At the first F1 race to be held in Spain in August since 2009, there’s the chance for Hamilton to surpass more Schumacher records, and Magnussen could pick up an unwanted and rare achievement. Here are the milestones and the records which could be broken at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
This will be the 1,024th race to count towards the F1 Drivers’ Championship. This will be the 50th Spanish Grand Prix to be held as a round of the Drivers’ Championship. It will also be the 30th F1 race to be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The first lap of the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix will be the 1900th racing lap of the Catalunya circuit since F1 first visited in 1991.
The 2020 Spanish Grand Prix will mark the first time that the event has been held in August – both in Formula 1 history and in the event’s history, which dates back to 1913. It is also the first time that a Formula 1 race has been held in Spain in August since the 2009 European Grand Prix, which took place at Valencia Street Circuit on 23rd August.
The 2020 Spanish Grand Prix will mark the third time in Formula 1 history that Grands Prix have been held on three successive weekends. There have been two previous triple headers. The first was in 2018, when the French, Austrian and British Grands Prix were held on successive weekends, and the second was the opening three races of the 2020 season.
The 2020 Spanish Grand Prix will mark Williams’ 750th Grand Prix start.
At the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix, Haas will equal the number of races started by the BMW Sauber moniker and the ATS team. Both teams made 89 appearances. BMW Sauber made their last appearance at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (even though BMW quit the sport at the end of 2009), while ATS made their final race appearance at the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix.
THE RECORDS TO BREAK
If Lewis Hamilton finishes on the podium this weekend, he will become the driver to have had the most podium finishes in Formula 1 history. He equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of 155 top three finishes at last weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
If Lewis Hamilton wins this weekend, he will equal Michael Schumacher’s record of consecutive wins at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. While Hamilton has won in all of the last three seasons, Schumacher won at the track for four consecutive seasons between 2001 and 2004.
A pole for Lewis Hamilton would see him overtake Ayrton Senna as the driver to have the second most poles at the Spanish Grand Prix. Senna and Hamilton are currently tied on four poles apiece at the event.
A pole position for a Mercedes-powered car would be the 200th pole for Mercedes power in Formula 1 history. That would make Mercedes the third engine manufacturer to reach 200 poles, after Ferrari and Renault.
Should Valtteri Bottas take pole position, he will become the fifth driver to have taken back-to-back poles at the circuit.
If Sebastian Vettel outscores Lewis Hamilton by seven points, Vettel will become the driver to have scored the most points at the Spanish Grand Prix in F1 history.
Ferrari and Mercedes are currently tied for most poles at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. They each have seven pole positions here. A pole for either would see them set a new outright record.
A second place finish for Lewis Hamilton would see him equal Fernando Alonso as the driver to have finished as runner-up on the most occasions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Alonso finished as runner-up four times at his home Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel is currently tied with Michael Schumacher for the most third place finishes at the track. Vettel could extend the record to four this weekend, or Daniel Ricciardo could join the duo.
A Q3 appearance for Max Verstappen would see him continue to have a 100% Q3 appearance rate at the circuit. Michael Schumacher is the only other driver who holds that record at Catalunya.
If Lewis Hamilton qualifies in the top ten, he will set a new outright record for most Q3 appearances at this circuit. He’s currently tied with Fernando Alonso with eleven Q3 appearances. Sebastian Vettel could join the duo if he progresses to Q3 and Hamilton does not.
A front row start for Lewis Hamilton would see him equal Michael Schumacher as the driver to have had the most front row starts at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Schumacher started from the front row at this track eight times during his career.
Kimi Raikkonen needs to score nine points in order to become the fifth driver to have scored 100 points at the Spanish Grand Prix. If he fails to finish the event, he’ll set a new record for most DNFs at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He is currently tied with Olivier Panis on six DNFs at the track. A first lap retirement would see him become the first driver to have retired on the first lap on three occasions at the circuit.
If Ferrari score 39 points this weekend, they will be the first team to reach 500 points scored at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Britain and Germany are currently battling for a number of records at the circuit. Germany have the most poles and wins here with eight, but Britain are just one behind, similarly with podiums, Germany are one ahead with twenty. Who’ll come out on top this weekend?
Should Kevin Magnussen be the first retiree of the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix, this would be the first time that a driver has recorded the first retirement of a race at three consecutive events since Pedro Diniz at the end of the 1998 season.
