Max Verstappen claimed the 28th victory of his Formula 1 career on Sunday, making him the eighth most successful driver ever in terms of total wins.
He won from 10th on the grid, which is the lowest starting position he has taken victory from in F1. Very few race wins in the series have come from double-digit starting positions. Verstappen’s was only the 38th out of 1,070 races held so far – a hit rate of just 3.5%.That being so, it is surprising that this is the third year in a row a driver has won a race from 10th on the grid. Lewis Hamilton did it at Interlagos last year and Pierre Gasly did the same at Monza in 2020.
It’s also somewhat surprising that this isn’t the lowest starting position to produce a winner at the Hungaroring, where passing is reputedly difficult, though perhaps in the DRS era that is a dated view. Nonetheless, Nigel Mansell won from 12th in 1989 and Jenson Button did from 14th in 2006.
This was Verstappen’s eighth win of the season. With nine races left to go, at his current rate he has a chance to beat the record for most wins in a season, which is 13. This was achieved by Michael Schumacher in 2004, when there were 18 races (four less than this year), and Vettel in 2013, when there were 19.
George Russell became F1’s latest new pole-winner on Saturday. Unusually, he didn’t set the quickest individual time in any of the three sectors on the lap which put him on pole position in Q3.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
He is the 105th different driver in the history of the championship to take pole. He is also the third different first-time pole-winner this year, joining Sergio Perez (in Jeddah) and Carlos Sainz Jnr (Silverstone).
Behind Verstappen, Hamilton scored his fifth consecutive podium finish, as Mercedes continue to put the dark days of early 2022 behind them. They’ve out-scored Ferrari for the last two races in a row, and are now just 30 points behind the team which still led the constructors championship after the Miami Grand Prix.
Hamilton also set the fastest lap of the race, which is the 61st of his career, and second of 2022. He may not have added to his pile of 103 victories so far this year, but he is edging towards Schumacher’s all-time record of 77 fastest laps.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Hungarian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2022 Hungarian Grand Prix
- How many victory chances did Hamilton have in his first winless F1 season?
- Aston Martin expect rivals will copy novel rear wing by Singapore GP
- Transcript: Why Ferrari told Leclerc ‘the hard is worse than expected’ but still used it
- What made Verstappen’s 10th-to-first win in Hungary a rare achievement
- Gasly pleased FIA is considering “different options” for track limits policing in 2023
Jere (@jerejj)
4th August 2022, 7:39
For the first time, Latifi finished an official F1 session in P1.
Seb’s sixth Q1 exit this season.
Russell became the fifth different drive starting a race from pole this season.
Furthermore, twelve months ago, he achieved his maiden points & fast forward twelve months, maiden pole position.
His teammate’s 11th top-three finish at Hungaroring & his 5th consecutive for the ongoing campaign is the longest active such streak.
The first time an invalidated lap time has got reinstated since lap time invalidation began back in 2013, coincidently from that season’s Hungarian GP, IIRC.
The VER-HAM duo started outside the top 6 for the first time since 2018.
The highest number of race leaders so far this season & also the first time both Mercedes drivers led a race.
The second 2022 race with Tsunoda finishing as the last runner.
The second consecutive double podium finish for Merc.
Bottas has retired in two successive Hungarian GPs, although he was very close to avoiding this feat.
The second time an RBR driver has won from P10 on the grid, following Ricciardo’s 2017 Baku win.
Tommy Scragend
4th August 2022, 9:23
Pretty sure Russell’s maiden points came at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix!
Jere (@jerejj)
4th August 2022, 18:35
@Tommy Scragend My bad, I forgot for a moment. Maiden Williams points anyway.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
4th August 2022, 8:24
At 1 hour and 49 minutes, Esteban Ocon and Oscar Piastri became the shortest lived official driver pairing in F1 history.
BaKano (@bakano)
4th August 2022, 8:55
Although an interesting “fact”, but who knows what else is gonna come out of that “story”, it’s not a fact from the Hungarian GP ;-)
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
4th August 2022, 13:33
@bakano True, it was a bit of a reach. But unless there’s going to be a Summer Break stats and facts article this seemed the best chance.
