“I’ve never spun in the race before, not that I remember at least,” said a bemused Lewis Hamilton after his United States Grand Prix ended when he pirouetted into the turn 19 gravel trap on his second lap.
“If I have, it can only be once, maybe, before, in all these years.”Hamilton seldom fails to remind journalists that his recollection of past races is not up to much. So how well has his memory served him this time? Has he really only spun out of F1 races on two occasions?
Remarkably, that is pretty much the case. Inevitably there is a degree of interpretation required with this kind of thing, but Hamilton is pretty much on the money.
There have been many other occasions when Hamilton has retired from a race by his own hand, usually involving collisions with rivals, but this is the only one which might accurately be described as a “spin”. He retired from the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix in a gravel trap, but that was more of a grip-less slither. And he was remarkably fortunate his spin during the European Grand Prix that year did not result in a retirement, as he was recovered from the gravel trap by a crane.
Other occasions when Hamilton has retired from races in his 351-race career either involved collisions with other drivers or technical failures, some of which led to crashes, as when he retired from second place in the 2010 Spanish Grand Prix.
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Hamilton’s retirement meant he failed to score points in a grand prix for the first time in 15 races. However he did pick up points in the sprint race. In another small upside, as Max Verstappen also did not win the grand prix, Hamilton’s success rate has moved back above his rival’s. Hamilton has now won 29.91% of his starts to Verstappen’s 29.90%, reversing the swap which occured five months ago.
Mercedes started the weekend looking like a potential threat for pole position, but faded from then on. Instead Ferrari emerged as the team to beat, despite failing to claim pole.
Charles Leclerc claimed the eighth victory of his grand prix career, putting him level with Daniel Ricciardo, whose F1 career appears to be over following his ousting from RB after the previous round (in which he did, we can now definitively say, become the fifth driver to set fastest lap in his final race). Leclerc is also now level on wins with Jacques Laffite and 1967 world champion Denny Hulme.
Ferrari scored their second one-two finish this year, albeit with their drivers in the opposite order to their first, in Australia seven months ago.
Lando Norris took pole position for a grand prix for the seventh time in his career, and also the seventh time this year overall including his sprint race pole in China. Once again, he failed to maintain his lead from pole on the first lap, which he has only achieved once in his career. His average position change on the first lap of the race remains the worst of any driver this year, aside from the departed Ricciardo.
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After 152 starts, Ocon finally scored the first fastest lap of his career. This is the third-longest wait of any driver, beaten only by Button (155) and Jarno Trulli (203).
While Colapinto picked up the second points finish of his career with 10th place, his team mate Alexander Albon had little to celebrate in his 100th grand prix, finishing out of the points.
Finally, Verstappen won the sprint race, continuing his unbeaten run in the short format this year. Of the 16 sprint races held since the format’s introduction in 2021 he has now won 11, though afterwards he quipped his success was “probably because I don’t like it.”
Over to you
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the United States Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
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2024 United States Grand Prix
- McLaren insist stewards made ‘provable error’ after losing bid for review of Norris’ penalty
- Why McLaren’s focus on Verstappen’s driving failed to overturn Norris’ penalty
- Stewards reject McLaren’s request to review Norris’ United States GP penalty
- McLaren know Norris’ penalty is likely to stand – so what do they hope to gain?
- McLaren request review of Norris’ penalty for off-track pass on Verstappen
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
23rd October 2024, 8:13
Charles Leclerc has found more GP success from Lando Norris pole positions than from his own pole positions, winning from P4 at Monza and here at COTA. Both races saw Norris qualify first, and it means Leclerc has won 33% of the races Norris qualified P1. He has only won one race from his own three pole positions this year, equaling the 33%.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd October 2024, 8:14
An interesting stat & coincidence.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
23rd October 2024, 9:08
Good spot. Though obviously it reflects badly on Lando, in the case of COTA I don’t think he could have done much to beat the Ferrari’s on Sunday regardless of having pole or if he had good first lap.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
23rd October 2024, 13:18
Well it isn’t positive for Leclerc either:
“Charles Leclerc has found more GP success from Lando Norris pole positions than from his own pole positions”
Leclerc from the 26 poles (excl sprint) he won 5 races but didn’t win 21 times = 19.23% converted
Norris from the 7 poles (excl sprint) he won 2 races but didn’t win 5 times = 28.57% converted
George Russell is actually even worse – from the 3 poles he had he didn’t win a single race.
