From Formula 1’s 1000th Grand Prix to Mercedes’ chance to make history, we have gathered all the milestones and numbers to look out for in the upcoming 2019 F1 season.
THE 2019 MILESTONES
Kimi Raikkonen will move from being the fifth most experienced driver to being the second most experienced by the end of the season, should he partake in every Grand Prix. He’ll equal Jenson Button’s record of starts at the Italian Grand Prix, before matching Michael Schumacher’s tally at the Singapore Grand Prix and equalling Fernando Alonso at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He’ll then surpass Alonso’s record and become the outright second-most experienced driver at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ten race starts behind Rubens Barrichello’s record of 323.
The 2019 French Grand Prix will be Kimi Raikkonen’s 300th Grand Prix appearance, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be Lewis Hamilton’s 250th Grand Prix appearance and the Canadian Grand Prix will mark Romain Grosjean’s 150th race start. Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen and Max Verstappen will all reach their 100th race start at the US Grand Prix. The Austrian Grand Prix will be Lance Stroll’s 50th F1 race.
If a Ferrari car starts from the front row at eleven races this year, the eleventh time will mark the 400th Grand Prix which has featured a Ferrari on the front row of the grid. Red Bull could become the sixth team to reach 100 front-row starts this season, if Max Verstappen and/or Pierre Gasly start from the front row ten times throughout the year.
Robert Kubica will start his first Grand Prix in 8 years, 4 months and 3 days at the Albert Park circuit. That’s the fifth longest longest gap between races for a driver in F1 history.
The Chinese Grand Prix will be Toro Rosso’s 250th Grand Prix. With the event being the 1000th F1 race, that means the team will have appeared in exactly one quarter of F1’s races – exactly the same percentage as Jordan. Toro Rosso will move up the order of most Grands Prix started for a team this season. They’ll pass Jordan’s tally at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, then equal Benetton’s number of races started at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The French Grand Prix will be McLaren’s 850th appearance, while Mercedes will celebrate their 200th race appearance at their home event in Germany. Mercedes will equal the number of races entered by the BRM and March teams at the French Grand Prix. They’ll surpass their tallies of 197 races entered at the Austrian Grand Prix, moving to seventeenth on the all-time list of races entered by a team.
If Haas and Mercedes maintain the same driver line-ups for the full season, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen and Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will join the top ten of the longest lasting team-mates. They’ll have shared 63 races as team-mates – one more than Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher spent together at Williams.
Haas will overtake four teams in the list of most races entered by a team over the 2019 season. They’ll equal Maserati’s number of races at the French Grand Prix, the Fittipaldi team’s tally at the Austrian Grand Prix, Marussia’s at the German Grand Prix and Dallara’s total at the Russian Grand Prix. At the season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Haas will equal the Prost team’s tally of 83 races; which will put them an equal 34th in the all-time list.
The US Grand Prix will be the 1000th F1 race to feature a British driver. This will be the 70th season to feature a British driver – the only nation which has competed in every season. The Singapore Grand Prix will be the 800th race to feature an Italian driver, the Canadian Grand Prix will be the 350th time a driver from the Netherlands has appeared in an F1 race, the Spanish Grand Prix will be the 50th race for a Monegasque driver and the season-opening Grand Prix will mark the 300th Grand Prix with a Canadian driver present on the grid.
HAMILTON’S RECORDS TO BEAT
In 2018, Lewis Hamilton equalled Ayrton Senna’s record of six poles at his home Grand Prix. Hamilton will take the outright record should he take a seventh British Grand Prix pole this season, while if he wins the race, Hamilton would equal Alain Prost’s record of six wins at his home event.
In 2019, Hamilton could become only the second driver, after Michael Schumacher, to reach a tally of six Drivers’ Titles. If Hamilton does win a sixth title, he’ll be only the fourth driver in F1 history to have taken three championships in consecutive years, after Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
Should Hamilton take pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, it would be his eighth at Albert Park, equalling the record for most poles at the same Grand Prix. The record is currently shared between Senna and Schumacher, who took eight poles at San Marino and Japan respectively.
