Lewis Hamilton may not have taken a record-breaking sixth win the British Grand Prix last weekend, but he did match another record belonging to his Formula 1 hero Ayrton Senna.
Hamilton’s sixth pole position at Silverstone means he has tied Senna’s record for most pole positions in a driver’s home race. Senna scored three poles at Jacarepagua and three more at Interlagos in front of his home crowd.
More obscurely, Hamilton also became the first driver to take eight podium finished in the British Grand Prix. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t in the least bit interested in having such details pointed out to him in the wake of Sebastian Vettel’s win on Sunday.
“It doesn’t mean anything to me at the moment,” said Hamilton, still fuming at being punted off by Vettel’s team mate on the first lap. “I’m not a record person so it doesn’t really hold much to me.”
[f1vision]
Vettel took his 51st career win, which means he draws level with Alain Prost on third place on the all-time winners’ list. He set the 34th fastest lap of his career, and first since Mexico last year, on the way.
With Kimi Raikkonen in third place, Ferrari equalled their best result of the year. Mercedes is the only team to have scored a one-two so far.
Fernando Alonso became the fourth driver in F1 history to start 300 grands prix (he marked his 300th race weekend in Canada). If he returns for another season next year he should surpass Rubens Barrichello’s record of 322 race starts, set between 1993 and 2011.
The McLaren driver doesn’t seem to be slowing down: He maintained his perfect record in qualifying against his team mate, out-qualified Stoffel Vandoorne for the 10th time in as many races. Vettel has the next-best record this year, 9-1 up against Raikkonen.
Alonso added more points to McLaren’s tally but couldn’t stop them from losing a position in the championship for the second weekend in a row, falling to seventh. Last year they had two points after 10 races, so 48 today represents a huge improvement. But they scored 40 in the first five races and eight in the last five…Toro Rosso are also struggling. They posted their fourth consecutive no-score last weekend, the worst run of any team this year with one exception. This is, of course, Williams, whose driver Sergey Sirotkin is the only one still yet to score after the first 10 races. He hasn’t even completed a lap inside the top 10 yet.
Retirements for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr mean Vettel is now the only driver to see the chequered flag in every race. The world championship leader has also scored point in every round.
Finally, having reached Q3 at every round so far this year, Sainz surprisingly failed to make it out of Q1 on Saturday. The same five drivers have reached Q3 at every race this year: the Mercedes and Ferrari duos, plus Daniel Ricciardo. Of these the best run belongs to Raikkonen, who last failed to reach Q3 at the Hungaroring in 2016, and last weekend achieved his 40th consecutive Q3 appearance.
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Review the year so far in statistics here:
- 2018 F1 championship points
- 2018 F1 season records
- 2018 F1 race data
- 2018 F1 qualifying data
- 2018 F1 retirements and penalties
- 2018 F1 strategy and pit stops
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the British Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2018 British Grand Prix
- Hamilton equalled another Senna record at Silverstone
- 2018 British Grand Prix Star Performers
- Top ten pictures from the 2018 British Grand Prix
- Vettel denies Hamilton at home as Ferrari and Mercedes clash again
- Paddock Diary: British Grand Prix day four
Champagne
12th July 2018, 13:10
Records mean very little these days.
melkurion (@melkurion)
12th July 2018, 13:33
Congratulations, you have been awarded the record for the fastest meaningless response on this thread
Joao (@johnmilk)
12th July 2018, 15:07
close second.
I’m third, but a little bit later
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 14:53
They’re making a come-back though, as many are disappointed with the digital sound of CD’s and streams.
LosD (@losd)
12th July 2018, 15:32
Hiihiiihiii! :D
Nikola Kondarev (@kondarev)
12th July 2018, 13:32
Kimi is first to score three podiums in just three weeks.
Sumedh
12th July 2018, 14:03
And probably he will be the only driver ever to do that.
Klon (@)
12th July 2018, 15:45
I doubt that. These triple-headers are here to stay, so anyone with a podium-level car can pull it off in the future.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th July 2018, 17:07
@klon ”These triple-headers are here to stay”
– Wrong, it’s been suggested/pointed out that a triple-header isn’t set to be repeated in the future (Brawn did that as far back as before the season had even started). In the end, this was just a one-off emergency measure to avoid having a race on the same day as the World Cup Final.
