F1 in the 2010s: The Decade In Numbers

The curtain has closed on Formula 1’s seventh decade. With three different champions, 12 different race winners, 14 different polesitters and 25 different podium finishers, here are all the facts and statistics from Formula 1 in the 2010s!

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The 2010s have seen 66 drivers and 19 teams contest over 198 races, 11,300 racing laps, 593 stages of qualifying and 8,152 pit stops at 27 different circuits in 25 different countries. The Red Flag has been shown 13 times during Grands Prix, rain has been a factor in 23 races, and a whole lot of F1 memories have been made.

The number of Grands Prix in each decade has grown with every passing ten years. What started out with 84 races in the 1950s has extended to almost 200 races in the 2010s. This decade has seen F1 celebrate its 900th race at the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix and its 1000th race at the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton – who won both of those milestone races – is the only driver who has started all 198 races in the 2010s, and becomes the first driver to have started every race of a decade. He’s also the first driver who has won a race in every year of a decade.

Sebastian Vettel entered every race this decade, but recorded a Did Not Start at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix. Nico Hulkenberg is third on the list, having made 176 starts over the last ten years, while Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso are fourth and fifth, with 175 and 173 starts respectively.

Lewis Hamilton is also the driver who has finished the most races this decade, with 176 finishes – one ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

Despite the growing calendar, each passing decade has seen fewer different drivers starting races. In the 2010s, just 66 drivers started a Grand Prix – the fewest in any decade. Andre Lotterer is the only driver to have started just a single race this decade.

NUMBER OF DRIVERS TO START A RACE BY DECADE:

• 1950s: 299
• 1960s: 191
• 1970s: 155
• 1980s: 102
• 1990s: 96
• 2000s: 71
• 2010s: 66

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THE CHAMPIONS OF THE 2010s

This decade, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have won nine of the ten World Championships, with Nico Rosberg being the only other World Champion, in 2016. The 2010s are therefore the decade to have had the least number of different champions and the only decade to have had less than five different champions. Nine different drivers have led after a round of the championship during the 2010s, six of them having failed to take the title

For the teams, this is the first decade since the 1950s that Ferrari have failed to win a Constructors’ Championship. (Although the Constructors’ Championship only began in 1958). Only two teams have won the Constructors’ Championship this decade – Mercedes (six times) and Red Bull (four times).

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONS BY DECADE:

• 1950s: 5 – Farina, Fangio, Ascari, Hawthorn, Brabham
• 1960s: 7 – Brabham, P Hill, G Hill, Clark, Surtees, Hulme, Stewart
• 1970s: 7 – Rindt, Stewart, Fittipaldi, Lauda, Hunt, Andretti, Scheckter
• 1980s: 6 – Jones, Piquet, K Rosberg, Lauda, Prost, Senna
• 1990s: 7 – Senna, Mansell, Prost, Schumacher, D Hill, Villeneuve, Hakkinen
• 2000s: 5 – Schumacher, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Button
• 2010s: 3 – Vettel, Hamilton, N Rosberg

NUMBER OF ROUNDS AFTER WHICH DRIVER HAS LED CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE 2010s:

• 78: Lewis Hamilton
• 63: Sebastian Vettel
• 29: Nico Rosberg
• 14: Fernando Alonso
• 6: Mark Webber
• 3: Jenson Button, Valtteri Bottas
• 1: Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen

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RACE WINNERS

There have been only twelve different race winners in the 2010s. Despite this decade having had more Grands Prix than any other, the wins have been shared by fewer drivers than in any other decade. Lewis Hamilton has had the most wins in the last ten seasons, with 73, while Sebastian Vettel trails him on 48. Nico Rosberg, who took all of his 23 Grand Prix victories this decade, is the only other driver to have won more than twenty times in the last ten years.

Sebastian Vettel took the most consecutive wins this decade, setting a new record of nine wins in a row at the end of the 2013 season. Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are the only other drivers who have won five consecutive Grands Prix during the 2010s.

Max Verstappen was this decade’s youngest race winner, and the youngest winner ever in F1, taking victory at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix at the age of 18 years, 7 months and 15 days. Kimi Raikkonen was the decade’s oldest victor, winning the 2018 United States Grand Prix at the age of 39 years and four days.