If Lewis Hamilton takes a pole position, it’ll be the 13th consecutive year where he’s taken pole, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record for most consecutive seasons with a pole. Meanwhile, a podium for Hamilton would make him only the second driver to appear on the podium in at least 13 consecutive seasons.
Both Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel can become only the second and third drivers to have led a Grand Prix in 13 consecutive seasons if they lead a race this year. If Hamilton leads a lap at 14 Grands Prix this year, he’ll equal Schumacher for most Grands Prix led. Schumacher’s record is 142, while Hamilton has led 129 so far.
During his career, Ayrton Senna led 19 races from start to finish. Senna has held the record since leading the 1990 US Grand Prix from start to finish, the fourteenth time he had done so, surpassing Jim Clark’s previous record of thirteen. This season, both Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton stand a chance of equalling Senna’s 28 year old record. Vettel will equal the Brazilian’s record if he leads four races from start to finish, while Hamilton needs to do so five times.
If Lewis Hamilton takes a win at either the Canadian, Hungarian or US Grands Prix, he’ll become only the second driver to have won the same Grand Prix seven times. He’s won each of the three listed six times so far in his career. Michael Schumacher is the only other driver to have won the same race seven times. He won the French Grand Prix on eight occasions, and took victory at the Canadian and San Marino Grands Prix seven times.
The number 44 will equal the number 3 as the car number to have taken the fifth most victories in F1 history if Lewis Hamilton scores 10 wins over the course of the 2019 season, providing Daniel Ricciardo fails to score a victory.
MORE MERCEDES RECORDS?
Mercedes can equal Ferrari’s record of most consecutive Constructors’ Championship victories in 2019. Ferrari took six between 1999 and 2004, while Mercedes have won all since 2014. Should they win both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles, they’d be the first team to win both titles in six successive seasons.
Mercedes could become the fourth most successful team by way of pole positions in F1 history. Currently at 101 poles, they need six more to equal Lotus’ tally of 107.
If a Mercedes driver wins the title it’ll be the eighth title victory for one of their drivers. Should either Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas win the 2019 title, Mercedes will move to a clear third on the all-time list of Drivers’ Titles. They’re currently tied on seven with Williams.
Mercedes are 13 victories away from achieving a century of wins in Formula 1. Should they take their 100th victory this season they’ll be only the fourth team to reach the milestone, after Ferrari, McLaren and Williams.
Mercedes are currently fourth in the all-time list of front-row lock-outs. They’ve had 59 so far and need three more to equal Williams (62). Four front-row lock-outs would equal McLaren (63). Ferrari lead the way on this leaderboard with 76 – a number which they could extend further in 2019.
Mercedes could become only the third team to reach a tally of 5,000 points this year. They’re currently on 4,373, so would need to score 627 points over the 2019 season to join Ferrari and McLaren in this club. The team have scored more than 627 points in all of the last five seasons.
A Mercedes powered car has scored a point in every race since China 2008. If that continues to happen until the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it’ll be the 200th consecutive race where their engines have scored a point.
So far in their history, Mercedes have taken 179 podium finishes. With a maximum of 42 more on offer in 2019, they can reach 200 this season; which would move them to fourth on the all-time list. They need 18 more podium finishes to equal Lotus’ tally of 197 top three finishes.
If Mercedes take three 1-2 finishes this season, they’ll equal McLaren’s total of 47 1-2s. McLaren’s last 1-2 finish came at the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. Four 1-2 finishes for Mercedes this year would move them to a clear second on the all-time list, behind Ferrari on 83.
Mercedes engines could equal Honda, Renault and Ferrari in taking six consecutive titles and take a step closer to equalling the record of seven consecutive titles for an engine manufacturer, set by Lotus engines between 1968 and 1974.
If a Mercedes-powered car takes pole position at any race this year, they’ll equal Ford Cosworth’s record of 17 consecutive seasons with a pole position, while four 1-2 finishes for Mercedes-powered cars in qualifying would see them become only the second engine manufacturer to reach 100 front-row lock-outs.
