Nico Rosberg can clinch the world championship in Mexico this weekend despite his team mate’s victory in yesterday’s United States Grand Prix.
Although Lewis Hamilton scored his seventh win of 2016 in Austin he remains 26 points behind Rosberg with 75 available. If Rosberg wins on Sunday and Hamilton fails to finish inside the top nine, Rosberg will be crowned champion.
Whoever wins the championship, the record for taking the most race victories in a season without winning the title will be equalled and probably beaten this year. Three drivers have managed to win seven races in a season without becoming champion: Alain Prost in 1984 and 1988, Kimi Raikkonen in 2005 and Michael Schumacher in 2006.
If Rosberg wins the title Hamilton will at least equal that record, and could break it if he wins any of the remaining races. If Hamilton wins the title Rosberg will definitely break the record, as he’s already won nine times this year.
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Of the 21 circuits on the calendar today there are just three left where Hamilton has never been on pole. Two of those, Baku and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, have only held one race during Hamilton’s career. The other track is Suzuka which, as mentioned in the last Stats and Facts, is something of a bogey circuit for Hamilton in qualifying.
Rosberg joined Hamilton on the front row of the grid for what could have been a record-equalling 24th race in a row. However he lost his front row start in Austria due to a gearbox change penalty. Ayrton Senna started 24 consecutive races from the front row between the 1988 German and 1989 Australian Grands Prix.
Hamilton’s pole position was the 58th of his career, leaving him ten behind Schumacher’s all-time record of 68 and seven behind Senna. The latter was pointed out to him in Saturday’s press conference. To think that I’m within shooting distance is incredible,” said Hamilton, “but it also just goes to show just how amazing a driver he was.”
“To get as many poles as that in the amount of time that he had, it’s taken me a lot longer to get where I am so it was clearly phenomenal.” Hamilton’s right: Senna took 162 races to reach 65 poles, a strike rate of 40.1%. That compares to Hamilton’s 58 poles from 185 appearances, a rate of 31.4%. For comparison, Schumacher’s strike rate was 22.1% over the course of his career (68 poles from 308 appearances).
Hamilton also set a new record lap of the Circuit of the Americas, narrowly breaking the 1’35s barrier with a lap of 1’34.999. That was 0.658s quicker than the record set by Sebastian Vettel in qualifying for the first race at the track four years ago.
The Ferrari driver set the fastest lap by a whopping margin of 1.964 seconds. That’s the most emphatic fastest lap for more than 20 years, when another German in a Ferrari set a scorching pace. Schumacher’s fastest lap in the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix was 2.218s quicker than anyone else.
But Vettel was powerless to stop Hamilton winning, which made him the third driver in F1 history to reach a half-century of victories. One more will put him level with Prost on 51. He will likely need to beat Prost’s wins record before the end of the year if he is to equal the champion’s tally of four titles.
After that only Schumacher will lie ahead of Hamilton in terms of race wins with his gargantuan tally of 91. However Hamilton did match Schumacher’s record of five wins in the United States Grand Prix. In fact these two drivers have won nine of the last ten F1 races in the USA, half of which were at COTA and the other half at Indianapolis.
Carlos Sainz Jnr came within two laps of finishing in a career-best fifth position, but slipped to sixth when he was passed by Fernando Alonso. He was still elated to equal his previous best where he also finished at home in Spain earlier this year.
Romain Grosjean claimed the point for Haas in his 100th grand prix start, which he marked by wearing a special helmet design. His former team mate Kimi Raikkonen also reached 250 race participations, and should make his 250th start at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The final statistic from this weekend is courtesy of Hamilton, who during his pre-race interviews demonstrated a fine grasp of geography by pointing out that the state of Texas is bigger than France. Grosjean’s home country covers 643,000 square kilometres while the state of which Austin is the capital measures over 695,000.
Circuits where Hamilton and Prost have taken pole
| Lewis Hamilton | Alain Prost |
|---|---|
| Bahrain | |
| Circuit of the Americas | |
| Fuji | |
| Indianapolis | |
| Korea International Circuit | |
| Melbourne | |
| Nurburgring | |
| Red Bull Ring | |
| Sepang | |
| Shanghai International Circuit | |
| Singapore | |
| Sochi | |
| Valencia | |
| Yas Marina | |
| Circuit de Catalunya | Circuit de Catalunya |
| Circuit Gilles Villeneuve | Circuit Gilles Villeneuve |
| Hockenheimring | Hockenheimring |
| Hungaroring | Hungaroring |
| Interlagos | Interlagos |
| Monaco | Monaco |
| Monza | Monza |
| Silverstone | Silverstone |
| Spa-Francorchamps | Spa-Francorchamps |
| Caesars Palace | |
| Detroit | |
| Dijon | |
| Donington Park | |
| Estoril | |
| Imola | |
| Jacarepagua | |
| Kyalami | |
| Osterreichring | |
| Paul Ricard | |
| Suzuka | |
| Zandvoort | |
| Zolder |
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 United States Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2016 United States Grand Prix
- Austin defeat in 2015 spurred Rosberg on to title
- Alonso beats Sainz to Driver of the Weekend win
- Verstappen “on autopilot” during pit stop error
- Virtual Safety Car blamed for US GP anti-climax
- 2016 United States Grand Prix team radio transcript
LosD (@losd)
24th October 2016, 11:35
It’s pretty clear that Vettel’s late change to supersofts was to do just that… I guess they are in “Hey, at least we…”-mode. :-)
marcusbreese (@marcusbreese)
24th October 2016, 12:14
Indeed. It made me think of a very short Vettel quote from Monaco many moons ago now, on being advised not to take any unnecesary risks for fastest lap.
