Nico Rosberg’s victory for Mercedes in the Russian Grand Prix was the tenth in a row for the team – and leaves them poised to equal the all-time record.
McLaren’s record of winning eleven consecutive world championship rounds has stood for 28 years. Mercedes have the chance to equal and overcome it in the upcoming races:
| Team | Wins | First | Last | Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | 11 | 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix | 1988 Belgian Grand Prix | Ayrton Senna (7), Alain Prost (4) |
| Ferrari | 10 | 2002 Canadian Grand Prix | 2002 Japanese Grand Prix | Michael Schumacher (6), Rubens Barrichello (4) |
| Mercedes | 10 | 2015 Japanese Grand Prix | 2016 Russian Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg (7), Lewis Hamilton (3) |
| Red Bull | 9 | 2013 Belgian Grand Prix | 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix | Sebastian Vettel (9) |
Rosberg is the man of the moment having won all of the last seven races, including all four so far this season. This is only the fourth time in F1 history the same driver has won seven races in a row. Two more wins will put Rosberg level with Vettel’s record of nine in a row.
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This is also the fifth time in F1 history the same driver has won the opening four races – Rosberg following the likes of Schumacher (1994 and 2004), Nigel Mansell (1992) and Senna (1991).
Rosberg’s 18th victory of his career was also significant for being his first ‘grand slam’ of victory, pole position and fastest lap plus leading every lap of the race. He is the 24th driver in the history of the sport to achieve a perfect result. A surprising number of these never won the championship, although none managed more than a single grand slam:
| Driver | Race | Team | Championship position that year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling Moss | 1959 Portuguese Grand Prix | Rob Walker (Cooper) | 3rd |
| Jo Siffert | 1971 Austrian Grand Prix | BRM | 5th |
| Jacky Ickx | 1972 German Grand Prix | Ferrari | 4th |
| Clay Regazzoni | 1976 United States Grand Prix West | Ferrari | 5th |
| Jacques Laffite | 1979 Brazilian Grand Prix | Ligier | 4th |
| Gilles Villeneuve | 1979 United States Grand Prix West | Ferrari | 2nd |
| Gerhard Berger | 1987 Australian Grand Prix | Ferrari | 5th |
| Nico Rosberg | 2016 Russian Grand Prix | Mercedes | TBC |
Leading from pole-to-flag means Rosberg has now been at the front of the field for 83% of all laps raced this year – 186 to Hamilton’s one.
This was also Rosberg’s 16th fastest lap and 24th pole position. The latter puts him in a tie for tenth place on the all-time list with Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet. It also saw Mercedes reach their 57th pole position at their 131st start, putting them fifth in the all-time list alongside Red Bull who have started 207 races.
Rosberg’s perfect start to the season has given him a valuable head start in the drivers’ championship against Hamilton. But will it be enough to keep him ahead until the chequered flag falls in Abu Dhabi? Hamilton’s winning margins in his last two championship-winning seasons shows this battle is far from over:
This equals the second-longest points streak for an engine manufacturer, at least officially: Renault’s 138-race points streak ended in Abu Dhabi last year, but their TAG Heuer-branded power units did score in Australia courtesy of Red Bull.
However both still have a long way to go to equal the record held by Ford. Their Cosworth-built engines scored in 228 consecutive races between 1967 and 1983, when points were only offered to the top six.
The Renault works team were back among the points scorers, however. Kevin Magnussen took their first points since Vitaly Petrov’s tenth place in the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix. Team mate Jolyon Palmer slipped up by finishing 13th, however – he’d been 18th in all three practice sessions and qualifying.
For the second year running Nico Hulkenberg went out on the first lap of the race. He sat out first practice while Alfonso Celis drove his car. With Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez also on the track, this was the largest Mexican contingent ever seen in an official F1 session.
