Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Paul Ricard, 2018

Hamilton has now won at every track on the F1 calendar

2018 French Grand Prix stats and facts

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Lewis Hamilton scored the 65th win and 75th pole position of his Formula 1 career in last weekend’s French Grand Prix.

It would have been a lights-to-flag victory for Hamilton had he not made his pit stop one lap before Kimi Raikkonen, who hit the front for a single lap. Hamilton didn’t take the fastest lap en route to his third grand prix victory of 2018 either: that went to Valtteri Bottas, for the third time this year.

Consistency is the name of the game for Hamilton at the moment. This was a record-extending 33rd points finish in a row for him.

This also means he has equalled Nick Heidfeld’s record of finishing in 33 races in a row, which Heidfeld did between the 2007 Chinese and 2009 Italian Grands Prix.

Hamilton’s latest victory means he has now won at all 21 venues on this year’s F1 calendar. Out of his rivals, Sebastian Vettel is closest to matching this feat:

Lewis HamiltonSebastian Vettel
Albert Park1st1st
Bahrain International Circuit1st1st
Shanghai International Circuit1st1st
Baku City Circuit1st2nd
Circuit de Catalunya1st1st
Monte-Carlo1st1st
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve1st1st
Paul Ricard1st5th
Red Bull Ring1st2nd
Silverstone1st1st
Hockenheimring1st3rd
Hungaroring1st1st
Spa-Francorchamps1st1st
Monza1st1st
Singapore1st1st
Sochi Autodrom1st2nd
Suzuka1st1st
Circuit of the Americas1st1st
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez1st4th
Interlagos1st1st
Yas Marina1st1st

Hamilton has also set a new record for most wins in different grands prix. The French Grand Prix is the 23rd different event he has won, one more than Michael Schumacher.

Raikkonen, meanwhile, broke Alain Prost’s record for the most circuits at which he has taken a podium finish. Paul Ricard is the 30th different track where Raikkonen finished on the podium. Hamilton tied Prost on 29 at the last race, so this record could also fall to him eventually.

Kimi Raikkonen, Jean Alesi, Paul Ricard, 2018
Raikkonen and Alesi have long win-less podium streaks
For Raikkonen, this was also the 25th podium finish since his last race victory. The next-longest win-less podium streak belongs to Jean Alesi, with 16.

Having lost the championship lead to Vettel in Canada, Hamilton regained it immediately in France. This is the first time in four years the championship lead has changed hands in two consecutive races: Hamilton took the points lead off Nico Rosberg at the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix but lost it again at the next round.

Fernando Alonso scored points each of the first five races but has missed out in all of the three since then. However he retained his perfect qualifying record against team mate Stoffel Vandoorne.

Carlos Sainz Jnr became the second driver from outside the ‘big three’ teams to run inside the top three positions during a race this year. The other was Sergio Perez when he finished on the podium in Baku.

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France’s three F1 drivers were all involved in collisions on the first lap of their home race. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon retired on the spot, while Romain Grosjean made it to the finish. These three drivers have completed the fewest racing laps so far this year, with Gasly bottom on 322 out of a possible 487.

Finally, Paul Ricard returned to the F1 calendar 28 years after its last race. This is one of the longest intervals between world championship races at the same venue. In 2007 F1 returned to the Fuji circuit in Japan following a 30-year break.

This is outstripped by Indianapolis, which had a 40-years break between its races in 1960 and 2000. However its 1960 race was the Indianapolis 500, when it counted towards the F1 world championship, which was not run to Formula 1 rules.