On the opposite site of that is Max Verstappen who has won 32 races from his 40 poles so 80% converted which is the highest of any driver in history that had more than 1 pole next best is 66.67% conversion.
Jonathan Parkin
23rd October 2024, 18:24
What would be interesting is the opposite stat. What % of a drivers wins come off the front row?
Take Daniel Ricciardo for instance. 75% of his eight wins came from positions 3rd or lower
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
24th October 2024, 8:20
If you just look at win not starting on pole you get:
Absolute king is Denny Hulme who won 8 races in his career and none were from pole position so 100% score.
There are actually 47 other drivers with a 100% score but of those 30 drivers have only 1 win (incl Ocon & Gasly), then 8 more have just 2 wins (incl Piastri), 4 have 3 wins, 3 have 4 wins and 2 have 5 wins (Keke Rosberg and John Watson) – but Denny is King as he has 8 wins and 100% score winning not on pole.
As you called out Ricciardo has the highest % without a 100% score – 7 of his 8 wins didn’t come from pole.
Below is the top 5 drivers with highest % of their wins not starting on pole with more than F1 10 wins in their career.
1) David Coulthard – 13 wins in his career with 11 not from pole = 84.62%
2) Alan Jones – 12 wins in his career with 10 not from pole = 83.33%
3) Nelson Piquet – 23 wins in his career with 18 not from pole = 78.26%
4) Carlos Reuteman – 12 wins in his career with 9 not from pole = 75%
5) Kimi Raikonnen – 21 wins in his career with 15 not from pole = 71.43%
Dane
23rd October 2024, 22:15
I wouldn’t hold that against Charles. He’s stuck his Ferrari on pole several times when it really didn’t deserve to be.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd October 2024, 8:13
McLaren’s first US GP pole position since the last Indianapolis round, while COTA received a sixth different pole-sitter in as many seasons.
For the sprint, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Sergio Perez, & Fernando Alonso started in positions matching their race numbers.
The first Ferrari 1-2 in the US since the 2006 Indianapolis US GP, & likewise, Lewis Hamilton’s first DNF in the States.
The first SC period since the Canadian GP, so the SC-free streak finally ended, with the only surprising thing being that it eventually happened at COTA rather than Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Fernando Alonso was the highest-finishing lapped driver for the second consecutive race & like in Singapore, he got the chequered flag shortly after the eventual winner, while Gasly was the last to finish on the lead lap for the first time this season & simultaneously the last to reach the chequered flag in track position order like in Monaco where the difference was that he did so as the lowest-finishing among those lapped once by the winner, & coincidently, on both these occasions, Charles Leclerc was the winner.
Leclerc additionally became the third driver to win more than two races this year.
Guanyu Zhou finished last for the seventh time this season.
Nico Hulkenberg’s 8th-place finish is the highest Haas has achieved in the US.
baasbas
23rd October 2024, 10:57
@Jere
I like this one
Nick T.
23rd October 2024, 19:53
Yeah. That’s a good one.
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
23rd October 2024, 11:05
I still think of Max as 33. Threw me for a second
Icarus
24th October 2024, 22:10
Max starts from the pit lane….entrance
Simon
23rd October 2024, 21:44
Still not crediting original source… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
stefano (@alfa145)
23rd October 2024, 9:23
I was at Monza in 2009, during the track invasion after the race I managed to pick up a small piece of carbon fiber from Hamilton’s car, with a line of Vodafone orange on it, and I still have it. I think I remember a guy managing to pick up his tire, but that might be from a different race. Who knew how rare an occasion that would turn out to be
José Lopes da Silva
23rd October 2024, 10:15
And it’s a great compliment to Hamilton’s success and place in Formula 1 history. Most top drivers and GOAT candidates, namely Senna and Schumacher, have a decent list of DNF caused by spins and errors. And Hamilton accomplished a very long career, with a big number of races and occasions for errors due to the increase of the number of GP per season.
An Sionnach
23rd October 2024, 10:33
I wouldn’t consider Senna in such a list for exactly this reason. He was immensely gifted, but not a contender for the greatest. Lewis is clearly a more complete driver than Senna was, and certainly above him in the pantheon of greats.
José Lopes da Silva
23rd October 2024, 12:31
I would not go that far…
What’s your list for top drivers and GOAT candidates?
