Hamilton’s win was his ninth of the year. But curiously this was the third race in a row which he didn’t take pole position for, prior to which he’d started at the front for a near-record seven races in a row. He had previously looked likely to rival Vettel’s record for setting 15 pole positions in a season, but now the best he can do is equal it.
Nico Rosberg took his third pole of the year and the 18th of his career, putting him level with Mario Andretti and Rene Arnoux. Mercedes had their 11th front row lock-out of the year – one fewer than they managed throughout 2014.
With row three occupied by Valtteri Bottas and Vettel, the top four on the grid were exactly the same as the previous round.
Vettel took the fastest lap, giving him a total of 25 so far in his career, putting him level with Mika Hakkinen.
Thanks to Kimi Raikkonen’s penalty, Mercedes wrapped up the constructors’ championship at the same venue as last year. However they sealed the title one race earlier than they did in 2014, indicating they have been even more dominant this season than last year.
| Driver | Points |
|---|---|
| Pastor Maldonado | 6 |
| Romain Grosjean | 6 |
| Max Verstappen | 5 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 4 |
| Sergio Perez | 4 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 4 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 3 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 3 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 2 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 2 |
| Roberto Merhi | 2 |
| Jenson Button | 2 |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | 2 |
| Esteban Gutierrez | 1 |
Mercedes are only the ninth team in F1 history to successfully defend a constructors’ championship title. The others were Cooper, Ferrari, Lotus, Brabham, McLaren, Williams, Renault and Red Bull.
Raikkonen was handed three penalty points on his licence for the collision. More than half of the field now has at least one penalty point – anyone who accumulates 12 will receive a race ban. The Lotus drivers are leading the table with six each, but Romain Grosjean will deduct two at the end of the day as penalty points expire 12 months after they are incurred. See the Penalties Index for details on how drivers incurred their points
The post-race reshuffle of the finishing positions also elevated Felipe Nasr to sixth place – his best result since his debut in Australia.
Fernando Alonso, however, was demoted from tenth place in his 250th race weekend appearance. Max Verstappen moved up in his place, which means the driver of car number 33 now has 33 championship points.
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
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Russian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2015 Russian Grand Prix
- Perez earns first Driver of the Weekend win for three years
- Russia’s second grand prix gets higher rating
- 2015 Russian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2015 Russian Grand Prix
- 2015 Russian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
andae23 (@andae23)
12th October 2015, 12:00
The three Spaniards Roberto Merhi, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jr. lined up in the last three positions on the grid. The last time three countrymen lined up on the grid in the last three positions was at the 2001 Monaco, when Brazilians Enrique Bernoldi, Luciano Burti and Tarso Marques lined up in 20th, 21st and 22nd. However, David Coulthard failed to pull away from his pole position slot on the warm-up lap, so the Brazilians didn’t actually start last that race. (if you want to look up when was the last time three countrymen started from the last three positions, be my guest :P)
Bookoi (@bookoi)
12th October 2015, 12:22
Blimey, good news for Palmer and Jorda! :P
ColdFly F1 (@)
12th October 2015, 12:33
Or is it because last year we had Abu Double :P @keithcollantine
ColdFly F1 (@)
12th October 2015, 12:35
And of course Nasr had his debut in Australia.
ColdFly F1 (@)
13th October 2015, 8:36
corrected now – thanks!
ColdFly F1 (@)
12th October 2015, 12:53
We had 9 different constructors in the top 10.
The last time that happened was Malaysia 2012!
Not sure if we ever had 10/10 (at least not since we have the current points system with top 10 scoring points – 2010+)
Erivaldo moreira (@erivaldonin)
12th October 2015, 16:56
@coldfly we had 3 times 10/10.
1975 Alemanha:
Brabham, Williams, Ferrari, Shadow, Hill, Ensign, March, Hesketh, Tyrrell, Parnelli
1981 Inglaterra:
McLaren, Williams, Ligier, Tyrrell, Brabham, ATS, March, Osella, Renault, Arrows
1989 Portugal:
Ferrari, McLaren, Onyx, Benetton, Minardi, Tyrrell, Lotus ,Brabham, Lola, March
Erivaldo moreira (@erivaldonin)
12th October 2015, 17:01
alemanha=Germany
Inglaterra=Britain
ColdFly F1 (@)
13th October 2015, 8:12
Obrigado @erivaldonon
I’m very impressed with your knowledge of F1 stats, and like you 100-200-300-etc stat in your post below.
Strontium (@strontium)
12th October 2015, 22:22
@coldfly Very interesting statistic, can you imagine if it were 10/10 though!