Mercedes-powered cars can reach 10,000 points in 2019. Currently on 9,637, they can extend the record of points scored by an engine manufacturer further this year, and reach 10,000 if they score 363 points over the course of the season. Meanwhile, Ferrari engines can reach 9,000 points scored in 2019 if they score 457.5 points, and Honda will reach 2,000 points scored as a manufacturer when Red Bull and Toro Rosso’s combined score reaches 246.5 points for the season.
EVENT MILESTONES
Perhaps the biggest milestone this season will be the 1000th F1 race, which will take place at the Shanghai International Circuit in April.
There’ll be a number of milestones for events this year. Having been on the calendar in every season since the sport began, Britain and Italy will stage their 70th Grands Prix to be held as a round of the F1 championship. France will host its 60th race as part of the F1 championship and Canada will host its 50th. Meanwhile, Australia and Japan will each be celebrating their 35th appearances on the calendar, Mexico its 20th and Bahrain its 15th. The US Grand Prix will mark the 70th time that a Formula 1 race has been staged in the United States.
While the Canadian Grand Prix will have appeared on the calendar 50 times, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will equal Nurburgring this season as the track to have held the fifth-most F1 races. The Montreal track will have held the Canadian Grand Prix 40 times since 1978.
Yas Marina will equal Watkins Glen as the circuit to have hosted the second-most season-closing races, with eight, behind only Adelaide (11). United Arab Emirates will also equal Japan as the country to have held the third-most season finales (8, behind USA on 12 and Australia on 11)
In 2019, Hockenheim will host Grands Prix in consecutive years for the first time since 2005 and 2006.
A NEW WINNER?
There are 13 drivers on the 2019 F1 grid who have not yet won a Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly are the most likely contenders to become a new winner in F1 in 2019. Whoever is first to do so will be the 108th different driver to win a Grand Prix since the start of the F1 championship in 1950.
A fastest lap for a Ferrari-powered car would make this the 25th season a Ferrari-engined car has taken a fastest lap, extending their existing record.
THE YOUNG GUNS
The average age of the grid at the 2019 Australian Grand Prix will be 27 years, 2 months and 3 days; which will make it the thirteenth youngest average grid in F1 history.
Whoever is first to score a point between Lando Norris and George Russell will become the 60th British driver to score a point in F1 history.
Alexander Albon will be the first Thai driver to compete in F1 since Prince Bira at the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix. The 2019 Australian Grand Prix will be only the 20th F1 race which has featured a Thai driver. Thailand is the only nation represented on the 2019 grid to have never scored a podium finish. Prince Bira’s best result was fourth at the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix and the 1954 French Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc could become only the fourth driver to win the Drivers’ Championship in only his second season of Formula 1. The other drivers to have done so are Juan Manuel Fangio, Jacques Villeneuve and Lewis Hamilton.
The current record for the youngest champion is 23 years, 4 months and 11 days, which was Sebastian Vettel’s age when he became champion for the first time in 2010. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Lance Stroll and George Russell would all qualify as the youngest ever champion should they take the title in 2019.
21 years, 2 months and 11 days is the current record for the youngest polesitter in F1 history, set by Sebastian Vettel at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Lando Norris and Lance Stroll could both beat that record in 2019, while George Russell would break the record if he took pole at any of the three rounds before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen could become F1’s second-youngest polesitter in 2019. Leclerc will do so if he takes pole before the Canadian Grand Prix, while Verstappen will become the second-youngest driver to take pole if he does so before the Monaco Grand Prix.
Lando Norris will become Formula 1’s third-youngest points scorer if he scores a point before the Russian Grand Prix, taking Daniil Kvyat’s place in the list. He’ll become the fourth youngest driver to start an F1 race at the Australian Grand Prix, and narrowly misses out on third sport, being just two days older than Jaime Alguersuari was when he started the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc would be the second-youngest driver to lead a race should he do so before the Canadian Grand Prix.
The record for the youngest average age of a podium could be beaten this year. The current record is 23 years, 11 months and 16 days, which happened when Sebastian Vettel, Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica finished in the top three at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. A likely way in which the record could be beaten is by Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc finishing on the podium together.