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NEW WINNERS

Pastor Maldonado is the only driver to have clinched only one win this decade, while half of the twelve winners have been first time victors. With just six new Grand Prix winners, this decade has featured fewer new winners than any other, with the previous lowest being ten new winners in the 1990s.

FIRST TIME WINNERS BY DECADE:

• 1950s: 24
• 1960s: 18
• 1970s: 22
• 1980s: 14
• 1990s: 10
• 2000s: 14
• 2010s: 6

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WINS NOT FROM POLE

Lewis Hamilton has won the most Grands Prix away from pole position this decade, with 31 of his 73 victories having come away from pole. 100 of this decade’s 198 races have been won from pole position, 158 have been won from the front row of the grid and 40 have been won from third or further back on the grid. Lewis Hamilton’s victory from 14th on the grid at the 2018 German Grand Prix and Fernando Alonso’s win from 11th on the grid at the 2012 European Grand Prix are the only two races this decade which have been won from outside the top ten starters.

WINS NOT FROM POLE IN THE 2010s:

• 31: Lewis Hamilton
• 21: Sebastian Vettel
• 8: Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg
• 7: Jenson Button, Max Verstappen
• 6: Daniel Ricciardo
• 4: Mark Webber
• 3: Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas

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TEAM WINS

Mercedes are the team to have won the most races this decade, with 93 victories. Only six teams have won a race this decade – the fewest number of different teams to do so in a decade. No new teams have won a race this decade, the first time that has happened in Formula 1’s history.

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WIN MARGINS

Nineteen races this decade have been won by less than a second. The largest win margin in the 2010s was 37.776 seconds, which is the gap by which Nico Rosberg won the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix. The smallest win margin came at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix, when Fernando Alonso was chased down by Sebastian Vettel and won by 0.293 seconds.

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PODIUM FINISHERS

25 different drivers have finished on the podium during the 2010s. It’s the fewest number of podium finishers in a decade, beating the previous lowest of 28 during the 2000s. Lewis Hamilton has had the most top three finishes, with 124, while Sebastian Vettel, on 111, is the only other driver to have scored over 100 podium finishes this decade. Nico Rosberg is next on the list with 55 appearances in the top three. Of the 25 drivers who have stood on the podium this decade, fourteen made their first top three appearance during the 2010s, while nine made a single podium appearance.

This decade, the three 2010s champions – Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg – shared the podium together 14 times, which is a record for the most number of times that a trio have shared the top three positions.

The top three on the grid have converted those starting places into podium finishes on 395 occasions. 199 podium finishes have come from outside the top three on the grid, with the furthest back podium result coming from the pit-lane (which happened twice – for Sebastian Vettel at the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and for Lewis Hamilton at the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix).

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TEAM PODIUMS

Ten different teams have finished on the podium this decade. Mercedes top this list, having scored a top three result on 194 occasions. Only four teams have achieved 1-2 finishes this decade – Mercedes (48), Red Bull (13), Ferrari (5) and McLaren (3).

Red Bull achieved a rare feat this decade. At least one of their cars appeared on the podium at the Singapore Grand Prix in every year of the decade. The only other time that a team has finished with at least one car in the top ten in every season of a decade is Ferrari at Monza during the 1950s.

TEAM PODIUMS IN THE 2010s:

• 194: Mercedes
• 151: Red Bull
• 142: Ferrari
• 50: McLaren
• 25: Lotus
• 16: Williams
• 5: Renault, Force India
• 4: Sauber
• 2: Toro Rosso

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POLESITTERS

There have been fourteen polesitters during the 2010s. Lewis Hamilton has taken the most pole positions this decade with 71. During the 2010s, he became the driver to have taken the most poles in Formula 1 history, eclipsing Michael Schumacher’s record at the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix. Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa are the only polesitters this decade who have not won any races in the last ten seasons. Charles Leclerc was the decade’s youngest polesitter, at the 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix, while Kimi Raikkonen, who set the fastest lap in Formula 1 history at the 2018 Italian Grand Prix, was the oldest polesitter of the 2010s.