An Sionnach
23rd October 2024, 19:30
My list isn’t very long. It’s too hard to do something like this and there isn’t enough data to directly compare drivers. Eras can blend into each other, too, so they can be compared to some extent if the data exists.
I’ve got Schumacher and Prost on my list. Perhaps Schumacher first, although… I can think of a few reasons why Prost might have been better in some ways. Schumacher seemed more able to take the team along with him, which may have been something Prost was not so good at. I’d also guess that Schumacher may have had more raw speed. Senna was great for this, and for absolute commitment. The two on my list have a lot of what a driver could wish for. Lauda would be up there too when it comes to completeness, but he can be compared to Prost (the toughest guy to beat, as he said). Perhaps Schumacher was some combination of the great things that Prost and Senna could do… and then some?
Of course, there could be others on the list, and Senna is more directly comparable to Prost than Schumacher, which is why he isn’t on it. I think he didn’t beat Prost to his satisfaction, which is why he wanted him to return.
I won’t go into others from further back. Cars could be harder to drive the further you go back, but the newer ones require incredible reflexes and fitness. Perhaps somewhere in the 80s and 90s there was a combination of speed, reflexes and danger that made it special, although I don’t think many drivers beyond my two took their fitness that seriously in those years.
I’m very open to being wrong, but I’m not that impressed by a lot of modern drivers. They have fitness, longer seasons, a lot of things going for them, but… I think particularly someone like Vettel could often drive like he’s in a video game (as opposed to a computer simulation). Max is amazing. The defending in the last race was impressive. I am sure he’s human and must start to make more mistakes at some point, but… I can hardly believe how he can judge what he’s doing at these speeds. Like Schumacher and Prost, I think he has clearly raised the level that’s needed to win in F1. To be a great, he has to be more like Prost or Lauda, though. I don’t think they’d have risked damage with Sainz in the last race, or pitted for the fastest lap point when they could lose a race lead by doing so. Max also needs to be in it for longer to be a great of F1. I’m not sure he will stay wit us long enough. If he leaves, I wish him well. I’m not sure just being the best F1 driver for a prolonged career is enough to make you truly great any more. Maybe that’s what Max thinks, but I’d doubt he cares. I’d guess he wants to race and if that means entering a series he will be at a disadvantage in, then fair play to him.
For other modern drivers, they could do with more guile. This was something Piquet had in spades. He has said that he wouldn’t get on well today because he was more mechanically proficient and you’ve got a whole team to do that these days. Most of the grid could do with more cunning, though. I don’t like seeing drivers playing bumper cars and driving around like headless chickens. I think Lewis is gifted with great race pace, which is critically important, but he needs more tactical nous. We’ve seen flashes from some drivers this year. I like watching Colapinto and I think Lawson may have more to show us. Alonso has enough of it. Perhaps he could share it around when he retires?
José Lopes da Silva
25th October 2024, 12:12
An Sionnach
I enjoyed your analysis and I’d like you to go further, in the future. I believe every GOAT and Top Driver analysis has to include every Formula 1 era. Otherwise, we can start thinking that one is thinking about who is the “GOAT and Top Driver Of When I Was Young.”
The fact that this is a mechanical sport makes it to be a different sport every ten years. But we must be able to rate and evaluate drivers regardless of that. When you say “For other modern drivers, they could do with more guile. This was something Piquet had in spades. He has said that he wouldn’t get on well today because he was more mechanically proficient and you’ve got a whole team to do that these days.” Nothing more right, but that’s part of the sport. Modern drivers are not at fault. They did not ask for the sport to become different of what is was. In fact, one could say that Piquet is at fault; he invented the blanket tyres and now it’s unthinkable to do racing without them. But he is not at fault – racing is to win and he showed the way to win.
A book of when I was young stated that “in every generation a great talent emerges above of the field”. I’m not sure if that’s scientific but I think since Max arrived in 2015 no other generational talent arrived.
“Max also needs to be in it for longer to be a great of F1.” Why not? He is finishing is 10th F1 season and is a Triple Champion, just like Senna.
“I’m not sure just being the best F1 driver for a prolonged career is enough to make you truly great any more.” But what is it, then? What must a driver perform or show, in a sport that changes every ten years, to become an All-Time Great? It is technically impossible to any driver to equal Fangio’s performance at the 1957 German Grand Prix – does this mean we can go home and stop debating this?…
Nick T.