THE UNWANTED RECORDS
If Hamilton takes pole position and fails to win, it’ll be the 37th time he’ll have done so, which would be a new record. He’s currently tied with Ayrton Senna on 36 poles without a win.
If Sebastian Vettel finishes runner-up in the title battle, it’ll be a record equalling fourth time he’s finished in second place, matching Stirling Moss and Alain Prost’s tallies of runner-up finishes in the Drivers’ Championship.
If Nico Hulkenberg fails to win in Australia or Bahrain, he’ll equal Martin Brundle’s total of races without a victory – a figure which he will then surpass at the Chinese Grand Prix, taking third in the all-time list. Similarly Sergio Perez will surpass Brundle’s tally at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and Romain Grosjean will also better it at the Russian Grand Prix, providing neither win a race in the interim.
Martin Brundle holds the record for the most Grands Prix without a pole with 165. It’s a figure which Sergio Perez could equal at this year’s Canadian Grand Prix, and then beat at the following round in France. Romain Grosjean will beat the record at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if he fails to take pole throughout the season.
If Kimi Raikkonen or Nico Hulkenberg record three first lap retirements this season, they’ll equal Jarno Trulli’s record of 14 first lap retirements. Hulkenberg and Raikkonen are currently tied on 14.
WORLD DOMINATION
Having won at every Grand Prix on the calendar at least once so far in his career, Lewis Hamilton can’t extend the number of different countries in which he’s won a race. He’s won in 23 different countries. Sebastian Vettel has won in 21 different countries – but could score victories in five new countries this season, these being Azerbaijan, France, Austria, Russia and Mexico. If he wins any one of these events, he’d equal Michael Schumacher’s record of winning in 22 different countries, while if he wins two he’ll equal Hamilton’s record of 23 and if he wins three he’ll set a new record for the highest number of different countries won in. Meanwhile, Hamilton has won at a record of 23 different Grands Prix. Vettel has won at 22, and can equal or break the record if he wins at any of the aforementioned races.
In 2018, Lewis Hamilton extended the number of different circuits he’d won at to 26; a new record. So far in his career, Sebastian Vettel has won at 21 different circuits and could equal Hamilton’s record by winning at the Baku City Circuit, Paul Ricard, the Red Bull Ring, Hockenheim, the Sochi Autodrom and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. If he wins at one of these circuits, he’ll equal Alain Prost’s number of different circuits at which he has taken victory, while victories at two of these circuits would equal Michael Schumacher.
Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most Grands Prix at which a driver has taken pole position. He’s done so at 24 different events; a number which Sebastian Vettel could equal in 2019. He needs to take pole at just one Grand Prix where he’s never taken pole before to equal the record. Grands Prix where Vettel has not yet taken a pole position are the Spanish Grand Prix, the French Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix.
So far in his career, Sebastian Vettel has set the fastest lap 36 times across 20 different Grands Prix. Only Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen have taken fastest laps at more different Grands Prix than Vettel. He could equal them both this season by setting the fastest lap at any two from the Australian, French, Austrian, Italian or Brazilian Grands Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen could equal Michael Schumacher’s record of fastest laps at the most number of circuits. Schumacher set the fastest lap of the race at 24 different circuits, while Raikkonen has taken the fastest lap at 22 circuits so far in his career. To equal the record, he’d need to set the fastest lap at any two from the Baku City Circuit, Paul Ricard, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Circuit of the Americas or Yas Marina. A fastest lap at three would see him set a new record, while a fastest lap at any race of the 2019 calendar would see Kimi Raikkonen become only the fifth different driver to have set the fastest lap of a race with four different teams.
Kimi Raikkonen could move up the all-time list of most classified finishes this season. Nine finishes will see him equal Michael Schumacher’s total of 241 and twelve finishes will see him equal Jenson Button’s total. Should he finish every race, the Finn will be one short of equalling Fernando Alonso’s record of 254 classified finishes.
If Ferrari set the fastest lap at the British Grand Prix, they’ll extend their record for most fastest laps in a country to 21. They’d also equal their record for the most fastest laps for a team at any one circuit; they have currently taken 19 at Monza and 18 at Silverstone. Meanwhile, a fastest lap in the Italian Grand Prix will see Ferrari equal their record for most fastest laps in a country (but only if they don’t take the fastest lap at Silverstone!)
