Below you can find facts and statistics on each driver’s qualifying performances in 2018. You can find information about Qualifying battles between team-mates here.
Fast facts and stats:
Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen reached Q3 at every race in 2018. The last time Kimi Raikkonen failed to make Q3 was at the 2016 Hungarian Grand Prix. He’s had a streak of 51 top ten appearances in Qualifying.
Sergey Sirotkin is the only driver from the 2018 grid to have never reached Q3.
Fernando Alonso is the only driver to have beaten his team-mate in every 2018 qualifying session.
Since he joined Ferrari, there have been only four occasions where Sebastian Vettel has failed to make it through to Q3. On all but one of these occasions, mechanical issues prevented him from setting a competitive time.
DRIVER-BY-DRIVER
Best and Worst Qualifying performances of 2018
The table below shows each driver’s best and worst qualifying performance in 2018. These results are based on qulalifying performances before any penalties were applied.
| Driver | Best Qualifying of 2018 | Worst Qualifying of 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 1st (x11) | 14th (Germany) |
| Valtteri Bottas | 1st (x2) | 10th (x2) |
| Sebastian Vettel | 1st (x5) | 9th (Japan) |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 1st (Italy) | 6th (x4) |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 1st (x2) | 15th (x3) |
| Max Verstappen | 2nd (x2) | 20th (Monaco) |
| Sergio Perez | 4th (Belgium) | 19th (Hungary) |
| Esteban Ocon | 3rd (Belgium) | 18th (Hungary) |
| Lance Stroll | 10th (Italy) | 20th (x5) |
| Sergey Sirotkin | 12th (x2) | 20th (x2) |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 7th (x5) | 16th (x2) |
| Carlos Sainz | 5th (Hungary) | 16th (x3) |
| Pierre Gasly | 6th (x2) | 20th (Australia) |
| Brendon Hartley | 6th (Japan) | 20th (x2) |
| Romain Grosjean | 5th (x2) | 20th (x2) |
| Kevin Magnussen | 5th (x2) | 19th (Monaco) |
| Fernando Alonso | 7th (Monaco) | 18th (x2) |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 11th (Spain) | 20th (x5) |
| Marcus Ericsson | 7th (Brazil) | 20th (x3) |
| Charles Leclerc | 7th (Russia) | 19th (x2) |
Q1, Q2 and Q3 Appearances in 2018
The table below shows each driver’s number of Q1 exits, Q2 exits and Q3 appearances in 2018.
| Driver | Q1 Exits in 2018 | Q2 Exits in 2018 | Q3 Appearances in 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 0 | 5 | 16 |
| Max Verstappen | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| Sergio Perez | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Esteban Ocon | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| Lance Stroll | 15 | 5 | 1 |
| Sergey Sirotkin | 16 | 5 | 0 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 2 | 8 | 11 |
| Carlos Sainz | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| Pierre Gasly | 6 | 9 | 6 |
| Brendon Hartley | 13 | 6 | 2 |
| Romain Grosjean | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 3 | 8 | 10 |
| Fernando Alonso | 6 | 13 | 2 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 15 | 6 | 0 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 11 | 7 | 3 |
| Charles Leclerc | 5 | 8 | 8 |
Last Q1 Exit, Q2 Exit and Q3 Appearance
The table below shows each driver’s last exit in Q1 and Q2, and the last time they reached Q3.
| Driver | Last Q1 Exit | Last Q2 Exit | Last Q3 Appearance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | Brazil 2017 | Germany 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Monaco 2015 | Abu Dhabi 2016 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Sebastian Vettel | Malaysia 2017 | Russia 2014 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Austria 2015 | Hungary 2016 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | Great Britain 2017 | Japan 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Max Verstappen | Monaco 2018 | USA 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Sergio Perez | Italy 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 | USA 2018 |
| Esteban Ocon | Hungary 2018 | Brazil 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Lance Stroll | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Japan 2018 | Italy 2018 |
| Sergey Sirotkin | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Brazil 2018 | - |
| Nico Hulkenberg | Japan 2018 | Brazil 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Carlos Sainz | Brazil 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Mexico 2018 |
| Pierre Gasly | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Mexico 2018 | Brazil 2018 |
| Brendon Hartley | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Mexico 2018 | Japan 2018 |
| Romain Grosjean | Mexico 2018 | Monaco 2017 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| Kevin Magnussen | Mexico 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Russia 2018 |
| Fernando Alonso | Brazil 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Monaco 2018 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Canada 2018 | Malaysia 2017 |
| Marcus Ericsson | USA 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 | Brazil 2018 |
| Charles Leclerc | Italy 2018 | Japan 2018 | Abu Dhabi 2018 |
2018 TEAM QUALIFYING PERFORMANCE
Q1, Q2 and Q3 Appearances in 2018
The table below shows how many times each team were eliminated in Q1, eliminated Q2 and reached Q3 in 2018. The number is from a total of 42 entries for each team throughout the season.
| Team | Q1 Exits | Q2 Exits | Q3 Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes | 0 | 1 | 41 |
| Ferrari | 0 | 0 | 42 |
| Red Bull | 1 | 8 | 33 |
| Force India | 5 | 15 | 22 |
| Williams | 31 | 10 | 1 |
| Renault | 5 | 13 | 24 |
| Toro Rosso | 19 | 15 | 8 |
| Haas | 7 | 9 | 26 |
| McLaren | 21 | 19 | 2 |
| Sauber | 16 | 15 | 11 |
DRIVER Q1, Q2 and Q3 APPEARANCE PERCENTAGES
The table below shows the percentage of times each driver has been eliminated in Q1, Q2 and made appearances in Q3 throughout their career. The below table includes all results since the knockout qualifying system was introduced in 2006.
| Q1 Exits % | Q2 Exits% | Q3 Appearances % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 4% | 4% | 91% |
| Valtteri Bottas | 8% | 17% | 76% |
| Sebastian Vettel | 6% | 6% | 87% |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 2% | 9% | 88% |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 10% | 21% | 69% |
| Max Verstappen | 5% | 15% | 80% |
| Sergio Perez | 6% | 50% | 45% |
| Esteban Ocon | 26% | 24% | 50% |
| Lance Stroll | 66% | 24% | 10% |
| Sergey Sirotkin | 76% | 24% | 0% |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 4% | 43% | 53% |
| Carlos Sainz | 10% | 44% | 46% |
| Pierre Gasly | 38% | 38% | 23% |
| Brendon Hartley | 60% | 32% | 8% |
| Romain Grosjean | 19% | 35% | 46% |
| Kevin Magnussen | 34% | 35% | 30% |
| Fernando Alonso | 9% | 22% | 68% |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 52% | 33% | 14% |
| Marcus Ericsson | 74% | 20% | 6% |
| Charles Leclerc | 24% | 38% | 38% |