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Review the year so far in statistics here:

Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the French Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

2018 French Grand Prix

Browse all 2018 French Grand Prix articles

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

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39 comments on “Hamilton has now won at every track on the F1 calendar”

  1. Win number 44 for Hamilton at his current team
    – The first DNF of the season for Perez, which subsequently means that now only three drivers (Hamilton, Vettel, and Sainz) still hold a chance to achieve the feat of reaching the chequered flag at every race of a season. Also the first double-DNF for Force India as a team since the 2016 Austrian GP (although both team’s then-drivers were classified due to having reached 90% of the full race distance before retiring). Three out of Ocon’s four DNF’s in F1 so far have occurred on the opening lap of a race (he seems to be more likely to DNF on lap one than any other current driver at present), while two out of Gasly’s three DNF’s so far also have occurred on the first lap. The third non-finish in a row for Alonso and the second for Stroll.
    – The first race weekend since the Chinese GP in which all the drivers have both participated and set time in qualifying.
    – The fifth race weekend out of eight so far to feature at least one incident relating to a loosely-fitted tyre and or a tyre getting lose while on track.

    BTW: I wasn’t aware of the separate record of reaching the chequered flag in 33 consecutive races previously held by Nick Heidfeld. I thought Raikkonen’s streak of 27 points-scoring finishes was also the longest streak of consecutive races finished (regardless of the final result) until Hamilton surpassed it early this season.

  2. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    27th June 2018, 14:20

    “Raikkonen, meanwhile, broke Alain Prost’s record for the most circuits at which he has taken a podium finish. Paul Ricard is the 30th different track where Raikkonen finished on the podium. Hamilton tied Prost on 29 at the last race, so this record could also fall to him eventually.”

    Only if new races are added as he already was on the podium of all of this year races. Luckily for Hamilton lots of new tracks have been added in recent years and more to follow in the coming years.

  3. France’s three F1 drivers were all involved in collisions on the first lap of their home race. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon retired on the spot, while Romain Grosjean made it to the finish.

    It is the 3rd race in a row where all local drivers were involved in an accident, and the majority did not reach the finish (of the first lap).

    1. @coldfly – that is definitely an interesting stat and a nice coincidence.

    2. @coldfly An interesting stat and coincidence. Although I was aware of it as I, of course, know the nationalities of each driver but still I hadn’t really thought of it that way, LOL.

      1. Well, I hope that doesn’t mean red bulls crash into each other in austria, no austrian driver, so would have to be the team!

  4. Love the photo. Raikkonen the old “young” star in 3rd. Verstappen the new “young” star in 2nd. And, Hamilton the prime “young” star the winner. Its a photo of the last 3 great up and comers.

    30th different track for Kimi on the podium? Yeah, he wasn’t a great driver at all.

  5. It’s weird seeing Hamilton with these records. I never considered him the best in f1, he used to make so my errors when not in the best car, but he has the most priviviledged record of any f1 driver in history ( always in a top car, except for first half of 2009, where he never out drove the cars expectation.) the extra races per season and manufacturer dominance are skewing the stats badly these days against previous seasons. Hamilton has 75 poles, but in senna prost Mansel era might only have 35 now

    1. Also might be worth me pointing out his last non finish was when his engine blew in Malaysia. Just shows luck comes and goes. He didn’t win the championship but he’s not had a race-ending problem since, which helped him win last year and may well do again this year.

      I agree with your comment. I’ve aleays thought of Hamilton and Vettel as very similar in that way, both dominant when the car is dominant but struggle a bit when the car is not. and that’s why I’ll never see them on the same level as Alonso (and maybe Ricciardo in a few years). Of course I know it’s just my opinion

    2. Maybe you didn’t consider him the best, but many in the paddock did then and do now, and would probably laugh at your almost provocative attempt to dumb down his achievements. The 2009 car wasn’t a great car all season, it didn’t become a good car suddenly because he won in it. To say he’s never driven beyond a cars expectation is incorrect and ignorant to the facts. I’d say it was stranger to see Vettel with the records he was tallying up to be honest.

      I agree about the number of races, and dominance affecting the stats. This has worked in both Hamilton and Vettels favour.

    3. Invisiblekid
      28th June 2018, 0:00

      Privileged yes, of course, but is that really a big deal. Ron of course helped at a VERY early age, but thats no more than a young drivers scheme most of the manufacturers have and get first dibs on good drivers.