SjaakFoo (@sjaakfoo)
4th August 2022, 13:48
I appreciate it.
However, since Alpine are insistent they’re in the right and are sticking by their driver lineup of Ocon and Piastri for 2023, officially -until the FIA Contract Recognition Board states otherwise- the driver pairing still exists.
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
4th August 2022, 16:00
All of us appreciate it …. but what the heck is this …. more obscure and more mind-bending statistics.??
At first I thought I had logged onto a National League Baseball web site. Stats there going back a hundred years covering absolutely everything. Longest run of team hosiery in a single season, worn by a non left handed pitcher ….
iCarbs (@icarby)
5th August 2022, 10:39
@keithedin – lol, on Alpine pairing
Matt (@hollidog)
4th August 2022, 9:51
Was it just me that heard Crofty say in commentary that Button won from 16th in 2006? He started talking about it and I said “14th” just as he started his sentence, then he came out with “16th” and I was quite confused!
jaegergolf
4th August 2022, 10:40
The best one was Michael Schumacher back in 1995 when he started 16th in Spa and finished P1.
Slippery conditions and Michael drove on slick tyres when the track was still a bit wet. Unforgetable drive..
Jonathan Parkin
4th August 2022, 13:54
Although if I remember he was rather robust in his defence of the lead which got him a suspended one race ban
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th August 2022, 22:30
Yes, he was at the limit of the rules as he’s always been, but it was interesting to see him barely keep behind a driver on wet tyres while he had slicks. A gamble which then paid off when the track dried again.
stefano (@alfa145)
4th August 2022, 10:44
Hamilton scored his fifth consecutive podium finish
jff
4th August 2022, 11:44
One more and he equals the record this year.
Qeki (@qeki)
4th August 2022, 11:39
This was 11th consecutive year when Mercedes has had at least 1 pole (2012-) Ferrari leads this by 15 years (1994-2008). Lotus also has 11 consecutive years in this list (1960-1970). Mclaren 10 (2003-2012). Williams 9 (1989-1997)
This was UK’s 291 pole and George is 19th different poleman from UK.
220th pole for a Mercedes powered car (Ferrari 239/Renault 213)
jff
4th August 2022, 11:44
One more and he equals the record this year.
jff
4th August 2022, 11:45
disregard this.
jff
4th August 2022, 11:44
One more and he equals the record this year.
Fab
4th August 2022, 11:56
It’s only cause of Masi 😁
*allready far far away …*
sumedhvidwans (@sumedhvidwans)
4th August 2022, 12:11
Not so surprising. A hit rate of 3.5% and 22 races per season means there is a 77% chance that there will be at least 1 race where one wins from P10 or beyond. (Not sure if probabilities are additive :))
Not just that, the 4 recent seasons which had 3 new pole sitters are spaced exactly 14 years apart – 1980, 1994, 2008, 2022. And exactly one of the new pole sitters has gone on to win the WDC in their careers after their debut pole:
1980: Piquet, Pironi, Bruno Giacomelli; 1994: Schumacher, Barrichello, Alesi; 2008: Vettel, Kovalainen, Kubica
So only one out of Perez, Sainz, Russell to become WDC then? :)
AlanD
4th August 2022, 12:52
“Not so surprising. A hit rate of 3.5% and 22 races per season means there is a 77% chance that there will be at least 1 race where one wins from P10 or beyond.”
I haven’t seen the list, but it wouldn’t surprise me if this was more common years ago, when there was much more variation in the cars, with some cars seconds a lap faster than others, so a car at the back of the grid could breeze past the lower end of the field on the opening lap. I’m pretty sure the record in held by John Watson, starting 22nd on the grid and winning, but that was 40 years ago. Tyres probably also change the potential to do this. In the earlier years of F1, tyres didn’t play nearly as big a part in performance as they do now, so nowadays, a car having to overtake a lot of cars in the lower half of the grid usually burns up the tyres and ends up making an extra tyre stop. We should also remember that one of the 38 wins mentioned in this article must be Fernando Alonso’s win in Singapore 2008 which was achieved by his team mate, Nelson Piquet Jr, deliberately crashing to bring out the safety car so that Alonso would get a free pit stop.
