Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Hungaroring, 2019

Hamilton 10 wins away from Schumacher’s all-time victory record

2019 Hungarian Grand Prix stats and facts

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Lewis Hamilton’s eighth victory from the first 12 races of the season puts him in a strong position to claim his sixth world championship this year. With nine races to go and 234 points up for grabs, he leads the drivers’ standings by 62.

He is also well-placed to beat the all-time record for wins in a season. This stands at 13, set by Michael Schumacher in 2004 (an 18-race season) and matched by Sebastian Vettel in 2013 (when there were 19 rounds).

Hamilton has also moved another step closer to equalling Schumacher’s all-time record of 91 wins. Hamilton is now on 81, 10 shy of Schumacher’s record. But with nine races to go this year, we’ll have to see the 2020 F1 calendar before having an idea which race might see Hamilton equal a record which has stood since the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix.

While Schumacher’s record for most wins in an individual race – eight in the French Grand Prix – remains untouched, this is the second race this season where Hamilton has notched up his seventh win, along with the Canadian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen became the 100th different driver to take pole position for a round of the world championship, and the first driver from the Netherlands to do so.

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He is the second driver to claim their first pole position this year, following Charles Leclerc’s performance in Bahrain. The last time we had two first-time pole winners in a season was in 2012, when Nico Rosberg and Pastor Maldonado did so.

Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Circuit de Catalunya, 2012
Maldonado took a surprise pole in Spain in 2012
This means Verstappen no longer holds the record for winning the most races without starting a race from pole. That record is once again jointly shared by Eddie Irvine and Bruce McLaren, with four each.

Red Bull’s 61st pole position was also the 78th for a Honda-powered car and Honda’s first since 2006. Honda’s last five pole positions have come with four different teams: McLaren (Ayrton Senna, Canada 1992), BAR (Jenson Button, San Marino 2004 and Canada 2005), Honda (Button, Canada 2006) and now Red Bull.

Finally, this was the fastest Hungarian Grand Prix ever. Hamilton took one hour, 35 minutes and 3.796 seconds to reach the chequered flag, beating Schumacher’s 15-year-old record by 22 seconds. The race was stopped at the two-hour time limit when it was first held in 1986, on a tighter track configuration.

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

2019 Hungarian Grand Prix

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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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53 comments on “Hamilton 10 wins away from Schumacher’s all-time victory record”

  1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    5th August 2019, 12:35

    Currently it has been 49 races since there was a new Grand Prix winner (1st win of a driver) – this is the longest drought (in # of races) ever. The last new Grand Prix winner was Valtteri Bottas in Russia 2017.
    The previous record was 48 races between Mark Webber winning his 1st race in Germany 2009 and Nico Rosberg winning his 1st race in China 2012.

    If you look at days instead of races the record is not yet broken as today there are more races per year than in previous decades. In days the current streak is ranked only 5th with 854 days – it will break the record if there is no new Grand Prix winner this season by March 15th 2020 it will than be 1,050 days (58 races). Below is the top 4 longest droughts in days between new Grand Prix winners.
    #1 = 1,043 days (44 races) from Alessandro Nannini win in Japan 1989 to Michael Schumacher win in Belgium 1992
    #2 = 1,008 days (48 races) from Mark Webber win in Germany 2009 to Nico Rosberg win in China 2012
    #3 = 980 days (38 races) from Gerhard Berger win in Mexico 1986 to Thierry Boutsen win in Canada 1989
    #4 = 939 days (32 races) from Michele Alboreto win in USA 1982 to Ayrton Senna win in Portugal 1985

    1. At next 2 venues Ferrari’s should be very strong, and if Leclerc takes a win at either Belgium or Monza then that drought of new winner for F1 will be broken.

      1. Well, even if they have a chance, they won’t be able to deliver considering RB couldn’t keep max ahead so good luck for ferrari’s terrific strategy team. Also to note that Mercedes will likely be running a fresh PU rather than the troublesome canada spec.

    2. The Red Bull seem to have improved massively. Gasly could win a race :D haaahaaaahaaaa

    3. @jelle-van-der-meer – Very nice. I have a follow-up question for you. Since Bottas’ wins have been in the Mercedes seat left vacant by Rosberg, what would the drought be at if Rosberg had stayed at Mercedes? Meaning, if Rosberg had stayed and basically everything else had remained static (I know, I know, but for the sake of a clean question), how long would the current drought be? Who was the last new winner prior to Bottas?

      Thanks!!

      1. The last new winner was Max Verstappen (2016 Spanish GP), you can see the full list here (just sort by first race):

      2. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        5th August 2019, 15:01

        If we play the “What if” game and assume Rosberg would still be at Mercedes and therefore Bottas not having won a race, the current drought of new Grand Prix winner would be the longest ever in both races and days.