Review the year so far in statistics here:
- 2016 F1 championship points
- 2016 F1 season records
- 2016 F1 race data
- 2016 F1 qualifying data
- 2016 F1 retirements and penalties
- 2016 F1 strategy and pit stops
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Russian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2016 Russian Grand Prix
- Another weak race shows Sochi is the new Valencia
- Magnussen beats grand slam Rosberg for Driver of the Weekend
- 2016 Russian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2016 Russian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- Top ten pictures from the 2016 Russian Grand Prix
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
2nd May 2016, 11:30
It’s early days but what a story would it be if Rosberg can keep up this form and take home a world championship. He would be our first new champion since Vettel in 2010, some six years ago.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
2nd May 2016, 13:53
@xtwl And would be so in a rather different fashion to his dad (OK both would involve winning a bit while rivals tumble but considering how safe F1 is I hope it’s not the same this year should ROS be champion).
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
2nd May 2016, 11:30
700th podium for Ferrari by the way.
Oople
2nd May 2016, 11:51
A fact Croft ensured Brundle mentioned on the podium :P
Franton
2nd May 2016, 11:35
I’m not sure how you can carry over last season’s results into this seasons. Certainly the 1988 McLaren results aren’t counted that way, and neither are Ferrari’s from 2002. In fact I can’t recall a year prior to now where this has ever happened.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
2nd May 2016, 11:37
‘Consecutive’ does not imply ‘within one season’, it’s really that simple.
retak
2nd May 2016, 12:58
That’s how it’s always been done when it comes to consecutive results. The oft-quoted nine wins in a row by Ascari (or seven, depending on who you ask) were done over two seasons as well. It just happens that McLaren’s, Ferrari’s and Red Bull’s consecutive win records were achieved in a single season.
Robbie (@robbie)
2nd May 2016, 13:52
In a way one could argue that it is more significant that a team was able to carry their momentum across an off-season and pick up where they left off in spite of teams having a chance with their new efforts to catch up.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd May 2016, 14:06
No good reason not to do so springs to mind. Ignoring them for the sake of it seems arbitrary.
Yes they are, in McLaren’s case they just happened not to win the last race of the previous season.
To be clear, the statistics above do include teams who won consecutive races across multiple seasons. For example, McLaren won eight in a row from Britain 1984 to Brazil 1985.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
2nd May 2016, 14:07
If anything it’s even more impressive that his streak spawned over 2 seasons, because it means 2 different cars, 2 different grids, 2 different quality of competitors in terms of drivers and teams, and 2 different set of rules (including qualyfing!)
KaIIe (@kaiie)
2nd May 2016, 11:50
Top three on the grid all had the same nationality (Finnish [Rosberg has dual nationality and races under German licence]), this hasn’t happened at least in the 2010s. Previously Germany has almost locked out the front of the grid (2014 British GP: Rosberg and Vettel on the front row and Hülkenberg in P4, 2010 Malaysian GP: German drivers on P2-5).
Haas has now scored in three races (out of four), I can’t remember a better start for a new constructor.
Guelph
2nd May 2016, 14:27
Brawn?
Or do they not count as new for this stat but they do in others?
KaIIe (@kaiie)
2nd May 2016, 17:07
At least at the start of the season Haas was considered as the first new constructor since Toyota to score points on their debut; i.e. one that did not buy an existing team but instead started from scratch.
Enigma (@enigma)
2nd May 2016, 11:58
The first time in 2016 the pole sitter remained in the lead at the start.
Three drivers have scored points for McLaren this year. Unless I’m mistaken this has not happened since 2011, when Senna replaced Heidfeld at Renault and both scored points, as did Petrov.
Jim
2nd May 2016, 12:02
Radio 5 live mentioned over the weekend that Nico Hülkenberg became the 4th driver to compete in 100 Grand Prix without achieving a podium. The other 3 (if I recall correctly are) are Pierluigi Martini, Adrian Sutil andPhilippe Alliot.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
2nd May 2016, 13:21
I used to be in the hype side for Hulk, but now it’s becoming evident the guy is another Sutil or DiResta. At least those guys managed podiums in F1. I also think that his WEC victory doesn’t highlight how good he is, but how different skills are needed to be in WEC and thrive there. It’s like an average F1 guy is an ouy
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
2nd May 2016, 13:23
…outstanding WEC driver (my cellphone is fan of Hulk I think, as it decided I had said too much about the poor man). And maybe that applies for Webber as well.
gdewilde (@gdewilde)
2nd May 2016, 14:28
@omarr-pepper “At least those guys managed podiums in F1” Hate to burst that bubble, but Sutil and Di Resta never managed to finish on the podium in F1.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
2nd May 2016, 19:36
@gdewilde so that makes them even more similar. Thanks, I remembered a parallel universe.
