F1 Driver Form: Spanish Grand Prix

Max Verstappen became Formula 1’s youngest race winner at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. While he is yet to win the event for a second time, Verstappen has finished on the podium at Catalunya in all of the last four seasons. He’s finished as runner-up to Lewis Hamilton in the last two years.

Verstappen has scored on five of his seven appearances at the track. His only retirement came on the opening lap of the 2017 race. Verstappen has never failed to qualify in the top six at the circuit, with last year marking his first front row start. Verstappen has not been out-qualified at the circuit since 2016.

From his eleven appearances at the Spanish Grand Prix, Sergio Perez has scored eight times. His best result so far came with Force India in 2017, when he finished fourth. He finished in the top five in both 2020 and 2021.

2012 is the only season that Perez has failed to reach the end of the race at Catalunya, while 2015 and 2019 are the only other years in which he has failed to score. Perez recorded his best Spanish Grand Prix qualifying result in 2020 with fourth place.

2013 and 2020 are the only years in which Perez has lost a position from where he has started at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton has been victorious at the Spanish Grand Prix in all of the last five seasons. He also won at the track in 2014 and has taken a further four podium finishes here.

2010 and 2016 are the only times that Hamilton has failed to finish at Catalunya, the latter occurrence being the result of a first lap collision with team-mate Nico Rosberg. 2009 and 2013 are the other occasions that Hamilton has failed to score at the venue.

Hamilton has qualified in the top ten at this circuit in every year except 2009. He took pole in 2012, but was later disqualified. That’s the last time that he did not start on the front row at the track.

In the last eight seasons, Hamilton has started from pole at the Spanish Grand Prix on six occasions. 2013 is the only season that Hamilton has finished the Spanish Grand Prix in a worse position than where he started from.

Charles Leclerc has scored points on three of his four Spanish Grand Prix appearances. His retirement in 2020 is the only time that he has failed to pick up points. He recorded his best result to date here last year, with fourth place. He finished tenth with Sauber in 2018 and fifth with Ferrari in 2019, before failing to finish the 2020 race due to mechanical issues.

Leclerc’s maiden season is the only one in which he has not reached Q3 at the track. He recorded his best qualifying result here last year, too, with fourth place. 2019 is the only time that he has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the Catalunya track.

Carlos Sainz has never failed to score in all seven of his appearances at his home event. His best result so far is sixth place, recorded in 2016 and 2020.

Sainz has reached Q3 at the track five times, and his best qualifying result at the track remains fifth place from his first visit in 2015.

2019 and 2021 are the only times that Sainz has been out-qualified by a team-mate at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo’s sixth place at the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix was the first time he has scored at the event since 2018. Ricciardo has a 100% finish rate at the track and has finished outside the points only three times in ten Catalunya appearances. He’s yet to finish the race below thirteenth place.

Ricciardo’s best qualifying result here is third, recorded in 2014 and 2016. He has failed to reach Q3 on only three occasions – in 2012, 2013 and 2020.

From his ten appearances, 2016, when he suffered a puncture in the closing stages, is the only occasion that Ricciardo has finished the Spanish Grand Prix in a worse position than where he started from. Ironically, 2016 is also the only year that Ricciardo has led at the track.

Fernando Alonso has won the Spanish Grand Prix twice, in 2006 and 2013. The 2013 Spanish Grand Prix remains Alonso’s most recent victory in Formula 1.

Alonso has taken a further five podium finishes in front of his home crowd. The Spaniard has scored only once in his last five home race appearances. He has recorded three retirements in total – his most recent being in 2015 and 2016.

2006 is the only season in which Alonso has taken pole here, though he has qualified on the front row on a further three occasions. In his last seventeen appearances, since 2003, 2015 is the only time that Alonso has failed to qualify in the top ten.

2004, 2014 and 2021 are the only years in which Alonso has been out-qualified by his team-mate.

From his five previous appearances at the Spanish Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon has scored twice. He recorded what was then a career-best result of fifth at the event in 2017 and finished in ninth place last year. Ocon does not have a 100% finish rate at the circuit, having retired with an oil leak in 2018. Ocon recorded his best qualifying result at the circuit so far last year, with fifth. It was the first time he reached Q3 here since 2017.

Pierre Gasly has scored on his last three appearances at the Spanish Grand Prix, with a best result of sixth in 2019. He failed to finish the race on his first appearance in 2018.

Gasly reached Q3 in 2019 and 2020, with a best qualifying result of sixth – but he failed to reach Q3 last year. Nevertheless, he’s yet to qualify outside of the top twelve at this circuit. Gasly is yet to gain more than two positions from where he has started at the Spanish Grand Prix.

2011 remains Sebastian Vettel’s only win at the Spanish Grand Prix. He has had five podium finishes in total here, but has only won once.

Vettel had the longest active points-scoring streak at the Spanish Grand Prix, having scored every season between 2009 and 2020. However, that streak came to an end last year with thirteenth place in the race. His retirement in 2008 is the only other time that he has failed to score at the venue.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is one of few at which Vettel has never taken pole position. He has started from the front row at the track four times, including in three consecutive seasons between 2009 and 2011.

Vettel has not reached Q3 at the track, and has been out-qualified by his team-mate, in the last two years.

Lance Stroll scored at the Spanish Grand Prix for the first time in 2020 with a fourth place finish. He finished outside of the points on three of his other four appearances, and retired from the race in 2019 after a collision with Lando Norris.

His fifth place in qualifying in 2020 was the first time that Stroll has made it out of Q1 at the circuit. He reached Q2 here last year. 2021 was the first time the Canadian has out-qualified a team-mate at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Valtteri Bottas is yet to win the Spanish Grand Prix, but has finished on the podium in all of the last four seasons. From his nine appearances, 2013 and 2017 are the only seasons in which Bottas has not finished in the top five at Catalunya. He recorded his only retirement at the track in 2017 due to an engine failure.

After qualifying third in 2017 and second in 2018, Bottas took his first pole position at the circuit in 2019. He qualified on the front row for a third consecutive season in 2020. 2013 is the only year that the Finn has failed to reach Q3 at the circuit.

Bottas has only ever led three laps at the track. He led for three laps in 2017 before he retired from the race.

From six previous appearances at the Spanish Grand Prix, Kevin Magnussen has scored twice. Both of his points-scoring appearances here came with Haas, with a best result of sixth in 2018. He finished seventh in the following season.

Magnussen has a 100% finish rate at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and is yet to finish below fifteenth here.

Magnussen has two Q3 appearances in Spain, in 2018 and 2019. He has out-qualified his team-mate on four of his six appearances. The Dane has never gained more than two positions from where he has started in races at this track.