“But satisfaction”
dam00r (@dam00r)
24th October 2016, 13:33
That’s why Räikkönen got so many fastest laps to his name. Late tyre change
Balazsryche (@balazsryche)
24th October 2016, 15:11
Obviously, this is bullsht. He got 10 only from 2005 when they weren’t allowed to change the tires at all.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th October 2016, 13:51
Quite true, @losd
@marcusbreese – oh, those Red Bull days seem so far away! 😁
I don’t mind a dominant team getting the FLAP, and I don’t mind when a struggling team like McLaren shoot for a FLAP, just for motivation’s sake.
However, for some reason, it offends me when a team like Ferrari settle for a FLAP when they should instead be focused on getting at least one win in 2016.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
24th October 2016, 14:12
@losd
That’s a bonus, but pitting was a smart thing to do nevertheless. Sainz was so far away that Vettel got a free pit stop and I assume his old tyres had a bigger (even though rather small) risk of failure.
LosD (@losd)
24th October 2016, 14:19
Hmmm, you might be right, though I consider a pit stop and new tires a bigger risk of having a failure (just ask Kimi!) than just using the older tires, especially when others are so far back that you can take it _very_ easy.
Blackbox (@blackbox)
24th October 2016, 15:46
Do believe they also pitted Vettel so they could clear out the extra rubber in rear wing, causing it to close / open erratically. This almost almost caused Vettel to spin earlier in the race. Do not think they care much about the fastest lap at this point.
LosD (@losd)
24th October 2016, 17:41
@blackbox Yes, I also just came back to correct my assumption after I read this article.
kpcart
24th October 2016, 15:47
it was also good data gathering it could be said, and just to test, to see how fast… etc. I highly doubt it is just to show boat, having to do a pitstop is risky in itself, we see so many delays in stops and wheels not being tightened properly etc.
Pikashi (@kashi13)
24th October 2016, 11:39
I wasn’t aware up until this point that Rosberg can potentialy clinch the title as early as Mexico. I really hope this isn’t gonig to happen, not because I’m a huge Hamilton fan (although I prefer him over Rosberg), but because I’d like to see some exciting battles between those two in the remaining races. However, I think if Rosberg’s engine doesn’t let go in one of the next two races he’s going to play it safe because he’s smart enough to know that he can easily snatch second in the remaining races as long as he stays away from any troubles. So therefor I’m rooting for some sort of a slip up from Rosberg to spice up the championship battle a bit.
Craig Wilde (@wildfire15)
24th October 2016, 12:14
Playing it safe may not be an option if the Red Bulls continue to threaten. The Mercedes have a huge problem following other cars and have struggled to overtake all season, so if the Red Bulls (and even Ferraris) get in the mix then it could throw a massive spanner in either Mercedes driver’s charge.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
24th October 2016, 12:20
@wildfire15 Rosberg sure could overtake in Malaysia. From being spun, he made it back to the podium. That was some impressive driving with a Mercedes behind other cars.
dam00r (@dam00r)
24th October 2016, 13:34
Mostly gaining from pit stops
kpcart
24th October 2016, 15:48
no, your are thinking Hamilton in Spa. Rosberg actually past a lot of cars in Malaysia.
Craig Wilde (@wildfire15)
24th October 2016, 14:24
That’s a poor example because A) Hamilton did the same more then once this year, so we know the car can make a comeback through much of the field, and B) Rosberg wouldn’t have been on the podium if Hamilton’s car hadn’t failed.
Behind Red Bulls and even Ferraris (you know, the ones I specified), Mercedes have struggled to get past on track. If either falls behind, then they lose the race straight away as, at the front in clear air, there’s no excuse not to win in that car and if they manage to get past then it’s too late to make a come back. I still hold that Rosberg is slower then Hamilton, but it’s only by a matter of 1-2 tenths a lap at present so if one gets away then that’s it.
The Skeptic
25th October 2016, 0:14
petebaldwin (@petebaldwin)
24th October 2016, 16:42
Even with Red Bull putting a bit more pressure on, Rosberg only needs 2x 2nds and 1x 3rd providing Hamilton wins all 3 races. Unless the Mercs run into problems, I can’t see Red Bull being close enough to Mercedes in Brazil or Abu Dhabi.
