greater Noida, Suzuka, Istanbul, Austin. Only Suzuka and Austin are current tracks. He has qualified inside the top 3 at every track he has raced.
And some more from magnetimarelli.com:
Second time (after J Brabham and G Hill in Canada 1970) that there were 2 world champions on the back row.
16th Rosberg-Hamilton 1-2 for Mercedes – equals Vettel-Webber at Red Bull. Schumacher-Barrichello managed 24 for Ferrari.
2nd year in a row that Force India have finished 6th and 9th in Austria.
First time since USA 2006 that both McLarens retired within the first 8 laps of a race.