It’s the start of a new year and the start of a new decade. As we head into 2020, here are 20 facts and stats about the number 20 in Formula 1!
1. Car number 20 has won thirteen Grands Prix in Formula 1 history. Tony Brooks, Maurice Trintignant, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Jody Scheckter, Gerhard Berger and Nelson Piquet have all won with the number on their car. Most recent to do so was Piquet, at the 1991 Canadian Grand Prix.
2. Mika Hakkinen is the only driver to have won exactly 20 Grands Prix during his career.
3. Jackie Stewart is the only driver to have won the World Championship using car number 20. He did so in 1969 at the Italian Grand Prix. The 1969 South African Grand Prix is the only other race in which Stewart ran the number.
4. Kevin Magnussen is the driver who currently races with the number 20, and is the most recent driver finish on the podium with car number 20. He did so at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix – the first driver to do so since Martin Brundle at the 1992 Australian Grand Prix.
5. Formula 1’s first three World Champions – Giuseppe Farina, Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari – are the only drivers who claimed their first World Championship title before competing in 20 Grands Prix.
6. Ferrari were the first team to reach 20 wins in Formula 1 history, while Juan Manuel Fangio was the first driver to reach the milestone. Fangio reached 20 wins first, at the 1954 Italian Grand Prix, while Ferrari reached 20 wins at the very next race – the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix!
7. Both the Argentinian and Mexico Grands Prix have been held 20 times in F1 history. The Argentine Grand Prix was most recently held in 1998, while the 21st running of the Mexico Grand Prix will take place later this year.
8. Aside from the Argentine and Mexico circuits, Watkins Glen and Kyalami are the other tracks which have held exactly twenty races.
9. Ten teams have won more than 20 Grands Prix in F1 history, while nine – including Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – have a win rate of more than 20%.
10. Bob Sweikert has a 20% win rate in F1. The only rounds of the championship which he entered were the Indianapolis 500 races, back when the event counted towards the F1 Drivers’ Championship in the 1950s. He entered the race five times and won in 1955.
11. Sam Hanks and Piers Courage are the two drivers who scored exactly 20 points during their F1 careers, though Hanks only appeared at Indianapolis 500 events.
12. 20 Belgian drivers have started a Grand Prix. Thierry Boutsen and Jacky Ickx are the only Belgian drivers who have won a Formula 1 race.
13. The driver who made their F1 debut at the closest age to 20 is Sebastian Vettel, whose first start was at the 2007 United States Grand Prix, when he was 19 years, 11 months and 14 days old.
14. Five drivers started exactly 20 races in their careers: Stefan Bellof, Andrea Montermini, Zsolt Baumgartner, Antonio Pizzonia and Jerome d’Ambrosio.
15. Mercedes hold the record for most pole positions in a season. They took 20 poles from the 21 races in 2016.
16. BMW engines have claimed 20 Formula 1 victories. Their first came with Brabham at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix, and their last was at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix during the BMW Sauber partnership.
17. At the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix, Antonio Giovinazzi became the 155th driver to have led 20km of Grands Prix.
18. The 2018 Russian Grand Prix is the most recent race to have featured only 20 pit stops.
19. There have been 20 occasions where a Finnish driver has won a Grand Prix from pole position. Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas are the three Finnish drivers who have won from pole.
20. Two Grands Prix have been won by 0.20s. Stirling Moss finished 0.20s ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1955 British Grand Prix, while John Surtees finished 0.20s ahead of Jack Brabham in the 1967 Italian Grand Prix.