If Rosberg manages to win one of the next 3 races, a 2nd and a DNF (or a 5th and a 6th) would be enough to clinch the title.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
24th October 2016, 14:36
@kashi13 “but because I’d like to see some exciting battles between those two in the remaining races”
Even if the title were decided early we would likely still see some exciting battles between them, In fact if anything not having to worry about the title could make the racing between them far harder & far more exciting.
For example look at 2005, Alonso clinched the title in Brazil & then over the final 2-3 races we saw some of the best racing from Alonso/Raikkonen that we had seen all year as neither needed to worry about the playing it ‘safe’ thinking about the title.
The title going down to the final race does add a bit of interest/excitement on its own, However it’s not always the most interesting scenario from a racing standpoint as the title challengers can start playing it safe to score the finishes they need.
petebaldwin (@petebaldwin)
24th October 2016, 16:45
Yeah but you’re talking about Alonso and Kimi rather than Hamilton. Look back at Hamilton’s past performances once the WDC and Constructor’s title fight is over….. Last year for example!
mark jackson
24th October 2016, 23:01
Remember Hamilton “wishing the season was over” after clinching the title? If Rosberg wins the title early, Hamilton might not even show up to the remaining races. lol.
lockup (@)
24th October 2016, 11:43
That headline makes me nervous! Rosberg was good in Mexico last year, and istr T1 is a long way and a massive bottleneck.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
25th October 2016, 4:42
@lockup – Don’t worry! The headline requires Rosberg to win and Hamilton to do very poorly. I can expect any one of those to happen, but both is highly unlikely.
Last year, Rosberg did well in part due to Hamilton switching off after getting the WDC (I think, like many others); I don’t expect Hamilton to be that complacent this weekend!
Vht
25th October 2016, 12:25
The post-race reactions of Hamilton in Mexico last year on his teams strategic decisions did not even remotely substantiate him having “switched off”.
JammyB
24th October 2016, 11:47
I’m all for different world champions obviously, having the same person win year after year is a bore fest. But on the flip side I think the worst thing in F1 is to see any driver win the driver championship down to bad reliability of their direct competitor or circumstance. The whole reason there are 2 championships is to determine who is the better driver is it not? Nico just feels a bit like Damon Hill to me. If the terrible circumstances of the 94 season didn’t happen he would never have become a world champion and only became a F1 champion by circumstance.
If he wins the championship this year it will be down to circumstance, relying on reliability issues of his team mate and the fact he is by far in the fastest car on the grid. There really is just no denying that I’m afraid, that is how his world title will always be seen.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
24th October 2016, 12:21
How many races have Rosberg inherited from Hamilton? He’s standing on 9 wins which is a pretty damn impressive figure. Rosberg’s driving, especially in Japan, was the driving of a genuinely deserving world champion. I’ve never been a fan of the German but I definitely am becoming one over this second half of 2016.
ResultantAsteroid
24th October 2016, 16:52
+1
Strangely Brown (@irukaviking)
24th October 2016, 23:36
Well said Christopher.
Rosberg’s success to date is on merit. I firmly believe that should he win this year’s championship (and I am rooting for him), he will be a deserving champion.
I’m not sure I’d call myself a ”fan” of Rosberg’s…..but he has shown great tenacity.
p.s. I’d really have to have little respect for a driver to compare them with Damon Hill or Jacques Villeneuve! LOL ;)
grat
25th October 2016, 0:25
Outright inherited, not so many– But based on some serious armchair F1 math, reliability has basically cost Hamilton 47 points (+12 for China, +7 for Russia, +3 for Belgium, +25 for Malaysia) and Rosberg would lose 10 points (7 for Russia, 3 for Malaysia).
That’s based on taking out the two engine failures in China and Russia qualifying (and therefore remove the penalties from Spa), assuming Hamilton finished Malaysia in 1st place, and that Mercedes would have had 1-2 finishes in China and Russia, with race finishes based on practice times– Rosberg wins China and Belgium, Hamilton wins Russia. I ignore Baku completely.
mark jackson
25th October 2016, 1:59
If you do the same for Rosberg in 2014 and he’d be champion that year.
Martin
25th October 2016, 9:32
He wouldn’t but it’s always nice to dream eh?
regs (@regs)
28th October 2016, 17:03
You also ignored Spain where Rosberg lost at least 7 points to Hamilton thank to Hamilton driving error. And you also ignored Austria where Rosberg lost 13 points due to breaks failure.
pastaman (@)
24th October 2016, 13:38
Reliability has always been a factor in the championship, and just because you don’t think he’s worthy doesn’t mean he isn’t.
The Duke
24th October 2016, 16:25
You view Alonso’s championships the same way, good to know.
Unless you can’t apply your view to every driver to win due to unreliability of a competitor….