      However, good car or not, he lost his firsts season by ONE point….and in many opinions was lost not by him but his team. Sorry but you cannot argue very hard against that.

    4. YellowSubmarine
      28th June 2018, 3:18

      It’s not weird, because he really is the best. What you consider him to be is up to you, but the stats are there and you cannot argue against them.
      The “he’s always in a good car” argument has long been debunked – one, he has not always been in a good car (2013 Merc? 2012 McLaren, with Whitmarsh openly favouring Button? etc). Two, he has never been alone on a team – whatever car he’s been in, he’s had a teammate with the exact same car. It speaks to his abilities that he has achieved what he has, while his teammates – who were in the same equipment – didn’t. Three, consider this: if it wasn’t for some horrendous unreliability in 2016, he’d have broken these records last year or earlier. That’s what’s so surreal about his insane ability to drive a formula one car.
      Lewis already beat Alonso in the same car, when Lewis was a rookie and Alonso was a two-time world champion, and despite Alonso resorting to some astonishing tactics (see Hungary 2007 qualifying, for an example), and he would easily have won the title in 2007 were it not for his team’s strange strategy in China that year. That is how good Lewis Hamilton is.
      Perhaps the most important point to make is that the best cars and teams invariably go for the best drivers. This is why there’s no stampede in the paddock to sign Romain Grosjean, while everyone wants to know where Danny Ricciardo will decide to go. Lewis gets the best teams because they know he will deliver, and that knowledge is based on his performance in the past. So whether you personally consider him the best or not is irrelevant – his performance across the years, the astonishing number of records he holds, and the sheer respect with which his racecraft is viewed within F1 circles all say the same thing: he’s the best, and by some margin.

      1. Preach Yellow preach. It’s borderline psychotic for some to “try” and debunk and explain away Hamilton’s greatness.

      2. I agree with this wholeheartedly

      3. well the 2012 mclaren and 2013 mercedes were the fastest cars on both years. Obviously the one couldn’t finish a race and the other needed 40 stops to finish one. But they usually were faster than the red bul

        1. The Red Bull took 13 poles, and 13 wins, including all of the last 9 in 2013. The Merc took 8 poles, and 3 race wins. It’s laughable to suggest the Merc was a quicker package than the Red Bull.

          The McLaren started and ended 12 the quickest car, but was nowhere mid-season, and on average the Red Bull was the quickest package over the season.

    5. @kpcart This is the recurring discussion in F1; is a driver really good or has he been lucky and got into a good team at the right time?
      I think it helps to view “being good” in F1 as being good at selecting a team, working with mechanics, building team moral, bending rules to breaking point aswell as racecraft and strategic choice making in races (tyre changes, when to push, what risks to take etc.), so, elements on and off the track.
      That way Schumacher must be considered the best player of the F1 game, as was Senna, Prost etc. As well as the fact that through the generations a different skillset is required to be good at the game, requiring a different type of player to conquer the sport.
      I think there’s no doubt that Hamilton is worthy of the records he’s achieved and like Vettel and Alonso he has become more than just a driver but an all round champion of the F1 game.

      1. Hahahaha you don’t think Hamilton is good? I can’t believe…

        1. It was a reply to kpcart.

    6. Yes, pure deceit.
      Bottas enjoys the position of Brit’s supporter.
      Whole team Merz had problems when Rosberg did not want to participate in his wins.
      Perfect manipulator together with duch bull.

  6. Jonathan Parkin
    27th June 2018, 15:43

    Fernando Alonso now has the record for most classified finishes. If he takes the chequered flag in one more race he’ll have that record too

    1. To think he would have nailed this a few years ago save the Honda in the back!

  7. Didn’t Nick Heidfeld finish 41 races in a row? Or am I just going mad?

    1. Heidfeld’s record is for 41 classified finishes in a row. A driver that completes 90% of the laps is classified as a finisher. He also held the record for taking the checkered flag 33 times in a row. This is the record that Hamilton has now tied.