Mike (@mike)
2nd May 2016, 14:51
I think he’s been on the wrong end of luck. When the car was there, more often than not he’s had problems.
For example, in the 2014 Bahrain GP, Hulkenburg was leading Perez until Perez was able to take advantage of Bottas slowing the cars behind to jump his team mate. Hulkenburg then slipped to fifth when a charging Ricciardo snatched 4th. In that year, Nico outscored Perez significantly. 96 to 59.
Last year, Perez got another podium and outscored Hulkenburg by 20 points. However, it’s worth noting that hulk had qualified ahead of Perez for that race, but an error at the start ended his race. He also suffered farm more retirements than Perez, he suffered five more DNF’s than Perez, so this hurt him in the final points.
Although undoubtedly part of success in F1 is making your own luck, I feel that circumstance and bad luck have masked his talent last year.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
2nd May 2016, 16:06
@mike
At Bahrain, Perez was leading Hulkenberg before Force India decided on pitting Hulkenberg first because his tyres went off. Hulkenberg jumped Perez in the pit stops before Perez overtook Hulkenberg again on track.
In Russia 2015, Hulkenberg made his own bad luck by spinning out. He also made plenty of other mistakes that were not due to things outside of his control.
David (@wushumr2)
4th May 2016, 12:43
If he hadn’t tangled with Hamilton at the… 2012 Brazilian grand prix??? He probably would have won or come second.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd May 2016, 14:11
He’s actually only taken the start 98 times (he had two non-starts after qualifying) but he’s participated in 114 race weekends.
Perez did record his 100th participation, however, which was mentioned in this article earlier:
https://www.racefans.net/2016/01/19/the-f1-statistics-to-look-out-for-in-2016/
Ciaran (@walsh-f1)
2nd May 2016, 12:20
A rather spooky fact from the race: Sebastian Vettel equaled Ayrton Senna’s number of starts yesterday on the 22nd anniversary of the Brazilian’s death.
Pyon (@pyon)
2nd May 2016, 13:52
You should highlight this to LW ;)
Kingshark (@kingshark)
2nd May 2016, 14:50
And both crashed out on a fast left hander in their 161st start on May 1st.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
2nd May 2016, 19:46
Hamilton may be regreting not having been crashed by Kvyat so, @kingshark
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
2nd May 2016, 13:10
While I agree that the championship is far from over, I actually think Rosberg’s lead is even greater than it seems at first.
If we assume that Mercedes is going to have one-two victories from now on (given Mercedes’ reliability problems that probably won’t happen, but regarding their speed that’s quite possible), winning just 6 out of 17 races left would be enough for Rosberg to claim the title. Sure, Hamilton has had more reliability problems than Rosberg so far, but that doesn’t mean Rosberg is going to get any more bad luck in the upcoming races than Hamilton is.
In 2014 Hamilton’s points lead was 67 points, but without double points it would’ve been only 42 points. Besides, 2014 and 2015 had 19 races while this season has only 17 left.
In conclusion, while Hamilton may very well still win the championship, it won’t be easy without Rosberg having more bad luck from now on.
Pyon (@pyon)
2nd May 2016, 13:55
Yes but despite his bad luck LH never had a DNF, so personally I consider him lucky on that front. Two DNF for Rosberg (being hit, accident, mechanical failure,..) with two LH victory he his ahead. So with so many race to go, in my opinion the championship is far from over.
dam00r (@dam00r)
2nd May 2016, 13:34
And last year Hamilton won the championship over Rosberg by 59 points.
ColdFly F1 (@)
2nd May 2016, 13:39
… and was 80 points ahead after 16 races (17 left this year).
Not a betting guy, but it’s more likely that Leicester will win the EPL than Rosberg the WDC in 2016 ;-)
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
2nd May 2016, 13:59
On the other hand, in 2014 Rosberg was only 17 points behind Hamilton after 16 races. Even though you could argue that Hamilton lost his motivation after sealing the title in 2015, excluding the last races of the season gives a wrong picture of the season in whole.