23rd October 2024, 19:56
As I point out below, it’s a flawed comparison. They drove in era with much more nervous, unstable cars. Schumacher was always pushing 10/10 and as a result, he tended to run off a lot, but it was remarkable how lucky he got in rarely actually having to retire from his moments.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd October 2024, 12:15
@alfa145 I’m surprised that guy was even allowed to take away a tyre as tyre manufacturer’s normally want even damaged ones back.
Nick T.
23rd October 2024, 10:02
How many times have Max or Alonso spun out by themselves during a race? It can’t be more than 2-3 times. Anyway, I was never in doubt that, whatever the exact number, LH has never been a driver you had to worry about making an unforced error. I’ll add that caveat that until the ground fx Mercedes, he’s always had well balanced, easy to drive cars. So, that helps too.
Among, multi-time world champions, I’d say that Vettel and Schumacher likely have the most amount of spins that involved no contact. However, Schumacher also drove the majority of his career at a time where F1 chassis were incredibly nervous. You could virtually see the cars twitching all over the place non-stop. You don’t see that with even the worst cars of today. The new ground effect cars may be a bit prone to porpoising causing the laminar flow to suddenly detach and cause an unrecoverable moment, but they’re still far better.
MichaelN
23rd October 2024, 10:31
Statsf1.com lists Alonso’s retirements due to an ‘Accident’ as Belgium 2010 (where he spun coming out of Les Combes), Canada 2008 (where he spun out chasing Heidfeld), Japan 2007 (where he spun out in the wet), Canada 2005 (where he slid into the wall), Monaco 2004 (where he skid off in the tunnel trying to pass Ralf Schumacher, arguably a racing incident), and San Marino 2001 (where he jumped the kerbs and slid into the tyre wall).
NM
23rd October 2024, 10:34
i found 2 for max, silverstone 2015 and monaco 16.
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
23rd October 2024, 13:09
Silverstone 2015 yes but Monaco 2016 to my knowledge that was no spin but just a crash straight in the barriers after fighting for position with I believe Grossjean.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd October 2024, 19:46
@f1statsfan The collision with Grosjean happened in the 2015 race, while in 2016, he crashed into the armco at the second swimming pool chicane in FP3.
NM
24th October 2024, 7:57
Yes but he also ended his race sliding into the barrier at the top of the hill the next day, not his weekend lol.
NM
24th October 2024, 7:59
and that wasnt indeed a spin, but i look at it like ending your race by yourself.
NM
23rd October 2024, 10:34
i found 2 for max, silverstone 2015 and monaco 16.
David West
23rd October 2024, 11:42
He didn’t spin but Max did go off the track due to the wind in Spain 2022.
Grapmg
23rd October 2024, 13:04
Yes went off but he continued the race. Max Hungary 2022 he spun but als won the race.
Hamilton Imola 2021 also comes to mind. He also continued after a lucky timing of the red flag and finished 2nd
Craig
23rd October 2024, 13:51
If you included Schumacher’s practice accidents the list would be pretty long, but then in those days with full spare cars ready to go he could get away with testing the limit that “vigorously”
baasbas
24th October 2024, 7:03
@Craig
Also, one could argue in these days of more tarmac run-off, a spin is less likely to be race ending while back in the day an encounter with the gravel would..
MichaelN
23rd October 2024, 17:29
Since my original comment is seemingly stuck in limbo (that language filter needs some work).
Alonso’s proper race ending spins are probably Belgium 2010, Canada 2008, and Japan 2007.
Jonathan Parkin
23rd October 2024, 18:29
Although wouldn’t Japan 2007 be more accurately described as a crash, since he hit something.
It’s that interpretation thing again. IMHO if you spin and leave the track but don’t hit anything (like Lewis in the last race) it’s a spin. If you leave the track and hit something (like Logan in the Dutch GP) it’s an accident
Nick T.
23rd October 2024, 19:51
Spa was a broken upright. However, he had another spin much more recently at Spa, but I think it may have been in qualifying or a sprint race.
Canada and Japan were the only ones I could remember off the top of my head, but Japan can’t really be purely interpreted as a spin.
Either way, it’s pretty wild how seldomly the best of the best have spins. And when it does happen, it’s often in unusual conditions.