I haven’t seen the list of all 38 wins, but I would guess in the current era of F1, a win from tenth or lower probably doesn’t happen more than once every two or three years, but that’s just a guess. If anyone knows for sure, please say so.
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
4th August 2022, 14:06
@sumedhvidwans They’re not additive. If they were then a season with 29 races or more would have over 100% chance of a win from 10th or lower. If you take the chance of it not happening as 96.5%, then take it to the power 22 for the 22 races, then you get a 46% chance of a win from 10th or lower during the season. So not hugely unlikely to happen in any season but fairly unlikely for it to happen for 3 consecutive seasons.
AlanD
4th August 2022, 14:34
Sumed, I haven’t got my calculator to hand. Just to be clear on how this is worked out, are you saying that 96.5 to the 22 comes to 54%, and therefore you get the chance of it happening once or more over the course of a 22 race season is 46%? So when I said my gut feeling is it happens every two or three years at most, should I be looking at 100 minus 96.5 raised to the 66 to get a better probability of that? Interesting.
AlanD
4th August 2022, 14:36
Of course I meant one minus .965 to the 66. Dammit, I’ll just have to go find a calculator
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th August 2022, 22:32
Wow, the 14 years apart stat is insane!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th August 2022, 22:33
Also, russell is the only one who has potential to win the wdc, so to keep the stat alive he will be the one to do so!
AlanD
4th August 2022, 12:31
I like articles like this because it is about F1, but not about the “who pushed who off” which just seems to lead to a vitriolic comments section. I would have liked to see a short table in there though, summarising the furthest back stats you’ve dug out for the Hungaroring, or maybe even all 38 of the 10th or lower you found. I think a lot of F1 fans are also stats junkies.
I hadn’t realised coming from that far back was such a rarity. The thing the stats don’t reveal is how those drivers got to the front. In Verstappen’s case it was primarily by having a good car and overtaking people. However, in Button’s case, I’ve a feeling it was lucky rain tyres timing. I’m sure at least one of his McLaren wins came when he was looking very lacklustre and was going to finish way down, but just as he pitted the rain started, they put on wets and suddenly he was catapulted to the front and the only driver on the right tyres, but if the cloud had twitched the other way he’d have been the only driver on completely wrong tyres and probably dead last. But calls like that, if the coin flip lands the right way for you, you sound like a genius and it goes down in the record books as a heroic drive, but if the flip lands the wrong way, people soon forget how stupid the call was.
That’s why I say Max’s drive was especially impressive. It wasn’t because the field was all over the place due to rain, he didn’t see six cars ahead of him wiped out in a first corner crash, he didn’t benefit from a safety car wiping out a thirty second gap to the car in front. Whether the result is simply because he had the best car, or the car had the best driver, is the usual debate, but the combination won the race on merit without a lot of help from lady luck.
anon
4th August 2022, 13:58
Ver got first because the same reason Ham got second; Russel impeding the Ferrari drivers to go away, and Ferrari using a non ideal pit stop strategy.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th August 2022, 22:37
Yes, a bit like hamilton in brazil last year, it was on performance.