Robbie (@robbie)
25th October 2016, 14:58
@JammyB You may see the Championship or Nico this way, but that doesn’t mean everyone will. But sometimes that’s just the way it is. Nobody is trying to convince you that Nico winning will mean he is the best ever, right? But I know that for many the fact that he is even on the team counts for nothing, nor the fact they re-signed him. ie. Mercedes see way more in Nico than you do.
The fact is not all racers are of the Senna ilk. But almost all WDCs needed the WCC winning car, so you can’t fault Nico for that. But the fact is the team hired him, and LH, to be on the team, nobody else. And in all racing series reliability affects everything. If you want to play woulda coulda shoulda with LH’s reliability, then do it for every driver and see how that would have also affected LH and NR throughout the season. Then throw in safety cars, Nico getting spun and having to come from the back, LH taking them both out, SV and MV taking cars out and how all that would have affected the Merc drivers…where do you draw the line if you are going to play ‘let’s pretend’. Why play the game for just one driver?
Racing is like life, and sometimes life isn’t fair. Sometimes you do everything perfectly and someone does just a titch better. Or sometimes it is the bad luck of others that opens opportunities…like life. Rarely does it come down just to one thing though. Nico still had to be there for every race weekend doing everything in his power, unable to control anything but what he himself can control. His actions and pressures have always been there and he has never just assumed that unreliability of others will win him the WDC. But unreliability of others, and accidents, and mistakes etc etc by everyone on the grid affects every drivers day somehow. That’s just racing.
You want to play the pretend game? Play it with every season and every WDC of F1 then.
Sumedh
24th October 2016, 11:47
That comparison of circuits between Prost and Hamilton.. Really nice.. Loved it..
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
24th October 2016, 11:53
Thank you :-)
GeeMac (@geemac)
24th October 2016, 12:41
It is also interesting to note that, of the circuits they have both had poles on, all of them bar Interlagos, have changed substantially since Prost retired.
@keithcollantine @sumedh
RUBERT
24th October 2016, 13:40
isnt Osterreichring the same circuit as the redbull ring, ofcourse not the same configuration?
Corey (@dragon86)
24th October 2016, 14:54
It is the same circuit. I’m surprised they aren’t put together, especially when you consider that places like Silverstone and Hockenheim have had different configurations yet are put together.
Tommy Scragend
24th October 2016, 12:14
Just a thought – where does the tipping point come for a circuit to be deemed a “different circuit”?
In the table, the Red Bull Ring and Osterreichring are treated as different circuits, but the Hockenheimring isn’t. Both circuits are vastly changed between Hamilton’s time and Prost’s. The RedOsterreichA1Bullring probably a bit more so, fair enough, but just wondering where the line is drawn.
Kgn11
24th October 2016, 12:17
And Hamilton could win the race and Rosberg suffers a DNF or finish lower than 4th.
The Duke
24th October 2016, 16:28
Yes that could happen. You’re point?
pSynrg (@psynrg)
24th October 2016, 22:08
Same point as the headline really. Anything could happen, and it probably will. It’s not over until its over etc. etc.
hyoko
25th October 2016, 8:49
Of course it can happen and there doesn’t seem to be a point. Well I think I might see a point, but then there’s a small mistake.
What happens if Lewis wins and Nico finishes 4th or lower?
Nico will still be on top no matter what happens in Mexico. But if Lewis wins and Nico doesn’t make the podium, there is a big difference for the WDC situation. Lewis would be able to get it just by winning the last 2 GPs. On the contrary if Nico makes the podium, it’s not enough for Lewis to win all the races.
cookie71 (@paulcook)
24th October 2016, 12:18
What’s interesting to me is that Sebastian Vettel fastest lap of 1’39.877 was nearly 3.5 seconds slower than his qualifying lap of 1’36.358. The often given reason of high fuel or tyre preservation does not count here as he had only two laps remaining. In fact the 1’39.877 if done in qualifying would have left him last on the grid by over 1 second from Esteban Ocons 1’38.806
Johnny Five
24th October 2016, 12:41
During quali they have free use of DRS, don’t they? Would that give them an extra 3.5 seconds / lap?
Rockie
24th October 2016, 13:22
No they don’t that has been outlawed for a while.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
24th October 2016, 13:24
Not anymore. Only in DRS zones.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
24th October 2016, 15:36
@paulcook Traffic? (Also were his tyres used?)
Sumedh
24th October 2016, 16:10
Nice spot. I believe the reasons could be a combination of the following:
1) Lower engine settings in race
2) Lower boost in race. In qualifying, you can charge the battery more in the warm-up lap and use it excessively during the quali lap. But in race, the recharge of battery each lap is lesser and hence, the boost available for the following lap is different.
3) Traffic
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
24th October 2016, 12:18
Hamilton took pole at Red Bull Ring, Prost at Osterreichring. Aren’t those pretty much the same? I’ll use old and new Hockenheim for comparison, since both Prost and Hamilton have secured poles there on very different track layouts.
sean
24th October 2016, 13:13
no, they’re not, osterreichring is the old circuit before being rebuilt into A1 ring = RB ring
Corey (@dragon86)
24th October 2016, 14:57
How is this different then a reconfigured Hockenheim, or any of the 50 variations of Silverstone?