Klon (@)
12th July 2018, 17:16
I honestly have no idea how they want to fix in the 23-25 races they plan without doing triple headers, though. They can’t stretch the season out forever, so I doubt we will never see a triple header again.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th July 2018, 18:15
@klon https://www.foxsportsasia.com/motorsport/formula1/753386/brawn-no-triple-headers-2018/
Furthermore, increasing the number of races isn’t really on the agenda according to Chase Carey, though. He’s pointed out that a few times, and also that they don’t have a ‘target number’ of races, and that potential new venues would come in as replacements for current ones.
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 15:00
Vettel and Hamilton did it last year.
Check time zones :P
Jere (@jerejj)
12th July 2018, 15:11
@coldfly How? There obviously were no races on three consecutive weeks last season (or never before that either for that matter), so how ‘checking time zones’ would make a difference?
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 15:39
‘in just three weeks’ is the second clue. @jerejj
Martin
13th July 2018, 12:25
@jerejj For example a driver could have 2 podiums in a week depending on timezones. Imagine a podium in Canada followed by a hypothetical podium in Australia the following Sunday (for an extreme example) they would technically be within a week as less that (7×24) hours would have passed.
Hamilton got 3 poles in 3 weeks with Singapore/Malaysia/Japan (there early start time of Japan vs Singapore sealing it). I am not sure which races @coldfly is referring to for Vettel though. As far as I can tell he doesn’t seem to have a run of podiums that line up on the right races.
Martin
13th July 2018, 14:30
*podiums not poles obviously
ColdFly (@)
13th July 2018, 17:23
I got confused with Vettel (reversed it), @Martin.
But could have included Bottas (AZE 3pmGMT, GBR 2pmGMT), Ricciardo (SIN 3pmGMT, JPN 8amGMT), and a special one for Raikkonen (USA 11pmGMT, BRA 5pmGMT); a triple third within 3-weeks.
PS Kimi did only get 2 podiums this year during the tripleheader (@kondarev).
Anne Fers (@adhyra)
14th July 2018, 3:11
3rd in Paul Ricard, 2nd in Austria and 3rd in Silverstone. Pretty neat ;)
MB (@muralibhats)
12th July 2018, 13:56
Funny that when HAM wins, Senna’s records are the most important to him!
Sumedh
12th July 2018, 14:09
Car no 44 won pole by exactly 44 thousandths of a second. The last time the difference was between the car number and qualifying gap was so low was 2010 German Grand prix when car no. 5 won pole by 2 thousandths of a second.
Sumedh
12th July 2018, 14:32
There is one other instance of low gap between car number and qualifying gap. Car no. 18 started on pole for 2012 Spanish Grand prix with a gap of 17 thousandths to the driver in 2nd place. However, this was only after the original pole sitter was disqualified
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 15:27
If only Damon Hill had retired in ’97 ;-)
Sumedh
12th July 2018, 17:40
I know what you are going for. Car. no 0 willing pole by 0 thousandths in Jerez 1997 :) :)
However, had Hill retired, Villeneuve and Frentzen would have had to use 0 and 2. Most probably, Frentzen would have to take 0 as Villeneuve being the senior driver would have retained his original number – 2. Which could have meant car no. 2 winning pole by 0 thousandths. Had Williams swapped the numbers, we would have got the headline of car no. 0 winning pole by 0 thousandths
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 19:18
well done @sumedh.
I have to make my riddles even more complex ;-)
Did you solve the one above? (don’t check my final entry).
Peppermint-Lemon (@)
12th July 2018, 18:06
Well at least he wouldn’t have suffered the indignity of losing his bottle and reverting to steel brakes etc.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th July 2018, 14:13
Raikkonen, Ricciardo, and Hulkenberg have now finished 3rd, 5th, and 6th respectively on this circuit for two consecutive seasons.
The 2nd DNF in a row for Sainz on this circuit, which also means that Vettel is now the only driver who’s reached the chequered flag in every race so far this season, and, therefore, the only driver with a chance to achieve the feat of reaching the chequered flag in every race of a season. Furthermore, the first double-DNF for Sauber this season as well as the first since last season’s Monaco GP.
The 7th GP weekend out of 10 so far to feature at least one incident relating to unsafe release from a pit stop due to a loose wheel and or a tyre getting loose (This is far beyond ridiculous already).