Besides, Rosberg is in a lot better form this season than last year. It’s possible that Hamilton could’ve won in Russia and China without reliability problems, but Nico would still have two victories, two second places and a points lead over Hamilton.
Jack Jeffreys (@jack1501)
2nd May 2016, 14:04
mainly because Leicester are now almost certain to win it
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd May 2016, 14:11
@dam00r As per the graph :-)
ColdFly F1 (@)
2nd May 2016, 14:00
30th race in a row with the German anthem being played.
(and the last time without either a German Win/FLap/Pole was Brazil 2012).
Jack Jeffreys (@jack1501)
2nd May 2016, 14:05
A german did win the championship that day though….
ColdFly F1 (@)
2nd May 2016, 16:15
Valid reason for me, @jack1501.
We then go back to Spa 2012 when Germany played no leading role in a race weekend’s result! (except for engine manufacturer of the winning team).
Slowhands (@slowhands)
2nd May 2016, 21:54
@coldfly
I think you’re gonna have to go back again then. :) Engine’s pretty important, I’d say it’s a leading role.
With all the hype Bernie gives to Ferrari (“Without Ferrari there is no Formula 1”), Germany has played a massive role in the modern popularity of F1. Even my aging aunt in India who has no interest in or knowledge of sports knows Schumacher. And Mercedes has powered McLaren for a long time. How far back do we have to go for your statement to be true without exception? Alonso’s Renault years? And how far back without a German product of any kind, human or otherwise, on the podium?
Cucamest (@kevincucamest)
2nd May 2016, 22:41
If we were to go back to the last time where no German driver, team or engine was on the podium, on pole position and posted the fastest lap there are two possibilities.
In Spain 2012, Maldonado (Williams Renault), Alonso (Ferrari) and Raikkonen (Lotus Renault) were on the podium and Grosjean (Lotus Renault) posted the fastest lap. The debate would be over pole position because Hamilton had originally claimed pole in a Mercedes powered McLaren, but then got sent to the back as he didn’t have enough fuel on board for inspection so hence Maldonado did start on pole.
But if you want a clear race where no German driver, team or engine had any major part in the outcome then you have to go to Brazil 2008 where we had Massa (Ferrari), Alonso (Renault) and Raikkonen (Ferrari) on the podium and Massa had the fastest lap and pole on that day. Although I have to concede that a Mercedes powered car won the driver’s championship that day.
So since that is a major event the last time nothing major happened with a German team, driver or engine was France 2008 where Massa, Raikkonen and Trulli (Toyota) finished on the podium and Kimi posted the fastest lap and started from pole position.
Nimba (@nimba)
3rd May 2016, 0:38
@Cucamest .. err….. I kind of like to do it now… Wasn’t the Toyota F1 team based out of Germany , I think they had major things in Cologne ?…. we may need to go farther back than that.
Robin Evers (@robin-evers)
2nd May 2016, 14:13
There was an odd occurence in the starting grid.
The cross total of rows 5 and 6 were both 77.
The starting numbers of the drivers in these rows were all double-same-digit.
The starting numbers were 33,44,55,22. I guess this was the first time four double-same-digit numbers occured on the grid in order.
Now I’m waiting for the first time that Button (22)lines up in front of Verstappen(33), Hamilton(44) and Sainz(55) in that order.
Rather unlikely would be a top 9 grid like that:
11 Perez
22 Button
33 Verstappen
44 Hamilton
55 Sainz Jr.
66 last used by Piquet Sr. for Brabham in 1978
77 Bottas
88 Haryanto
99 last used by Sutil for Sauber in 2014
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
2nd May 2016, 15:25
@robin-evers OK I really want that top five to happen now. It’s unlikely but not completely crazy with some well-timed rain…
Slowhands (@slowhands)
2nd May 2016, 22:00
@keithcollantine @robin-evers Would love to see that top five as a final classification. Would likely also have to be a rain race with accident-related retirements. But the day Perez could beat both JB and LH in the rain I’d say would have to be VERY crazy…
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
2nd May 2016, 23:51
I think the Piquet comeback is more likely than Sutil ever racing again in F1…
BT52B (@)
2nd May 2016, 15:04
– Only the second time since their Honda partnership that both McLaren drivers scored points.