        In that case Verstappen would be the last new Grand Prix winner – Spain 2016. Since then there have been 69 races and 1,204 days (counting from Belgium 2019 GP).

        1. @jelle-van-der-meer

          Thanks for this. I know the What-if game is fairly pointless and gets extremely difficult because of all the caveats and subsequent what-ifs. I was just curious because that was such an odd occurrence and because that seat was always going to generate wins no matter who was there.

          Thanks again.

  2. He will get to 100 because he’s the best driver in Formula 1 at the moment. He’s hungry and still young no one can touch him.

    1. Jonathan Parkin
      5th August 2019, 12:46

      Not necessarily. Serena Williams for example is currently struggling to beat Margaret Court for major tennis wins. Tiger Woods took forever to win his 15th golf major

      1. Stephen Higgins
        5th August 2019, 18:34

        So far, Lewis has neither any major injuries in his career.

        As far as I know he’s never been pregnant either …

        1. Lol. Obviously considering this is the longest set of regulations in the modern era and the longest tenure of dominace this scenario is to be expected, and the record to be broken, new rules are 2021, 8 seasons of staleness

          1. Obviously considering this is the longest set of regulations in the modern era

            @peartree Huh?

            2014 – 2016: 3 years
            2017 – 2018: 2 years
            2019 – 2020: 2 years

          2. Reminds me how they changed the rules in Cricket to limit the numbers/expectation of ‘pouncers’ in an over, and thereby ended the dominance of the ‘Windies’ in that sport.

            2021 will be interesting. If it does lead to a more ‘level playing field’, there’s no reason to suppose Mercedes wont also dominate then. I can’t see the mid-table teams having any real impact on the top 3 teams.

      2. Margret Court’s had 12 titles which were not professional titles

    2. 100 wins is not impossible. Hamilton should probably break 91 around this time next season, assuming the Mercedes is still as competitive as it is now. Don’t know if he’ll be around for the 2021 spec cars, though, so 100 might be a little out of reach.

  3. Max lapped Giovinazzi already on lap 19 and again on lap 52, while their team mates where racing each other all race long (without any of them having any issues).
    I think this illustrates quiet well how big the intra team differences in these two teams are.

  4. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    5th August 2019, 12:53

    Hamilton, on the other hand, has made it 24 points finishes in a row, which is the third-longest streak in history.

    If Alfa Romeo have their way this will soon disappear with Hamilton being put back to 11th in German Grand Prix.

    1. @jelle-van-der-meer
      @AndrewW
      I highly doubt they’re going to take the decision back anymore, though, the time penalties that altered the results of that race I mean.

  5. Should the Alfa appeal against the start infringement penalties in Germany be successful, HAM’s streak of finishes in the points will be snapped.

    1. True, but as far as I know, time penalties still cannot be appealed.

      So their first trick is to convince the WMSC to allow them to appeal the penalty (something McLaren failed to do with Spa in 2008, and Ferrari failed with for the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix).

      Everyone screamed bloody murder about the clutch bite point setting being too easy, and this penalty was a direct result of that push to make clutches more difficult for the drivers to operate.

      I suspect that the Alfa software wasn’t ready for a standing start post safety car, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t infringe, it just means they missed a trick when writing their “race start” software.

  6. Truly an all-conquering combination of machine and man!

  7. This season has brought two new countries to pole position: Monaco and Netherlands. Previous time as multiple countries achieved first pole position during one season was 1968. Back then there was four: New Zealand with Amon, Austria with Rindt, Belgium with Ickx and Switzerland with Siffert.

    Verstappen was 100th driver to get a pole position. Coincidentally, 100th race winner was Heikki Kovalainen who achieved his only win in Hungaroring. The date in both cases was August 3th if we use the qualifying date for Verstappen. Fastest lap doesn’t join those, the century was broken already in 1998 by Alexander Wurz in Argentina.

  8. When did Lewis fix on that 18thc pirates’ head cloth ?
    He managed to slip his helmet off and his cap on with amazing speed, but the eagle eyed could still see no headcloth at that stage.
    Why does he hate to expose his hair after races??

    1. He might just be worried about appearances, which seems reasonable to me considering the value of his image.

      He could also be managing hair loss or some other scalp condition.

      Finally, I don’t like wearing ball caps, especially when it is hot. Scull caps are more comfortable.

      1. I saw him just before the Monaco GP. He was immaculately dressed. I didn’t realise it was him until later on.

    2. He hid behind the screen in the cool down room and beckoned James Vowles to him. Presumably he put it on then.

      1. No he didn’t, Angela handed it over with the rest of his stuff in parc ferme, It was in full view .

  9. he doesnt like his hair to look untidy. its an image thing. dnt mean to sound racist but its kinda like a black thing. fashion wise etc. im not white by the way.

    1. Nah. It’s not a black thing, it’s a personal thing. You should see my hair sometimes, when I go out. I’m not white either.