ColdFly F1 (@)
14th October 2015, 10:09
Yes, we were close to 10/10 (if Kimi had crashed out, and one of the McHonda’s doing what they normally do – DNF)
@strontium
Reviewing the great list prepared by @erivaldonin, I think we can claim it as a record that 90% of the teams scored in Russia 2015!
Fanie
12th October 2015, 13:02
It’s so amazing that Lewis Hamilton equalled F1 legend Sebastian Vettel 42 wins
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
12th October 2015, 13:46
Lol
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
12th October 2015, 15:36
I think Hamilton wants to carry on the legacy.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! - @omarr-pepper (@)
12th October 2015, 16:13
Yep. But he still needs to work hard to equal his 4 WDCs!
Woody (@woodyd91)
12th October 2015, 18:16
@omarr-pepper I’m pretty sure both drivers will ends their careers with more championships than they will have at the end of year.
I would say Vettel will end his career with more but thats only because I think Vettel may potentially stay around maybe a season or 2 longer longer than Hamilton.
nil
12th October 2015, 18:29
“only because”
Dan
12th October 2015, 22:10
@omarr-pepper
kanan
12th October 2015, 18:29
He’ll carry his baton or something like that.
harry
12th October 2015, 18:30
Haha lmao!
David-A (@david-a)
12th October 2015, 13:29
Vettel’s had more podiums this year than his title winning 2010 and 2012.
kpcart
12th October 2015, 17:33
that is an interesting stat… I think he is the driver of the year.
nehir
12th October 2015, 18:30
+1
yogart
12th October 2015, 18:34
This race was SebVet’s 100th GP starting from one of first 4 slots on the grid. He’s also finished exactly the half of his Formula 1 races on podium.
As of Russia:
Vettel: 100 starts from first 4 – 10 (4th) – 20 (3rd) – 24 (2nd) – 46 (1st)
Ham: 118 starts from first 4 – 16 (4th) – 17 (3rd) – 36 (2nd) – 49 (1st)
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
12th October 2015, 13:43
Please someone correct me if i’m wrong, but I hope this is true…
19 pit stops is the fewest in a race since 2005 US GP.
Bleu (@bleu)
12th October 2015, 13:56
I think this year’s Australian GP had less, thanks to only 13 drivers completing lap 1.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
12th October 2015, 14:31
Yup, you’re right. 17 stops in Australia. Doh
Jure
13th October 2015, 9:43
There also was one race entierly without pitstops.
Bleu (@bleu)
12th October 2015, 14:41
Lewis Hamilton now has as many wins with Mercedes as he had with McLaren.
M Sakr (@m-sakr)
12th October 2015, 14:56
He needs one more win with Mercedes to achieve this. He won 22 races with McLaren and 21 races with Mercedes so far.
Charlie
12th October 2015, 15:08
That can’t be right as he has 42 overall: 22 + 21 + 43 so something’s gone wrong…!
sato113 (@sato113)
12th October 2015, 15:45
@andae23 help!!!
andae23 (@andae23)
12th October 2015, 21:59
@sato113 Bleu is right, one apiece :)
Snow donkey
12th October 2015, 16:22
He was stripped of one with McLaren if I remember correctly. Spa?
Jimbo (@jimbo)
12th October 2015, 16:24
@m-skr No, it was only 21 at McLaren.
M Sakr (@m-sakr)
12th October 2015, 16:58
Yep you’re right, my bad. For some reason I thought he won 5 times in 2012 not 4. So @bleu is right.
Erivaldo moreira (@erivaldonin)
12th October 2015, 15:03
First time since the 1984 Brithish GP, a Swedish driver retired in the first lap.
12000 finishes in F1 history (Max Verstappen ‘s 10th place ).
52nd race with seven different teams in the top 7, the first time since the 2012 Malaysian GP.
40th races in a row without 3 driver world champions on the podium, since Singapura 2013.
this was the first time Hamilton, Vettel and Perez had been together on the podium, the second time to uk, germany and mexico.
First time Max Verstappen finished 10th.
100th GP since the last podium 1-2 of Ferrari.
200th GP since Ford Cosworth’s last GP.
300th GP since Eddie IRVINE’s first win and BAR’s first GP.
400th GP since Riccardo PATRESE’s last win and Nigel MANSELL’s last fastest lap.
500th GP since Alain PROST’s 100th GP.
dragoll (@dragoll)
13th October 2015, 11:27
@andae23 I think @erivaldonin is going to give you a run for your money mate :P
Corrado (@)
12th October 2015, 15:23
Do not think so, because last year double-points were awarded in the last race, so the rest of the teams had more chances, in theory, to win over Mercedes.
petebaldwin (@)
12th October 2015, 16:57
One thing we can confirm was that watching a team dominate for yet another year isn’t getting any more exciting!