– Mercedes and Williams are the only teams in which their drivers have scored a point in every race.
Bleu (@bleu)
2nd May 2016, 15:58
* Hülkenberg was first driver since Adrian Sutil in 2013-14 (Austin) to retire in the first lap in the consecutive races on the same circuit. Sutil also did that in 2007-08 Barcelona, as did Jarno Trulli in Monza 2000-01. So four occurences in this century.
* This was fourth shortest span between two races on the same circuit. Sepang (2000-01) has the shortest span, Kyalami (1983-84) and Shanghai (2008-09) share 2nd place.
Bleu (@bleu)
2nd May 2016, 16:11
Correcting that last one. Fifth shortest, Kyalami 2nd and Estoril (1984-85) sharing 3rd with Shanghai.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
2nd May 2016, 17:15
Another small thingy: as was mentioned on Sky (I think?), this was the first time there has been a race on May 1st since 1994.
f199player (@f199player)
2nd May 2016, 17:32
First time ever the a driver who’s name is features in the next Olympics (Rio) has raced at the venue of the previous Olympics
f199player (@f199player)
2nd May 2016, 17:33
*First time ever that a
Slowhands (@slowhands)
2nd May 2016, 22:02
And that’s a record that’s likely to last forever.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
2nd May 2016, 17:55
Raikkonen keeps alive his run of qualifying 4th in every race in 2016 (although he didn’t start 4th here due to Vettel’s gearbox penalty).
Kvyat and Gutierrez are the only drivers not to have started a race ahead of their team-mates this year, and Hamilton and Haryanto are the only drivers not to have finished a race ahead of their team-mates.
Verstappen’s first DNF since Britain 2015. Perez now has the longest unbroken streak (13 – last DNF was Hungary).
17th year in a row that Button has scored points – a new record.
The last 30 races have all been won by either Hamilton, Rosberg, or Vettel.
25th 1-2 for Hamilton & Rosberg (in either order), 1 more than M Schumacher & Barrichello managed at Ferrari.
If Rosberg does not win the title this year, the winner will be the first driver since Prost in 1989 to win the title without winning any of the season’s first 4 races.
Bob
2nd May 2016, 19:30
If you include Ricciardo (with Hamilton, Rosberg and Vettel), then the last 56 races have been won by four drivers- back to Monaco 2013.
Slowhands (@slowhands)
2nd May 2016, 22:07
@paulgilb I like that Button record. Consistent success without burning out or burning bridges. A class act.
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
2nd May 2016, 21:21
Vettel’s record breaking streak of races without retirements due to contact with another car has come to an end. Last time it happened was in Turkey 2010.
Fixy (@)
2nd May 2016, 23:18
I’m almost certain Spa 2010 (contact with Button) came after that @mike-dee
Kingshark (@kingshark)
3rd May 2016, 0:26
@fixy
He didn’t retire though.
Fixy (@)
3rd May 2016, 12:50
@kingshark good point, couldn’t remember off the top of my head. :)
MG421982 (@)
3rd May 2016, 8:11
The title is misleading, I thought about the all-time record! I guess inserting “consecutive” there could clarify everything.
Anyway, since the seasons are longer and longer, points awarded to more and more participants, more and more points awarded to the participants, cars more reliable than ever… you can bet many records will fall. Actually, many of the most important records already fell… kinda dramatically in the last decade. Just look at the STARTS RECORD, for ex: Ricardo Patrese’ number of starts (256) looked really impressive until 2000, but these days that number of starts kinda became the norm. In the top 10 of all time starts, 5 of the drivers retired after 2008 (Coulthard, Fisichella, Trulli, Barrichello, MSchumacher), while 4 of them still race (Button, Alonso, Raikkonen, Massa). So, yeah, there’re really big chances that this record will fall too and could be improved a lot too if we think how fast and reliable is Mercedes this season.
Hans (@hanswes)
3rd May 2016, 11:09
Most of the stats are meainingless if they aren’t corrected for the fact that we have far more races now than we had in the past.