Raymond
23rd October 2024, 10:03
Need help. English isn’t my first language. “Hamilton seldom fails to remind journalists that his recollection of past races is not up to much” –> Does this mean that he remembers things correctly? Wrongly? Someone help pls tyvm
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
23rd October 2024, 10:20
It means:
“Hamilton often reminds journalists that his memory is bad”, he remembers things wrongly.
Craig
23rd October 2024, 11:45
To be fair most of us don’t have a perfect memory. If you’d done something 350+ times you’d struggle to call out certain details from most of those times straight off the top of your head.
Christopher Rehn (@chrischrill)
23rd October 2024, 11:52
Definitely agree, and I felt it was a strange thing to write in the article. Lewis Hamilton does not stand out as forgetful or confused compared to anyone else with his longevity in the sport.
N
23rd October 2024, 12:08
When it comes to Hamilton, people get REAL pedantic and literal.
Any other person can use the words ‘never’ and ‘always’ in flippant ways and we all know what they mean when they say something ‘always’ or ‘never’ happens. Not Hamilton though, he’s not allowed.
It’s no wonder you see him often stumble or take a minute to chose his answers, he knows he gets judged differently.
Garns (@garns)
23rd October 2024, 13:09
@chrischrill – to the contrary I remember Lewis saying in an interview, maybe only 2-3 years ago that he does have a bit of a forgetful nature in his memory – not in remembering or forgetting a moment but rather pinpointing what race or season it was. I guess when you have done so much racing it may become a bit of a blur.
Jere (@jerejj)
23rd October 2024, 12:16
Craig Not necessarily a perfect memory per se, but many people have very good & long memories, including me.
Simon
23rd October 2024, 21:46
(rolleyes emoji)
Sumedh
23rd October 2024, 10:20
It means he often (opposite of ‘seldom’) reminds (opposite of ‘fails to remind’) journalists that his recollection of past races is poor.
The use of multiple negatives is confusing, I agree.
MichaelN
23rd October 2024, 10:22
In more straightforward terms, it means “Hamilton often (=seldom fails to) remind[s] journalists that his recollection of past races is bad (=not up to much).”
José Lopes da Silva
23rd October 2024, 10:27
“Seldom” is a very nice word of English that, unfortunately, is seldom used.
But yes, “seldom fails” is like a double negative. Not a very Hemingwayesque technique.
Hamilton usually, or normally, reminds journalists (and fans) that he does not remember or care much about past races.
David BR (@david-br)
23rd October 2024, 14:17
As journalists often discover, Hamilton’s recollection of past races tends to be poor.
Coventry Climax
23rd October 2024, 16:00
“Hamilton seldom fails to remind journalists that his recollection of past races is not up to much”
=
Hamilton almost always takes the opportunity to say to journalists that he has a rather bad memory where his races in the past is concerned.
Given he is apparently repeating himself with journalists time and again, you could argue his memory isn’t much good on other matters too.
SteveP
23rd October 2024, 20:37
Teachers will persist with even the dullest of pupils in the, often forlorn, hope that the message will get through.
Optimism.
N
23rd October 2024, 11:09
His haters seldom fail to remind people of their hatred as they take every word that comes out of his mouth quite literally.
Nobody who say ‘always and never’ rarely ever actually mean ‘always and never’
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
23rd October 2024, 13:35
Interesting noneless, literally or not
Nick T.
23rd October 2024, 19:57
You believe Keith is one of his “haters? lol, don’t make us laugh.
N
24th October 2024, 16:02
One always queries the motives of someone who feels the need to pick apart and over analyse the words of certain individuals over others. In Keith’s case its financial, fair enough, articles like this (and generally anything that involves Lewis Hamilton’s name) create big engagement, because the people that actually just hate him love to express it at any opportunity, articles like this bring them all out of their holes.
Coventry Climax
23rd October 2024, 12:00
Hamilton ran off entering the pits in one of his first seasons, throwing away valuable championship chances.
I doubt he’s forgotten about that.
Also, the spin where he was put back on track by a tow truck, is still a spin, even if he was allowed to continue.
Nonetheless, his spins are indeed sparse, although he’s definitely not alone there.
grat
23rd October 2024, 14:34
McLaren also left him out far too long at China in 2007. His tires were completely shot.