  10. Didn’t one of these BAR-Honda poles mentioned in the article come in the extra-fuel-tank car that was later disqualified?

    1. I believe that did happen or perhaps I’m also wrong.
      The whole extra fuel tank issue does make one wonder if some of their performance that year was not questionable.
      Or it could just be that they got caught the very first time they tried it.

      1. It has been suggested they may have been running the extra fuel collector in 2004 as well as 2005 but there is no way to prove either way. It was a rare case of a team being caught red handed.
        https://www.pitpass.com/24345/The-fuel-tank-de-bar-cle

  11. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    5th August 2019, 16:05

    Apologies this actually should have been posted with German GP stats but still interesting and valid till Max finishes outside the top 5.

    The German GP meant both Hamilton’s and Bottas streak of top 5 finishes came to end – as both started with 2018 British GP also both streaks were equal in length being 22 races however they were certainly not equal in terms of points scored.
    * Hamilton scored 484 points (15 wins, 4x 2nd, 1x 3rd, 1x 4th and 1x 5th)
    * Bottas scored 337 points (2 wins, 8x 2nd, 3x 3rd, 4x 4th and 5x 5th)

    Both streaks were short of the record, being 23 races in top 4 (he had no 5th place finishes in his streak) set by Schumacher from 2001 Hungarian GP to 2003 Australian GP – it stopped as he finished 6th in the 2003 Malaysian GP. In today’s points Schumacher scored 497 points (14 wins, 6x 2nd, 1x 3rd and 2x 4th)

    The current still running longest streak of top 5 finishes belongs to Verstappen with 21 races – starting with 2018 Belgium GP. So far he scored 322 points (3 wins, 4x 2nd, 5x 3rd, 5x 4th and 4x 5th) – key difference of course that Schumacher, Hamilton and Bottas all drove a dominant constructor championship winning car.

    1. When was the last time a streaker graced the F1 grid?

  12. Is this fact interesting – Ferrari can finish all next races 1-2 with Mercedes 3-4, and still not be Champions.
    Only another 7 FLAPs will give them 1 point lead…

    Just shows what we already knew about this year’s WCC, but with some numbers to back this up.

    1. I meant only WCC, not WDC.

  13. “This means Verstappen no longer holds the record for winning the most races without starting a race from pole.”
    I don’t like stats like this. I accept that Verstappen has now had a pole position, so is no longer eligible for “Most wins by a driver who never had a pole position during their career”, which is a different stat from “Most wins without having had a pole position [at that point]”. Verstappen still had seven wins without a pole position. Similarly if Hulkenberg gets a podium next race he should still hold “most races without a podium”, it’s just that he would no longer be “most races by a driver who never had a career podium”.

    1. I agree. Max had 7 race wins before getting Pole Position or retiring, which I believe is an F1 record.

      1. Together with Jackie Stewart, who also won 7 races before getting his first pole position

  14. “Max Verstappen became the 100th different driver to take pole position for a round of the world championship, and the first driver from the Netherlands to do so” – Max Emilian Verstappen was born on 30 September 1997 in Hasselt, Belgium. Max grew up in Maaseik, a Belgian town.

    1. It’s all based on racing licence though, that’s why Nico Rosberg was German instead of Finnish like Keke.

  15. Honda’s first pole as an engine supplier since Australia 2006. This is the 5th-longest such gap, but the longest in which the pole position prior to the gap was not scored at Monza.

    First time since Britain 2017 that Ricciardo has failed to make it out of Q1.

    7th time Vettel has finished on the podium at the Hungaroring – the joint most of any circuit.

    Vettel has always finished higher than he started when driving for Ferrari at the Hungaroring (excluding his win from pole in 2017); when driving for Red Bull at this circuit he always finished lower than he started.

    Sainz has already scored more points in 2019 than in any other full season to date.

    First time Verstappen has led at the end of lap 1 but not gone on to win the race.

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

  16. He also 10 years ago at the Hungaroring won the very first race with a hybrid engine.

  17. lewis will probably break Schumachers record.
    he might even retire after winning his 7th wdc.

    1. He could also retire after winning his 8th.

      1. 8th will be very hard to do.

  18. Pretty sure Buttons 06 pole was in Australia, not canada

  19. If Hamilton stays in F1 for at least 2 more years and has the car for it, he could beat Schumacher’s record for most WDC’s and his record for most consecutive years with a GP win.

    The latter record is also one that Verstappen is already working on…

  20. This was the seventh Hungarian Grand Prix victory for Lewis Hamilton, making this the most successful circuit for him along with Montreal. He also took his first Grand Prix win for Mercedes here in 2013.

    So he has 7 wins at 2 tracks, both of which were firsts for him
    – Canada: First win for McLaren
    – Hungary: First win for Mercedes

    By my reckoning he will either never get 7 wins at a track again, or wont do it until 2027 with Ferrari ;)

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