From the 198 races, the polesitter has won 100 times, has finished on the podium 162 times, has failed to finish on the podium but has scored points 20 times, has failed to finish 15 times and has finished but not scored points just once (Nico Rosberg, who finished 14th at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix).

POLE POSITIONS IN THE 2010s:

• 71: Lewis Hamilton
• 52: Sebastian Vettel
• 30: Nico Rosberg
• 12: Mark Webber
• 11: Valtteri Bottas
• 7: Charles Leclerc
• 4: Fernando Alonso
• 3: Daniel Ricciardo
• 2: Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen
• 1: Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa

Eleven drivers have won from pole position this decade, with Lewis Hamilton taking the most wins from pole (42). Showing just how many poles Hamilton has taken this decade, he also holds the record as the driver to have taken the most poles without winning this decade (29).

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TEAM POLES

Only five teams have taken pole position in the 2010s. Mercedes took more poles this decade than every other team combined. All five teams which have taken pole have had at least one front-row lock-out this decade, Mercedes once again topping this list with 62.

TEAM POLES IN THE 2010s:

• 103: Mercedes
• 57: Red Bull
• 25: Ferrari
• 10: McLaren
• 3: Williams

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POLE MARGINS

The largest pole margin this decade was 1.620 seconds, for Nico Robserg on a drying track at the 2014 British Grand Prix. The smallest pole margin this decade was 0.002 seconds, for Sebastian Vettel at the 2010 German Grand Prix.

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DNFs

Romain Grosjean takes the unwanted accolade of achieving the most DNFs this decade, with 45 retirements in total. This statistic perhaps shows the increasing reliability of Formula 1 cars. It’s the least number of retirements that a driver has recorded to have the most retirements in a decade since Jean Behra and Harry Scheel in the 1950s. It’s Nico Hulkenberg who has recorded the most first lap retirements during the 2010s, having been out on the first lap eleven times.

From the 4,280 starts by cars this decade, 3,441 of those entries have crossed the finish line, giving an overall finish rate of 80.40%. There have been four occasions where every car that started has reached the end of the race during the 2010s, while the lowest number of finishers in a race this decade was eleven, which happened at both the 2014 Canadian Grand Prix and the 2015 Australian Grand Prix.

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LAPS IN THE LEAD

22 different drivers have led laps of Grands Prix in the 2010s. Both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have led more than 3,000 laps this decade. Hamilton has led the most, with 3,689 laps spent in first position.

There have been 45 occasions where a driver has led a race from start to finish during this decade. It’s a feat which eight drivers have achieved in the last ten seasons. Hamilton is the driver to have done this the most times, with seventeen races led from start to finish. Hamilton is also the driver to have led the most consecutive races this decade, having led at least one lap for eighteen consecutive races between the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix and the 2015 British Grand Prix.

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QUALIFYING APPEARANCES

Aside from the first two races of the 2016 season, the entire decade has used the three part knockout qualifying session. Lewis Hamilton has had the most appearances in the final part of qualifying, with 188 – two ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Sergio Perez recorded more Q2 exits than any other driver, while Marcus Ericsson leads the way for the most Q1 exits in the 2010s.

Ferrari and Mercedes end the decade level on number of Q3 appearances, each reaching Q3 355 times from a maximum of 396. Despite their struggles in the middle of the decade, McLaren are next on the list, while we’ve also included the Enstone team to factor in both Renault and Lotus’ tallies combined. Toro Rosso have had far more Q2 eliminations than any other team in the last ten years, while Sauber, latterly Alfa Romeo, have recorded the most Q1 exits.

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POINTS

Every race this decade has used the same points-scoring system (aside from double points being awarded at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix), so we can get a fair idea of which drivers scored the most points over the 2010s. 48 drivers have scored points over the 198 races this decade, including 31 drivers who scored a point for the first time. Lewis Hamilton is the only driver who has scored more than 3,000 points this decade, scoring an impressive average of 16 points per race. 7 drivers have scored over 1,000 points during the last ten seasons. In terms of teams, sixteen have scored top ten finishes in the 2010s. Mercedes are the only team to surpass 5,000 points this decade.