Lando Norris had to wait 110 races for his first Formula 1 win, but his second came just nine rounds later.
What’s more, this was an emphatic triumph, in which he also set the pole position and fastest lap. He is the 48th driver in F1 history to achieve this hat-trick and sixth driver on the grid today, joining Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc.Given how rapid the McLaren was, had Norris kept his lead at the start he would have had a strong chance of leading every lap and therefore taking his first ‘grand slam’. However Norris lost his lead at the start again, which is an unfortunate habit of his.
As has been widely noted, from Norris’ six starts at the front in F1 so far (four grands prix, two sprint races) he has never kept the lead yet. Nor have his starts from further back on the grid been particularly strong.
Even drivers like Charles Leclerc and Nico Hulkenberg, who suffered double-digit position losses at some races this year, have better average starts than Norris and Ricciardo.
Inevitably, drivers who usually start in the mid-to-rear of the pack have the most to gain at starts. However it’s noteworthy that, despite having more pole positions than anyone so far this year, Verstappen has never ended the first lap in a lower position than he started. And while McLaren may have room to improve their car’s starting performance, Oscar Piastri’s starts are, on average, considerably better than his team mate’s:
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Despite this, Norris left Zandvoort with much to be cheerful about. He is the 80th driver in the history of the world championship to become a multiple race winner; his fourth pole position gives him as many as Mike Hawthorn, Didier Pironi, Jarno Trulli and Giancarlo Fisichella; and his eighth fastest lap matches the tallies of James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve, Ralf Schumacher, Jenson Button and rival George Russell.
Norris is only the second driver this year to lead more than 100 laps in total. Verstappen reached that milestone on the 105th lap of the season.
The reigning world champion made his 200th grand prix start on Sunday. Over his first 100 starts Verstappen won seven races, but his second century saw an astonishing 54 victories.
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He is the 23rd member of the ‘200 club’. Surprisingly, given the success he enjoyed over his last 100 starts, he did not join the five drivers who won their 200th grand prix. They are Sebastian Vettel (2018 Bahrain Grand Prix), Hamilton (2017 Belgian Grand Prix), Nico Rosberg (2016 Singapore Grand Prix), Jenson Button (2011 Hungarian Grand Prix) and Michael Schumacher (2004 European Grand Prix).
Carlos Sainz Jnr, meanwhile, reached his 200th participation in a grand prix event. He is three short of Verstappen’s tally of starts despite the pair making their race debuts together. Curiously, this discrepancy came about despite Sainz having never been entered as a ‘practice driver’ as Verstappen was. There were three races where Sainz practiced but did not start: Belgium 2020 and Qatar 2023 (pre-race technical failures) and Saudi Arabia 2024 (illness).
For the fourth time this year all 20 drivers were classified at the finish. This also happened at Bahrain, Spain and Austria, though in the latter race Norris was no longer running.
Finally, Logan Sargeant has been dropped by Williams before the season ended. This also happened to the three American drivers who preceded him in F1: Alexander Rossi (2015 Brazilian Grand Prix), Scott Speed (2007 European Grand Prix) and Michael Andretti (1993 Italian Grand Prix).
Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Dutch Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
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2024 Dutch Grand Prix
- Previous technical hires no obstacle to Newey joining Aston Martin – Krack
- Mercedes still unsure whether Spa floor upgrade is working
- McLaren’s Dutch GP upgrade “nowhere near” as significant as Miami package
- “Very hard to pinpoint” why car has become harder to drive – Verstappen
- Only one F1 driver is making worse starts than Norris in 2024
Jere (@jerejj)
28th August 2024, 13:12
McLaren achieved their first pole position in Zandvoort since the 1984 GP.
The third 2024 race with all twenty drivers physically finishing the race just to be fully precise & the seventh entirely neutralization-free race over the 15 rounds thus far.
Sauber drivers were the only ones to get lapped twice by the eventual winner, while Lewis Hamilton finished as the last on the lead lap for the third time this season, albeit still not the last driver to reach the chequered flag in track position order as like in Suzuka & Monaco, he also did lapping.
Guanyu Zhou finished last yet again & for the sixth time this season, & additionally, the Dutch GP is the third 2024 race, in which he finished 2+ laps behind the eventual winner, with the Monaco & British GPs being the previous ones, although he briefly ran two full laps behind in Montreal as well.
Likewise, Bottas also got lapped twice in Monaco, so two occasions for him, with the now-dropped Logan Sargeant finishing 2+ behind in the Bahrain, Monaco, Spanish, & Austrian GPs, so more than anyone else.
Alexander Albon was both the first & the last driver to pit in this race.
Simon
28th August 2024, 18:08
Still not crediting original source/s…
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
28th August 2024, 21:34
It’s a bit much to complain about this when these statistics are easily something a serious F1 fan could have descovered themselves, therefore them being the source of the statistics…..