MVerstappen (@mverstappen)
4th August 2022, 16:42
I was curious what the other 37 were:
start Year Grand Prix Driver Team
22 1983 USA West WATSON John McLaren
19 1954 Indianapolis VUKOVICH Bill Kurtis Kraft
18 2000 Germany BARRICHELLO Rubens Ferrari
17 1982 USA East WATSON John McLaren
17 2005 Japan RAIKKONEN Kimi McLaren
16 1973 South Africa STEWART Jackie Tyrrell
16 1995 Belgium SCHUMACHER Michael Benetton
15 2008 Singapore ALONSO Fernando Renault
14 1955 Indianapolis SWEIKERT Bob Kurtis Kraft
14 1977 Austria JONES Alan Shadow
14 1996 Monaco PANIS Olivier Ligier
14 1999 Europe HERBERT Johnny Stewart
14 2006 Hungary BUTTON Jenson Honda
14 2018 Germany HAMILTON Lewis Mercedes
13 1957 Indianapolis HANKS Sam Epperly
13 1960 Argentina McLAREN Bruce Cooper
13 1990 Mexico PROST Alain Ferrari
12 1961 France BAGHETTI Giancarlo Ferrari
12 1962 Belgium CLARK Jim Lotus
12 1978 South Africa PETERSON Ronnie Lotus
12 1989 Hungary MANSELL Nigel Ferrari
11 1971 Italy GETHIN Peter BRM
11 1975 Spain MASS Jochen McLaren
11 1977 Argentina SCHECKTER Jody Wolf
11 2003 Australia COULTHARD David McLaren
11 2012 Europe ALONSO Fernando Ferrari
10 1959 USA McLAREN Bruce Cooper
10 1974 Argentina HULME Denny McLaren
10 1975 Germany REUTEMANN Carlos Brabham
10 1981 Canada LAFFITE Jacques Ligier
10 1982 Belgium WATSON John McLaren
10 1983 Netherlands ARNOUX René Ferrari
10 1985 Netherlands LAUDA Niki McLaren
10 2004 Belgium RAIKKONEN Kimi McLaren
10 2017 Azerbaijan RICCIARDO Daniel Red Bull
10 2020 Italy GASLY Pierre AlphaTauri
10 2021 São Paulo HAMILTON Lewis Mercedes
10 2022 Hungary VERSTAPPEN Max Red Bull
AlanD
4th August 2022, 23:41
Big thanks for digging out the full list. Interesting to see one of these remarkable wins, Sam Hanks from 13th, was at Indianapolis in 1957. Stats from that era are a little skewed because European teams and drivers didn’t compete at Indianapolis due to the logistic problems it created back then, in the days before wide-body jets and air-freighting, and likewise the US drivers never competed at the European races. At that time, drivers in the Indy 500 scored points in both the F1 championship and the USAC championship.
I’ve just checked the 1957 GP details, and it is fascinating. The grid had three cars per row and there were 11 rows, so 33 cars in all, and a further 24 drivers were eliminated in qualifying. Out of all those drivers, only one, Farina, was not American, and he withdrew from the race when his team mate was killed in practice. Another driver who had qualified was replaced at the last minute after being mugged. The eventual winner, Sam Hanks, started from p13 on the grid, but the drivers in p9 and p10 on the grid crashed into each other on the formation lap so there were only ten cars ahead of him when the race started. Of the 33 cars in the race, only 17 reached the finishing line, the other 16 retiring. Reasons for retiring were that three had fuel leaks, seven were in accidents, and six had engine failures. The 17th placed driver was lapped 8 times in the race. This was Hanks’ 13th attempt in the Indy 500, and after winning it, he announced his retirement.
X1Znet (@x1znet)
4th August 2022, 17:26
John Watson 3 times in his McLaren, Raikkonen twice in his McLaren, Bruce McLaren twice in his Cooper, Hamilton twice in his Mercedes, and Alonso only one to do it for different teams: Renault and Ferrari.
McLaren team has done it 9 times, Ferrari 6 times. Red bull, Mercedes, Lotus, Ligier, Cooper, and Kurtis Kraft have done it twice.
Dex
4th August 2022, 18:29
I don’t know, here he got a rating 7 (seven), what’s so rare about something so average?
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
4th August 2022, 22:24
First time since Bahrain 2018 that neither Hamilton nor Verstappen have started in the top 6.
Hamilton now has the record for most laps led at a single circuit (previous record was Bill Vukovich at Indianapolis).
First time Perez has finished in the top 6 in Hungary.
Leclerc is yet to finish on the Hungary podium in either F1 or F2.
First time since Italy 2021 that 5 different drivers led laps.
11th consecutive season in which Mercedes have managed at least 1 pole position as a constructor; 20th consecutive season (extending their record) in which Mercedes have managed at least 1 pole as an engine supplier.
19th consecutive season in which at least 1 British driver has managed a pole position – equals their record from 1955 to 1973 inclusive.
Thanks to statsf1 and the official F1 site for some of these.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th August 2022, 22:42
The verstappen and hamilton top 6 stat I find most impressive among these, 4 years + is a long time.