Both 2007 and 2008 were a bit “scrappy” for Hamilton– but the other contenders both seasons were a bit messy as well. Really, Hamilton screwed up slightly less than everyone else in 2008 to win his first WDC.
Coventry Climax
23rd October 2024, 15:50
Being left out too long is no excuse as he himself is the only one that can -and should- actually feel what grip levels there are and drive accordingly, same as in each and every other lap of any race.
It might be an excuse for losing overall time strategy wise, and/or being unable to attack or defend, but that is how far it goes.
So for 2008 basically, you’re saying he made it to the top thanks to weak opponents. You’re not making friends here..
SteveP
23rd October 2024, 20:43
Being told to stay out and only being a rookie was the situation.
Why they told him to stay out on obviously badly worn tyres is one of those big questions, that goes along with the question – what were Alonso’s entourage trying to achieve when handing out brown envelopes of cash to McLaren engineers that could “help” Alonso (source: a McLaren engineer of the era)
Note that in the years since, LH has tended to argue with engineers about how the tyres will last. Once bitten, twice shy.
Coventry Climax
23rd October 2024, 12:07
How is Hamilton’s “I’ve never spun in the race before” the same as Collantine’s “spinning out of a race before”?
To then brilliantly not count the spin where he was put back on track and allowed to continue?
Rick
23rd October 2024, 15:23
If he continued the race then he did not spin “out”.
BMW P85 V10
23rd October 2024, 12:43
More interesting to me is how Hamilton first told his left front started to bounce and he had a 40km/h tailwind.
Wolff was there to protect Hamilton from (the/ his) failure to it was clearly not Hamiltons fault. Russel having the same problem in Quali makes me just think about what is happening with the car at such a moment.
Where they looking for performance outside the comfort zone of the car?
Anyone who can deliberate on this?
F1statsfan (@f1statsfan)
23rd October 2024, 14:16
Max has now overtaken Michael Schumacher to 2nd place for more races with same constructor.
Max has now raced 181 races with Red Bull versus Schumacher 180 with Ferrari. Still 3 seasons away from Lewis 241 races with Mercedes (246 at end of season).
Leo B
23rd October 2024, 16:01
I seem to recall Lewis spinning and crashing into the wall all by himself in quali a few years back, followed by his team mate Russell, almost in sympathy.
Nick T.
23rd October 2024, 20:00
This was defined as races, which I think is appropriate. However, Keith literally defined it as only spins (not running off the track ending his race) and only spins that ended his race, which again is fair enough IMO.
sam
23rd October 2024, 19:03
I guess he only counts the incidents where he was completely alone and they resulted in a retirement without moving from that spot?
cause last year he did that thing with George and Max on lap 1 at Qatar. then in 2022 he took himself out of the race hitting Alonso. both retirements.
2021 he spun for completely no reason at Imola, and was very lucky to get out of the gravel there, and then equally lucky his teammate at the time hit George Russell, which allowed him to unlap himself.
PlosslF1 (@f1-ploss)
23rd October 2024, 19:47
There was no spin in that incident at Imola 21.
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
23rd October 2024, 22:27
Second time (after Britain 2009) where Hamilton has qualified on the back row excluding clashes and penalties.
The only 2 current drivers with exactly 1 fastest lap to their name (Tsunoda and Ocon) have managed fastest lap in the 2 most recent Austin GPs.
First season in which 2 different teams have scored their first fastest lap (using the ‘same name = same team’ convention) since 2009 (Brawn GP, Red Bull, Force India). First time since 1975 (Hesketh and Shadow) in which 2 teams have managed their first fastest laps in consecutive races.
The top 4 on the grid finished the race in the top 4 in the reverse order to which they started.
Second year in a row that Albon’s Williams team-mate has finished 10th at Austin.
First time since Canada 2022 that Sainz has finished 2nd, and the first time since Monaco 2022 that Verstappen has been classified 3rd.
First time since Japan that neither McLaren has finished on the podium.
First time since Monaco that no British driver has finished on the podium.
First season since 2019 in which 3+ drivers have each scored 3+ victories, First time since 2012 that 3 drivers from different teams have managed 3+ wins.
First season since 2018 in which 3+ teams have each scored 4+ victories.
Thanks to statsf1 and the official F1 site for some of these.
Nick T.
23rd October 2024, 23:36
Very good selections. Thanks.
erix
24th October 2024, 5:00
One when he was young, one when he is getting old.
Fair enough.