As Monza becomes the first circuit to have hosted 70 rounds of the World Championship, Hamilton could break one of F1’s oldest records and the sport’s fastest ever lap record could tumble. Here are the milestones and the records which could be broken at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
This will be the 1,033rd Formula 1 Grand Prix. It’ll be the 90th Italian Grand Prix since the first event was held in 1921 and the 71st Italian Grand Prix to appear on the F1 calendar.
This will be the 70th Formula 1 race to have been held at the Monza circuit, making Monza the first circuit to have hosted 70 World Championship F1 races.
The 2020 Italian Grand Prix will be the 450th race to feature a Honda-powered car.
Charles Leclerc will make his 50th Grand Prix start at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix.
At the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen will equal Michael Schumacher as the driver to have started the most races with a Ferrari engine. Schumacher raced 180 times with a Ferrari engine. Only Lewis Hamilton has started more races with the same engine manufacturer, with all of his 257 appearances being with Mercedes engines.
At the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, the Alfa Romeo name will equal the number of races started by the Toyota team. Toyota started 139 races, with their last appearance being at the 2009 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
At the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, Haas will equal the number of races started by the Footwork team. Footwork started 132 races, with their last appearance being at the 1996 Japanese Grand Prix.
THE RECORDS TO BREAK
A win for Lewis Hamilton this weekend would see him surpass Michael Schumacher’s record tally of five wins at the Italian Grand Prix.
If Lewis Hamilton finishes on the podium this weekend, he will become the outright record holder for most podium finishes at the Italian Grand Prix. He currently shares the accolade with Michael Schumacher, each having eight podium finishes apiece.
A top ten finish for Lewis Hamilton this weekend will see him equal Michael Schumacher’s record of most points-scoring races in Formula 1. Hamilton has finished in the points 220 times so far compared to Schumacher’s 221 points finishes. In fifth place in this list, Sebastian Vettel could celebrate his 200th points-scoring Grand Prix this weekend.
A win for Charles Leclerc would make him the eighth driver to have won consecutive F1 races at the Monza circuit. Pole position would make him the ninth driver to secure back-to-back poles at the track.
Ferrari head to their home race having not scored at the previous round in Belgium. Should they failed to score this weekend, it would be the first time that Ferrari have failed to score at two consecutive races since 1996, when they had a streak of three point-less races in Canada, France and Britain. Furthermore, the last time that Ferrari finished races but with both cars in positions outside of the points at two consecutive rounds of the championship was at the 1980 Austrian and Dutch Grands Prix.
A podium finish for Ferrari would be their 70th top three finish at Monza.
The record for the fastest ever lap in F1 history could be broken this weekend. The current record belongs to Kimi Raikkonen, who took pole for the 2018 Italian Grand Prix at an average lap speed of 263.588km/h.
If Kimi Raikkonen reaches Lap 51 of the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, he will overtake Rubens Barrichello as the driver to have completed the most racing laps at Monza in Formula 1 history. Barrichello toured the circuit 886 times during his career, while Raikkonen has completed 836 laps at the circuit so far.
If Daniel Ricciardo scores in the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, this will be the 300th points-scoring race for an Australian driver. Australia will be the seventh country to reach the milestone. Jack Brabham was the first Australian driver to score a point, doing so at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix.
If a Ferrari-powered car wins this weekend, it’ll be the 21st time that a Ferrari engine has won the Italian Grand Prix in F1 history. It would make them the most successful engine supplier at any event, equalling their own record of 21 wins at the German Grand Prix.
If Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas finish third, they will equal the record for most second place finishes at the Monza circuit. The record is three, and is currently shared between Jenson Button, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jean Alesi and Richie Ginther.
A third place finish for Sebastian Vettel or Kimi Raikkonen would see them equal the record for most third place finishes at Monza. The record is three and is currently shared between Bruce McLaren, Felipe Massa and Ralf Schumacher.
If Kimi Raikkonen finishes fourth, it’ll be the fourth time he has done so at Monza, setting a new outright record for most fourth place finishes at the track. He currently shares the record with Gerhard Berger. Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel or Valtteri Bottas could equal the current record.
A front row start for Lewis Hamilton would make him the first driver to have started from the front row ten times at Monza.
If Ferrari score 14.5 points this weekend they will become the first team to have scored 700 points at the Italian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton could equal a 66 year old record at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. If he leads two laps of the race, Hamilton will equal Alberto Ascari as the driver to have led the most laps at the Monza circuit. Ascari led 220 laps here during his career. Sunday’s race will mark 66 years and one day since Ascari last led at the circuit, during the 1954 Italian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Hamilton sits behind both Ascari and Stirling Moss for most kilometres led at the track. He needs to lead 5km (one lap) to equal Moss’ distance of 1,268km led, and needs to lead 118km (21 laps) to equal the distance of 1,386km led by Ascari.
Should Kimi Raikkonen finish the 2020 Italian Grand Prix, he will equal Rubens Barrichello’s record of most finishes at the Monza circuit. Barrichello finished the Monza race sixteen times during his career.
Only three drivers have a 100% Q3 appearance rate at Monza. Alex Albon and Lance Stroll will be hoping to maintain their records. Sebastien Bourdais is the only other driver with a 100% Q3 appearance rate at the track.
A Q2 exit for Daniil Kvyat would see him set a new record of five Q2 eliminations at Monza. He currently shares the record for most Q2 exits at the track with Adrian Sutil and Pastor Maldonado.
If Romain Grosjean is eliminated in Q1, he will be the fourth driver to have had four Q1 exits. The record for most Q1 exits is currently shared between Marcus Ericsson, Timo Glock and Vitantonio Liuzzi.
Romain Grosjean could equal his worst start to a season this weekend. Should he fail to score at the Italian Grand Prix, this will be the second time – after 2018 – that the Frenchman has failed to score in any of the opening eight races of a season.