Hugh (@hugh11)
24th October 2016, 13:37
Rosberg definitely deserves this title, he’s been better than Hamilton over the course of the season. If he does win it, it won’t be because of Hamilton’s problems, it’ll be because he was the better driver this year. I reckon he’d have taken it with or without Hamilton’s problems. Only Hamilton’s fans will remember it as an undeserved Championship.
Martin
24th October 2016, 14:49
Even ignoring all of Hamiltons early season reliability issues and Spas grid penalty because of all those issues Hamilton would still be leading the championship right now if his engine hadn’t failed in Malaysia. I think people grossly underestimate how much reliability issues have affected Hamilton.
As for being the better driver Rosberg has had a lot of seriously average races this year. Silverstone, Monaco, Canada, Austria, Germany all spring to mind.
Im not saying Rosberg would be an undeserving champion, but it is pointless to try and argue that, if he wins, reliability didn’t play a huge part.
Jabosha (@jabosha)
24th October 2016, 16:12
It’s all part of the narrative and done on purpose to justify Rosberg as a “deserving” champion. They don’t care about Hamiltons reliability problems. Rest assured, if Rosbergs car goes and Hamilton wins the championship, they”ll be screaming how he lost the championship because his car let him down. He has raised his game in some areas but he’s not better and when factoring in that which many are leaving out, it certainly proves Hamilton is his better. Factoring in reliability this year and this year only, no I don’t think Rosberg would win the championship. Is he deserving? He has done everything he needs to so far, if he continues to do so, what’s more desrving than that?
OT: I hope F1 2017 has PSVR support.
Hugh (@hugh11)
25th October 2016, 12:08
Austria was actually a very good race for him up until the last lap when he forgot how a steering wheel worked, he managed to get himself from 6th on the grid to ahead of Hamilton, who started on pole.
Yes, reliability has played a part, but these things happen in every championship. Look at Massa in 2008, you can say he would’ve won if Ferrari’s pit stops with the fuel hose went right, which was nothing to do with his ability but with the car, but Hamilton won the title and that’s that. Even 2014 to an extent where Rosberg could’ve won the title if he beat Hamilton in the final race, but got a reliability issue, and Hamilton won. It’s F1. Nothing’s perfect, these things happen. They’ve benefited Hamilton in the past, they’re benefiting Rosberg now, and he’s been the better driver this season.
Guccio (@concalvez00)
24th October 2016, 18:42
@hugh11 Nonsense. Rosberg benefitted from Hamilton’s car issues which put Rosberg in the position he’s in, nothing to do with Rosberg so called upped his game.
sato113 (@sato113)
24th October 2016, 19:04
Agreed!
Knight
24th October 2016, 22:06
Only a Hamilton fan would say he lost this championship only because of reliability .
He could have beaten Rosberg In Japan But was slower in qualifying and had a bad start.And quite a few bad starts across the season.In Baku also Hamilton has only himself to blame.
So yea Hamilton had more reliability problems but don’t kid yourself because he also made mistakes.He also benefited from the stopped race in Spa.Another thing is Rosberg let Lewis pass in Monaco.Even if team ordered me i wouldn’t .
Knight
24th October 2016, 22:08
And Lewis also had luck when RedBull defeated themselves in Monaco.
Martin
25th October 2016, 9:37
Yeah because Rosberg hasn’t had a bad race this season *cough* Monaco, Silverstone, Canada, Hungry, Germany, Austria *cough*
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
24th October 2016, 21:42
If the Malaysia failure didn’t happened, Hamilton would be leading the championship. And this ignoring all of the other mechanical problems. If we count that Hamilton would be leading the championship comfortably.
Knight
24th October 2016, 22:18
And if Alonso would be driving a Mercedes he would would be leading the championship even with mechanical problems.
Jon (@johns23)
25th October 2016, 5:10
Why don’t you just tell us what you really mean? Alonso is way better than Lewis. Same old story.
rantingmrp (@rantingmrp)
26th October 2016, 5:06
Alonso – then double world champion – was beaten by the rookie Hamilton in 2007 in the same car. So much for his being ‘way better than Lewis’.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
24th October 2016, 13:41
Either way champion will be a deserving one.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th October 2016, 13:53
@jureo – well said! The best man is the WDC.
lockup (@)
24th October 2016, 16:30
That’s the generous interpretation @phylyp but I don’t think it stands up to scrutiny. The wdc is the wdc, but if you want to add to that then you need something to support it. What is ‘best’? At the end of the year you need a definition that encompasses what has happened.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th October 2016, 18:45
@lockup – in the context of the WDC, the best man is the one with the most points. Nothing else factors in. And I know I’m stating the obvious, sorry for that.