And all but the first statistic were all from this season. You make it seem like @jerejj must be getting this information from elsewhere and can’t happen to know it themselves.
anon
29th August 2024, 7:54
@thegianthogweed you’re talking to a poster who is a known troll that is trying to force @jerejj off the site through continued harassment.
Jere (@jerejj)
29th August 2024, 12:14
Simon Why should I credit when I simply come up with stat notes myself with only some exceptions occasionally.
@thegianthogweed Spot-on.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
28th August 2024, 13:48
Grim reading about US drivers (together with RJ’s Tweet in the round-up) seems like the only Indycar drivers linked with F1, usually via some tenuous McLaren connection, are from somewhere else.
MichaelN
28th August 2024, 13:59
Rossi wasn’t really dropped, as such. He missed the last race in Abu Dhabi (and the one in Russia a few races before that) because he had prior commitments. Not entirely sure why he prioritized GP2, since he had absolutely no hope of catching up for the title (though he did finish 2nd). But either way, Manor had no issue with him and even invited him back in 2016 after they dropped Rio Haryanto, but Rossi refused to focus on Indycar.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
28th August 2024, 14:29
And it’s also where there are more chances of people gambling with tyres, either yourself on a harder compound or your rivals on a softer one. It’s less useful as a.measure compared to the first 4 rows.
David BR (@david-br)
28th August 2024, 15:00
I’m just going to straight out ask the question: is Piastri going to compete with Norris at race starts or assist him? Because when he challenges Norris – presuming the latter’s poor starts continue – there’s a real possibility of Norris losing out not just to Piastri himself, not only Verstappen, but also other drivers at the top of the grid. Recovering one or two places is doable, more than that and Norris’s chances of winning a significant points haul to Verstappen diminish a lot. Ferrari were often (not always: Singapore 2017) good at coordinating their drivers at race starts to ensure a 1-2. McLaren could learn a bit of the same.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th August 2024, 3:50
Mercedes were usually better than ferrari at coordinating their drivers when they started 1-2, I remember a lot of times in 2017 and 2018.
An Sionnach
28th August 2024, 16:58
Amazing stat about Max. I’m sure it will change and he’ll eventually get swallowed up by the end of the first lap. His qualifying position is often ahead of where the car should be.
SteveP
28th August 2024, 18:19
Either Perez has improved out of all recognition, or in a very fast car, with cornering that suits his style, Verstappen is fast and in an average car he’s, er, average.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
28th August 2024, 20:05
Yeah I was surprised by that one myself…
An Sionnach
28th August 2024, 17:00
I’m not surprised about Ricciardo. Without doing an analysis I have a feeling he’s often lost a couple of positions at the start. This isn’t doing him any favours. At least Lando will still score points and he should now be able to pass everyone later with the car he has.
Nick T.
28th August 2024, 17:27
It seems as if the RB has an inherent weakness in terms of its launches. I have noticed both Yuki and Daniel seem to lose ground during more launches. Yuki has been more aggressive though in recapturing places.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
28th August 2024, 17:46
First race to be won from pole since Monaco.
Largest winning margin of the season so far.
First driver other than Verstappen to win by over 10s since Leclerc in Australia 2022.
2nd race in a row where the top 10 are all previous race winners (it had never previously happened even once).
First season to have 4 races with every driver classified.
Las Vegas is now the only circuit at which Verstappen currently has a 100% win rate.
Piastri has managed 3 2nd-places and 5 4th-places in 2024, but is yet to have a 3rd-place.
Sainz has managed 4 3rd-places and 5 5th-places in 2024, but is yet to have a 4th-place.
Thanks to statsf1 and the official F1 site for some of these.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
29th August 2024, 3:54
The 100% win rate he just lost at zandvoort was very impressive, and he didn’t lose it through a mistake or anything, simply by having a way better car than his own for this particular track.
Simon
28th August 2024, 18:10
“Las Vegas is now the only circuit at which Verstappen currently has a 100% win rate”
There has only been one Las Vegas race – so pretty obvious stat there!
An Sionnach
28th August 2024, 23:49
I seem to remember Michael Andretti having a nightmare with the standing starts. He would have made Norris and Ricciardo look good! Also, even though it’s unfortunate he can’t get his start in F1 this time around, he must be used to it by now!
coreball
29th August 2024, 9:09
Regarding Ricciardo, I am not surprised. I get the impression, without checking the stats, that he usually loses a few of positions early on. Nothing good is coming out of this for him. Lando can still rack up points, and with his current vehicle, he should be able to catch up to everyone later on.
SteveP
29th August 2024, 12:08
I think you could put the full stop after the word nightmare, and thus summarise his whole F1 experience.