Jure
13th October 2015, 9:45
But if it wasnt for them, Seb would dominate even more….
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
12th October 2015, 16:23
McLarens longest win drought extended by another race now, race 54.
dragoll (@dragoll)
13th October 2015, 11:28
@xtwl Probably can include the rest of 2015 and possibly even all of 2016… Sorry to the Macca fans out there.
JL
16th October 2015, 13:49
53 …
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
12th October 2015, 17:13
@keithcollantine NAS’ debut was in Melbourne, not Austria!
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
12th October 2015, 17:14
(reminds me of an indian journalist asking Lauda about liking cricket as an Australian)
ceng
12th October 2015, 18:37
Hilarious :D
dragoll (@dragoll)
13th October 2015, 11:29
@davidnotcoulthard which is ironic, because usually its Australians being called Austrians ;)
Gary
12th October 2015, 17:21
“Nico Rosberg took his third pole of the year and the 18th of his career putting him level with Mario Andretti”
OK, now that’s funny!
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
12th October 2015, 17:45
Does Hamilton and Vettel their ‘fastest lap’-tally versus that of Kimi reflect the state of tyres. You’d often think one of the top three or so is setting the fastest lap but leaders in the Pirelli era were more often than not nurturing their tyres. Even so Vettel ofen went for that lap in 2011 and 2013 and still only has 25 which isn’t that many considering the run of succes he’s had, same for Hamilton who only has 26.
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
12th October 2015, 18:06
@xtwl I believe I’m right in saying that Raikkonen achieved most of his fastest laps in the refuelling era, which may have something to do with it.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
13th October 2015, 5:34
@craig-o Yeah, I forgot about refueling. Anyway I find it interesting how Kimi is second in that list but never really features again except maybe on total podiums.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
12th October 2015, 18:03
Hamilton has now lead 2824 kms this year, Vettel is next with 886 kms. With only 4 races to go, no one can overhaul Hamilton in terms of kilometres lead anymore.
That is the second consecutive season since 2014 where Hamilton has lead more kms than anyone else; something that he never achieved at McLaren (Massa lead more kms in both 2007 and 2008).
JV
12th October 2015, 20:49
That interactive constructors champ grid is very misleading, at first I tought it was full of errors before I understood that it comprises the year in which they won it till the year they lost it. Would it be simpler just to mention the seasons in which they won it?
ColdFly F1 (@)
13th October 2015, 8:30
Not sure why you call it misleading. The chart (and link above) refers to the original article which explains what the chart depicts.
It’s a bit cleverer than showing just the year(s) of WDC titles; which you were probably expecting.
Wessel
13th October 2015, 18:37
I disagree here. While it is indeed objectively true that officially a team loses the title the next year, this piece of information does not add anything to the graph, other than being officially correct. For readability, the ‘post championship year’ should be cut off in my opinion. After all, its purpose is to show who is world champion that year (not who actually had the dominant car), and that is less clearly visible from the graph as one always has to subtract a year from the final year.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
12th October 2015, 22:54
Top 5 at end of lap 51: Hamilton-Vettel-Perez-Williams-Raikkonen
Top 5 at end of lap 53 (before Raikkonen’s penalty): Hamilton-Vettel-Perez-Williams-Raikkonen
5th race in a row in which at least one podium-finisher from the previous race failed to score.
Rosberg’s 18th career pole – ties Arnoux for the most poles without being World Champion (yet!).
Vettel, Verstappen, and Button were the only drivers to both start and finish ahead of their team-mates.
Bottas’ first non-finish (albeit classified) since his DNS in Australia. Longest unbroken streak is Kvyat with 12 (last non-finish was China).
Vettel’s first fastest lap of 2015 means that he keeps alive his record of at least 1 fastest lap every year since 2009.
And some from magnetimarelli.com:
86th front-row start for Hamilton – equals Prost, trails Senna (87) and M Schumacher (116).
Last time the top 4 on the grid were the same for 2 consecutive races: Australia and Malaysia 2011 (Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Button, Alonso).
All 5 of Perez’s podiums have also featured Hamilton.
Button’s 110th start for McLaren – same as Hamilton managed.
McLaren’s joint longest win drought – equals Argentina 1978 to France 1981 (53 races).
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
13th October 2015, 9:03
Is this the only “total” (rather than percentage or consecutive) stat where Schumacher could realistically be beaten? How many front row starts for Vettel?
@paulgilb
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
15th October 2015, 22:30
Vettel only has 70.