Of course, history books will also consider and will respect the other Mercedes driver for their achievements over the season (Rosberg for making the most of opportunity, Hamilton for coming back against odds), just as it would recognize Alonso punching above his car, Ferrari (team and drivers) squandering a season, etc.
lockup (@)
24th October 2016, 19:10
Well saying the wdc has been ‘the best’ IS factoring something else in @phylyp. The wdc is the champion, he has the most points, no question. Has he been the best though? In what sense? Best at what? There’s no point saying ‘best’ unless it adds something to ‘champion’.
Of course there is more to play out, let’s see how it looks in the end. But different wdc’s have been better or worse over the years, and this year is perhaps unique in that the luck has been such a factor within the same team, instead of between different teams when we could at least say that Kimi, for example, chose a less reliable team than Alonso or Schumi.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
25th October 2016, 5:58
@lockup Best at winning points…
But this year both contenders have record number of wins, so deserving in sense of scoring race victories.
lockup (@)
25th October 2016, 10:14
Well one of them was going to win each race @jureo, nearly, so any time Lewis didn’t win Nico was going to. Wins is not the whole story this year. He’s very quick of course and if he wins on pace in Mexico and Brazil, which history says he might, that will make him more deserving than if he doesn’t.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
25th October 2016, 15:18
@lockup yeah. Each win makes him a more deserving champ, despite wins not being the only story… After 20 years nobody will remember the rest of the story….
lockup (@)
25th October 2016, 16:05
Wins ON PACE @jureo.
And yes exactly: if Rosberg is 2016 wdc then in 20 years nobody will remember how he came by it. That’s why it’s better if the wdc each year wins on pace and racecraft.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
25th October 2016, 19:23
@lockup you mean he who crosses the finish line first had the best pace right?
Or he who has most speed in quali?
Any metric you can think of Nico is leading. Ah maybe less twitter followers and women scorn…
But in racing terms so far Nico has better pace.
lockup (@)
25th October 2016, 20:07
@jureo you mean he who crosses the finish line first had the best pace right?
Lol. They are supposed to be in the same car, right? That means the same car through the weekend, not after one car but not the other has had 2 MGU failures, a water leak, a hydraulics failure, a whole-grid PU penalty and a blowup while leading.
After that, yeah sure. First across the line is the metric, or pick one.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
24th October 2016, 14:10
It’s weird to know that Hamilton could nick one of Schumacher’s biggest records!
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
24th October 2016, 18:02
You mean one of Schumacher’s smallest records?
Guccio (@concalvez00)
24th October 2016, 18:44
@jureo No. The biggest.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
24th October 2016, 18:45
Biggest is 91 wins… Good luck Hamilton with that.
All other Schumacher records pale in comparison.
CarWars (@maxv)
24th October 2016, 19:55
7 wdc?
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
24th October 2016, 20:42
@jureo I didn’t say biggest, I said ”one of” the biggest. And when I say big records, I mean number of championships, wins, pole positions and fastest laps. Lewis could have the record for most pole positions of all time by the end of next year if he still has a competitive car. You didn’t need to get so angry.
mark jackson
25th October 2016, 2:00
He’d need to pass Vettel’s 4 titles first!
Martin
24th October 2016, 14:58
Hamilton is currently sitting on an 80% win rate for Cota and an 83.3…% for the US as a whole. Does anyone know what the stats for the highest win rates for a track/country are? Is anyone on 100% (barring races that have only been run once obviously)
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
24th October 2016, 15:28
Vettel holds a 100% record in India as he is the only winner in its three GPs. Also Rosberg holds a record 100% record in both Mexico and Baku but I guess at least two races should pass before we could enter him.
Sumedh
24th October 2016, 16:14
In India, no one had even led a single lap of the race other than Vettel until the third running of the Indian GP. And even there, we got a non-Vettel leader only because Red Bull pit both their drivers in the first 5-6 laps as a precaution.
Martin
24th October 2016, 16:46
Vettel stat is impressive. I imagine we’ll never have another GP there too.
Anon
24th October 2016, 15:33
Giancarlo Baghetti won every French Grand Prix he ever raced in.
MonkeyDLuffy
24th October 2016, 15:43
I think Sebastian Vettel holds high percentage win ratio in INDIA.
schooner (@schooner)
24th October 2016, 15:42
Nearly 270,000 people came through the gates at COTA over the three days, and that is an attendance record. Included in that number though, are the 80,000 or so that were there for the Taylor Swift concert on Saturday night. It would be interesting to know how many of those came only because of the concert. Even though you had to purchase a 3 day general admission pass at $150 in order to see her show, I’d expect the number to be fairly substantial. But I’d also bet that a fair number of those TS fans stayed to watch some racing just out of curiosity, and hopefully some new F1 fans were born. In any case, it looked like a very successful weekend.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
24th October 2016, 22:14
@schooner Like it or not but add to that, Lewis breaking into mainstream media in the USA. He has a massive fan base over there, he’s probably more famous for being a celebrity who does this F1 thing, rather than the other way round.