    2. @mashiat, as Alistair notes, Heidfeld was a classified finisher in 41 races as he completed more than 90% of the laps of the 2007 Japanese GP. However, in that particular race, although he was classified as finishing, he officially retired two laps from the end of the race with an engine issue and therefore did not collect the chequered flag at the end.

      What Hamilton has equalled is the other record that Heidfeld had, which was 33 consecutive finishes (i.e. where he was still running at the end of the race).

  8. Even a couple years ago, talk about reaching Schumacher’s 91 wins seemed fanciful. Now Hamilton is only 27 away—that’s three really strong seasons again. Maybe it is the prejudice of when I started watching F1, right at the beginning of the Schumacher era, but his win total has always seemed unassailable in my mind. It’s a shock to realize that Hamilton, if he has another good 5-7 years in his career, could handily surpass it.

    1. This could be the push he needs on his final years.
      His new contract may very well be the last.

    2. @dmw If i may add, if Hamilton had number 1 status like Schumi had then he would be a whole lot closer to it, possibly even able to surpass it this season.

  9. 2 Ferraris, 2 Haas and 1 Sauber. 5 Ferrari-engine cars in Q3. Has this happened before in the hybrid era?

    1. @philby, I don’t think it has before, but that is as much a reflection of the fact that there have not been three competitive teams that use Ferrari’s power unit before.

      This French GP was the first time since 2015 that Sauber had managed to break into the final part of qualifying, and the first time that we’ve had two reasonably competitive outfits in the midfield. In the past few years Sauber had been too uncompetitive to break into Q3, whilst before that the only other team using Ferrari’s engine was Marussia, a team that managed a sole 12th place as their best qualifying result.

  10. I think Hamilton has won at 22 different tracks in F1 because he also won in Turkey in 2010.

    1. And H0ockenheim, and Malaysia, @nickwyatt.
      (and that’s just from memory; there might be more)

    2. He won 23 different events, like the article says, so when we consider the tracks (example paul ricard + magny cours would be 2 tracks but only 1 event), it will certainly be more than 23, considering he won at fuji and suzuka for example.

    3. Hamilton won in 26 different tracks and 23 different Grand Prix, both F1 records.

  11. After his first lap run-in with Vettel, the Merc’s handling was “shocking” according to Bottas, and Toto Wolf later added that the damaged car was lacking about 50% of its downforce. VB went on to record the fastest lap and set a new lap record on lap 41. Either these two are indulging in a bit of exaggeration, or maybe all this downforce isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

  12. Hamilton keeps alive his record of at least 1 pole at every current circuit in addition to at least 1 win at each circuit.

    Magnussen has scored more points so far in 2018 than in 2016 and 2017 (and 2015!) combined.

    Sainz is the first driver to finish 8th more than once in 2018.

    First time since Italy 2015 that a Sauber has reached Q3.

    First time since Williams’ debut that the top 15 on the grid has not featured either a McLaren or a Williams.

    First time Mercedes have raced at Paul Ricard in F1 in any guise.

    The drivers’ overalls on the podium consisted of blue (2nd), white (1st), and red (3rd) in that order, thus resembling the French flag.

    First time since Hungary 2015 that neither Force India was classified.

    Leclerc has managed more points in 2018 than Sauber managed in 2016 and 2017 combined.

    Thanks to magnetimarelli.com, statsf1.com, and channel4.com for some of these.

    1. Lol, first time no mclaren or williams in top 15? Gives an idea of how disastrous they’re being.

  13. Give a decent driver a massively dominant car and expect the records to follow… next!

  14. I don’t think hamilton can be considered consistant this year, he’s as good as ever on a good weekend, but he had many off pace weekends, that’s inconsistant.

    The fact he has 33 or however many consecutive points scoring races in a row isn’t a proof of consistency, you’ll know this since you hardly ever praise ferrari, mercedes and red bull drivers when they end up at the bottom of the grid due to some mistake or penalty or unlucky event and they climb back to 6th at worst every time, so he’s basically guaranteed to score points as long as he doesn’t have a race-ending accident or a mechanical DNF

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