The first time a team other than Mercedes have won on this track since 2012 (when Webber won for Red Bull).
The 5th race weekend this season in which at least one driver has failed to set a time in qualifying.
”Retirements for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr mean Vettel is now the only driver to see the chequered flag in every race. The world championship leader has also scored point in every round.”
– Leclerc DNF’d in Monaco as well, though, so, therefore, he had lost his chance to reach the chequered flag in every race of the season already then. A DNF (or non-finish) is a DNF as long as a driver fails to ‘reach the chequered flag’ regardless of how many laps out of the full race distance he’s driven before retiring, so technically, this was his 2nd DNF of the season.
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 15:35
Raikkonen, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Sainz and Palmer have now finished 3rd, 5th, 6th, DNF and DNS respectively on this circuit for two consecutive seasons.
FTFY @jerejj
THOMF1S (@thomf1s)
12th July 2018, 16:27
Truly bad luck for the Dalai Palmer but spare a thought for 1996 champion Damon Hill, who since securing a 5th place finish for Jordan in 1999, has incredibly managed to DNS every British Grand Prix since then. It appears the English can’t catch a break!
Asanator (@asanator)
12th July 2018, 18:19
Almost as bad as Jenson Buttons British GP record.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th July 2018, 17:09
@coldfly LOL.
Brigitta Gyimesi
12th July 2018, 17:12
How could you miss that all of Vettel’s victories this season have come on former or present British territories? Mark my words, he’s going to win in Singapore, in the US and in Abu Dhabi.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
12th July 2018, 18:36
+1
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 19:25
@jorge-lardone, would you +1 as well realising that all of Verstappen’s victories this season have come on former Habsburg Monarchy territory?
Mark my words, he’s going to win: Hungaroring, Spa (not sure how much of current Belgium was ‘Habsburger’), Monza ;-)
Brigitta Gyimesi
12th July 2018, 19:49
Hungary would actually fall into the pattern of Red Bull winning every third race :) By the by, was this comment meant to troll Jorge for some reason? At least that’s what I got from the tone of your first remark, but I may be mistaken
ColdFly (@)
12th July 2018, 21:57
more sarcasm; check his previous posts.
He (AKA ‘the man with the camera’) seems to have an unhealthy hate towards Alonso and (lately) Verstappen.
Previously F1Fanatic fan in Atlanta
12th July 2018, 19:00
Has he won all the available British empire GPs or he only wins at British empire GPs? Makes a big difference and apparently I’ve paid so much attention I can’t remember who has won where this season, it must be an enthralling season of racing.
Brigitta Gyimesi
13th July 2018, 10:14
So far he has a 100% record in the Empire Championship
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
13th July 2018, 7:00
If that German manage to reconquer all British Empire territories it would be the best stats ever!
Peppermint-Lemon (@)
12th July 2018, 18:05
Meh.
Fred
12th July 2018, 20:13
Hamilton comparing himself to Senna is a joke. “To whom much is given, from him much is expected”
Senna expressed concern over the poor in Brazil. After his death, he was discovered to have quietly donated millions of his personal fortune estimated at around $400 million to help poor children. Shortly before his death, he created the framework for an organisation dedicated to Brazilian children, which later became the Instituto Ayrton Senna.
Frank Williams notably recalls that as good a driver as Senna was, ultimately “he was an even greater man outside of the car than he was in it.”
stefano (@alfa145)
12th July 2018, 23:03
So what? How do you know Hamilton is not doing the same? If you were there to blame Senna for the same reasons before knowing this, then fine. Otherwise the joke is your logic.
Not a Hamilton fan. Just a fan of reason.
Martin
13th July 2018, 16:30
Where did Hamilton compare himself to Senna?
YellowSubmarine
12th July 2018, 21:07
Bit disappointing that the usual “bbbut he has always had the fastest car!” lot haven’t shown up on the thread yet.
Surely they’ll drop by and make my day?
Strontium (@strontium)
12th July 2018, 21:46
Nine years since Vettel’s last British Grand Prix win sets a record for the longest time between British Grand Prix wins for a driver. The previous record was six years, held jointly by Lauda and Hamilton
Rockie (@rockie)
13th July 2018, 16:41
Vettel’s team mate is Kimi Raikkonen, what’s the point of not naming him?
Just to continue the “other sides tactics” BS!