Retired (@jeff1s)
24th October 2016, 16:36
* Since 2007, only Hamilton and Vettel have won the US GP.
Blakk
24th October 2016, 16:55
I guess “sneaky” titles run in the Rosberg`s family…
Seann
24th October 2016, 20:11
If Rosberg wins the championship, it will be a false victory. If he had as many mechanical issues as Lewis had, he would not have a hope in hades of even getting close. One breakdown for Nico, will be the end of the gifted prize for him.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
25th October 2016, 13:56
In the time that both Lewis and Nico have been teammates, Nico has actually suffered more mechanical issues.
Swordsman_uk (@swordsman_uk)
24th October 2016, 17:57
@keithcollantine I always like these stats articles. So I hate to point out an error but…
While you correctly state that Schumacher had 68 poles, in the next paragraph you say “For comparison, Schumacher’s strike rate was 25% over the course of his career (77 poles from 308 appearances).”
Not sure where the 77 came from. His 68 poles give him a strike rate of 22%.
Corey (@dragon86)
24th October 2016, 18:32
I think 77 was the number of fastest laps, Schumacher achieved.
I do have to ask though. Racing-reference.info has Schumacher listed with only 67 poles. Having looked through the states, it seems like the didn’t count the 1996 French Grand Prix, since he never actually started the race. Does the awarding of the still count even if the driver doesn’t actually start the race?
Richard (@rick1984)
25th October 2016, 5:28
No! To use michael in the answer -monte carlo 2012- he set pole and started 6th due to penalty. This is not counted. Iirc its listed as a webber pole i think. Schumacher did predict earlier in the weekend he was going to set pole, start sixth and win the race. To quote meatloaf two out of three aint bad.
Also spain 2012 lists crashtor as the pole man when hamilton set pole, ran out of fuel and got thrown out of quali.
Richard (@rick1984)
25th October 2016, 5:30
Forrgot to tag @dragon86 above
Palle (@palle)
24th October 2016, 18:03
@Keith:
“For comparison, Schumacher’s strike rate was 25% over the course of his career (77 poles from 308 appearances).”
Schumacher only got 68 pole positions in his F1 career, as You stated earlier in the article, and he only started in 306 GP’s.
Bleu (@bleu)
24th October 2016, 21:25
Only one team was knocked out completely in Q1 – earlier this year it had happened in Belgium only.
geoffgroom44 (@)
24th October 2016, 22:47
It seems that most prognostications about a Nico championship are fundamentally predicated upon assumptions that
a). Lewis’s car fails
b). Lewis does not finish in a high enough place (stated in this article as the first 9).
c). Lewis messes up his starts.
d). no competition places Nico under any pressure forcing an error that costs him places or even a finish.
As good a driver as Nico is, it seems to me that there is far too much reliance in these predictions upon circumstances that are not within Nico’s control (and I include item d in this). Ergo, this championship is still wide open.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
24th October 2016, 23:16
First time Hamilton has finished anywhere other than 1 place higher than he started in Austin.
Rosberg has scored more points so far in 2016 (18 races) than in the whole of either 2014 or 2015 (19 races each).
Massa’s best qualifying since Azerbaijan, and his best finish since Russia.
Hulkenberg’s streak of starting between 7th and 9th inclusive now extends to 9 races.
Only the 2nd time this season that Rosberg has officially finished 2nd in a race.
The Mercedes drivers are now guaranteed to finish 1st and 2nd in the Championship.
Red Bull’s first official mechanical DNF this season (Kvyat in Australia was a DNS).
Only 1 driver has led laps in both the last 2 races – and he doesn’t drive a Mercedes.
Hamilton’s 58th Mercedes-powered pole, equals M Schumacher with Ferrari power.
Mercedes have managed 1-2 finishes in exactly half of the 56 turbo-era races.
Hamilton equals Senna’s 29 wins from pole.
4th consecutive US GP in which a Force India has retired due to a crash.
3rd year in a row that Mercedes have locked out the front row and scored a 1-2 at Austin – first team to do this 3 years in a row at any track.
Thanks to magnetimarelli.com and formula1.com for some of these.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
25th October 2016, 4:53
@paulgilb – nice stats 👍
This is a simply insane stat, one that Mercedes HPP, the car designers, drivers and the team have truly earned!
Is it just three races that a Mercedes did not figure on the podium – 2015 Hungary, 2015 Singapore and 2016 Spain?
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
25th October 2016, 22:22
Yes – those are the only 3 races.
Younger Hamii (@younger-hamii)
25th October 2016, 0:00
A few more stats on Hamilton
He scored his 50th win and his 10th win in North America (counting both his US GP and Canadian GP wins) this weekend. That’s 20% of his race wins on North American soil.
Under 33% of Hamilton’s race wins have been in English-speaking countries (counting all his British GP, US GP, Canadian GP and Australian GP wins).