Sebastian Vettel could equal Kimi Raikkonen’s record of podiums at different Grands Prix. Kimi Raikkonen has taken a top three finish at 26 different Grands Prix, and Vettel has done so at 24 different races. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the French Grand Prix are the only two on the calendar at which Vettel has not yet taken a podium finish. A top three finish in one of them would see him equal Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher with podium finishes in 25 different Grands Prix. (Vettel took a podium previously at the Baku City Circuit, but in 2016 when the event was the European Grand Prix).
BATTLE OF THE NATIONS
If Charles Leclerc wins a race this season, Monaco would become the 23rd different country to have won an F1 race.
A win for Pierre Gasly will see him become the 13th different Frenchman to win a Grand Prix.
Since 2008, an Australian has set a fastest lap, taken a podium finish and led a race at least once in each season. Should Daniel Ricciardo fail to do those things this year it’ll be the first time in eleven seasons that an Australian has failed to do so. If Ricciardo does lead a lap of a race in 2019, it’ll be the 100th race which an Australian has led.
If Carlos Sainz finishes on the podium this season it’ll be the 100th podium appearance for a Spanish driver. He’d be only the fourth Spanish driver to finish in the top three, after Alfonso de Portago, Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa.
If Lewis Hamilton, or any other British driver, leads in six races this year, Britain will reach 600 Grands Prix in which one of their drivers has led the race.
If a French driver starts a race from the front row of the grid this year, it’ll be the 200th occasion on which a driver from the nation has done so. The last French driver to start from the front row was Romain Grosjean at the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, the next time a French driver scores, it’ll be the 500th points-scoring race for France.
POINTS MILESTONES
Kimi Raikkonen will equal Michael Schumacher’s record of total Grands Prix in which a driver has scored points in if he finishes in the top ten on seventeen occasions this season. So far in his career, Raikkonen has scored at 204 races, while Schumacher’s record is 221.
Both Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas are likely to reach 1,000 career points this season. Ricciardo needs 14 points to reach that number, while Bottas needs 37. Bottas could pass Ricciardo in the list of most points scored if he out-scores the Australian by 24 points over the course of the year. Ricciardo and Bottas are also likely to surpass Mark Webber’s points tally in 2019.
If they finish every race in the top ten in 2019, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas could both equal Hamilton’s existing record of 33 consecutive points finishes at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It would also tie with Hamilton’s record of most consecutive finishes.
Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg could all celebrate their 100th points-scoring races in 2019. Bottas needs to finish in the top ten six times to reach the milestone, Perez needs eight points-scoring races, Ricciardo eleven and Hulkenberg fifteen.
British drivers could reach 9,000 points scored this year, if Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and George Russell score 514.72 points between them. German drivers will reach 8,000 points if Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg score 465.5 points collectively, Finnish drivers will reach 4,000 points if Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen can score 493.5 points and French drivers will reach 3,000 points if Pierre Gasly and Romain Grosjean score 67.53 points. Meanwhile Dutch drivers have collectively scored 697 points in F1 history. Can Max Verstappen make them the ninth nation to score 1,000 total points? He needs to score 303 points over the season to do so in 2019.
In 2018, Williams equalled McLaren for second-most consecutive seasons in which a team have scored at least one point. McLaren’s 41 year streak started in 1966 and ended in 2006 as a result of them being disqualified from the 2007 season and thus not scoring any points. In 2019, Williams could become only the second team to score points in 42 consecutive seasons. Ferrari hold the record at 61; which is every year since the beginning of the Constructors’ Championship.
THE UNLIKELY RECORDS
A podium finish for Lewis Hamilton in every Grand Prix this year would see him equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 155 podium finishes. The Brit currently has 134 podium finishes to his name. He could equal Schumacher’s win count; but only with a very dominant year. He’d need 18 victories from the 21 races to do so. Likewise, he’d need 18 pole positions to become the first driver to reach 100 poles.