Kazihno (@kazinho)
25th October 2016, 1:22
Going back to what Rosberg needs to win the title:
A win in Mexico and he can seal the title with:
* a 2nd place in Brazil OR Abu Dhabi.
* a 6th and 5th place finishes in the final two races.
Personally I hope if he is to win the title, he does so by more than 25 points just to silence the Hamilton reliability moaners. Reliability is part of motor racing. Hamilton could have been WDC in 2012 but for his DNF’s but I don’t hear moaning about Vettel not deserving the title that year.
mark jackson
25th October 2016, 1:57
I love how the brainwashed Hamilton fans are so fixed on reliability they completely forgot about Lewis’ dreadful start performance. lol
OOliver
25th October 2016, 8:22
Hamilton and Rosberg are the only two drivers fighting for the championship. The poor race starts are a negligible effect on the points table. Engine issues has had Hamilton starting from the back or far behind, several times, These has cost him more lost points than poor race starts.
Martin
25th October 2016, 15:44
Ok I did a count up just for your benefit Mark
Points Hamilton has lost to Rosberg so far in 2016:
Starts (Calculated based on grid position to finishing position):
AUS: 14
Bhr: 17
HUN: -14
GER: -20
ITA: 14
JPN: 3
Total: 14 lost to Rosberg through starts
Reliability (Where failure happened in Qualifying points are calculated based on the assumption of a Merc 1-2, first number in ROS favour and second in HAM favour):
CHN: 12 – 26
RUS: 0 – 14
BEL: 3 – 17
MAL: 28
Total: 43 – 85 (avg 64) points lost to Rosberg through reliability issues
Championship standings as of 25th Oct 2016 had starts not been an issue:
1) Rosberg
2) Hamilton (-12)
Championship standings as of 25th Oct 2016 had reliability not been an issue:
1) Hamilton
2) Rosberg -17 – -59 (avg -38)
So seems pretty clear cut to me about what has been more costly to Hamilton this season. Had he not suffered the problems with reliability that he has then realistically you could say he would be leading the championship by at least 17 points, and if everything had went spectacularly for him he could be leading by 2 race wins at this point.
Now Mark as a fan of Hamilton (among other drivers) I would love for you to point out which part of my post is the result of brainwashing.
Jon (@johns23)
25th October 2016, 2:05
Lewis has had his fair share of problems this year we must admit, Most out of his control, others pretty much his fault. Just hasn’t worked out for him being on the back foot at the start of the year. He can hold hid head up high though coming back from a huge deficit and even overtaking Rosberg in the championship. Shows how he is one of the greats of F1. Nonetheless, Rosberg will be a deserved champion this year and good on him for sticking at it after loosing the previous few years. A lot has gone his way in 2016 and at the end of the day, thats what you need in motor racing
AceAce
25th October 2016, 5:55
Keith, I Salute you. Another good article on statistics etc. A fanatic, yes you are.
AceAce
25th October 2016, 5:58
You’re knowledge and commitment to F1 and motorsports in general is second to.none.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
25th October 2016, 8:41
Thanks very much!
Willy Wonker
25th October 2016, 9:57
If Rosberg wins, it will not be right to dismiss his victory as due to Hamilton’s misfortune (although I suspect some fans would even if Rosberg wins the next three!).
Such a position is indefensible, because where a driver sits in the championship race at any one time can hugely affect their approach to a race. A driver will often only do what is necessary, especially in this era with engines being limited and tyres so easily destroyed. If Rosberg had needed to push in Austin and in the next three, with engine at the max, he would do and the result might be different. He is certainly capable of beating Hamilton, just look at Singapore and Japan and the pole stats over the years, particularly in 2014. The fact is that only Hamilton has to push right now. Indeed, only Hamilton has had to push for most of the season. Rosberg certainly seemed completely fine with taking 2nd in Austin, as you would expect. Basically, it’s pointless saying if this, if that, then.. blah blah blah. The only thing that we can judge with no qualifications is the number of points each has at the end of the year.
Tricky (@tricky)
25th October 2016, 15:28
Good to see a woman collecting the constructors race trophy, how many times has that happened?
Phylyp (@phylyp)
26th October 2016, 7:40
While I don’t have an answer, I can only say it’s not often enough, @tricky
One can only wish for more women in the various disciplines in a racing team – not just the front office like media handlers, but also the technical side.
Tricky (@tricky)
28th October 2016, 16:19
Here is a partial answer to my own question – so it has happened at least twice before.
https://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/women-on-the-f1-podium/
Which is no where near enough.
DonSmee (@david-beau)
25th October 2016, 19:15
Vettel probably has the record of first lap collisions within a season now.
Jason Miller (@flatdarkmars)
25th October 2016, 23:39
I see that the Hamilton/Prost pole position comparison list has Osterreichring and Red Bull Ring as separate tracks. Now I know that it was totally rebuilt and the layout changed quite a bit, but some of the other tracks (especially Silverstone) have changed quite a bit over the years too.