At the 700th F1 race to feature a Finnish driver on the grid, Alonso could join the 100 podium club and Red Bull search for their first consecutive 1-2 result in 14 years. Here are the milestones and the records which could be broken at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix!
THE 2023 SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX MILESTONES
The 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the 1,081st World Championship event in Formula 1 history.
This will be the third time that Formula 1 has raced in Saudi Arabia – and the third Grand Prix held at Jeddah Corniche Circuit since the track joined the calendar in 2021.
The 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the 700th World Championship race to feature a Finnish driver on the grid. Finland is the seventh nation to reach the milestone.
Pierre Gasly makes his 110th Grand Prix start at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. That sees him move into the top ten of French drivers who’ve made the most F1 starts, overtaking Philippe Alliot.
This weekend, Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton will set a new record as the drivers to have made the most starts with a single car number. This will be their 183rd starts in their respective car numbers, overtaking Daniel Ricciardo’s tally of starts in car number 3.
This will be the second round of the World Championship to be held on March 19. The only other race held on this date was the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix, won by Giancarlo Fisichella.
The final lap of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the 150th Grand Prix racing lap to take place at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
ANOTHER WIN IN SIGHT FOR VERSTAPPEN?
If Max Verstappen takes pole again at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, 2023 will be the 30th season in which a driver has taken pole at both of the first two races of the year. If Verstappen wins the race, this will be the 19th season that a driver has won the first two races of the year.
A victory for Max Verstappen at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would mark his 17th victory in car number 1. That would see him overtake Ayrton Senna and become the driver with the third-most wins in car number 1 in Formula 1 history.
If Max Verstappen scores this weekend, he would equal his personal best points-scoring streak. Verstappen has scored in all 20 races since the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Another top ten finish at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would make this the ninth time that a driver has scored at 21 races in a row – and Verstappen would be only the second driver, after Lewis Hamilton, to achieve the feat twice.
WILL ALONSO JOIN THE 100 PODIUM CLUB?
Fernando Alonso recorded his 99th podium finish at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. Another podium finish at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would see him become only the sixth driver in Formula 1 history to record 100 podium finishes.
If Fernando Alonso wins any race this season, he will become the oldest driver to win a Grand Prix since Jack Brabham at the 1970 South African Grand Prix. Brabham won that race at the age of 43 years, 11 months and 5 days.
A top ten finish for Fernando Alonso at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would make him the third driver, after Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, to have had at least 20 years between his first and last points-scoring appearances. Alonso scored the first points of his career at the 2003 Australian Grand Prix.
THE FORMULA 1 RECORDS TO BREAK
Red Bull recorded a 1-2 result at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. Should they record another 1-2 result at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it would be only the second time in the team’s history that they have recorded a 1-2 result at successive races. The last time they did so was almost 14 years ago, at the 2009 British Grand Prix and the 2009 German Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton’s last Grand Prix victory came at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. If he wins at Jeddah Corniche Circuit again in 2023, he would add his name to a short list of drivers who’ve taken successive career wins at a single circuit. Hamilton is already on the list, having taken his 95th and 96th career wins at Bahrain International Circuit in 2020 and 2021. He would be the first driver to appear on the list twice.
If both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finish on the podium, Ferrari will become the first team to record 800 podium finishes.
Should Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez score a point at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, this will be the 300th race in which Red Bull have scored a point.
Unless Nico Hulkenberg wins the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he’ll equal Nick Heidfeld for second on the list of most Grand Prix starts without taking a win. Hukenberg has started 182 races so far in his career without taking a victory.
France and Germany are currently tied for second place on the list of most races in which a nation has scored points. A points-score for either nation this weekend could see them take an outright second place in the list.
A points finish for Valtteri Bottas at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would see Finland overtake Italy as the nation to have scored in the fifth most F1 races. Both nations have scored points in 417 races to date.
AlphaTauri have not appeared in Q3 at any of the last six races. Should neither Yuki Tsunoda nor Nyck de Vries qualify in the top ten at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix it would be the first time that the team has not appeared in Q3 at seven consecutive races since their seven race streak of Q1 and Q2 exits between the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix and the 2018 Australian Grand Prix.
Both Lance Stroll and Alex Albon are tied with Daniil Kvyat on 202 career points. Should either driver score at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix without winning the race, they will move up to fourth in the all-time list of most F1 points without taking a victory.
If Oscar Piastri fails to finish the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, he will become the first driver to retire from both of his first two F1 starts since Lance Stroll in 2017.
A podium finish for Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri would make 2023 the 50th season in which a McLaren driver has finished on the podium.
If a British driver takes pole position at any race in 2023, it would be the 20th consecutive season in which a British driver has taken pole. It would be a new record for most consecutive seasons in which a nation has taken a pole position, overtaking Britain’s long-standing record of 19 seasons with a pole position between 1955 and 1973.
A fifth place finish for Fernando Alonso in the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would see him equal Jenson Button for the most fifth place finishes in Formula 1. Button finished fifth on 27 occasions during his career.
If Fernando Alonso lines up fifth on the grid, he will equal Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have lined up fifth on the grid on the most occasions in Formula 1. Raikkonen started fifth on 39 occasions during his career.
An eighth place finish for Nico Hulkenberg or Carlos Sainz would see them equal Jenson Button as the driver with the most eighth place finishes in Formula 1. Button recorded his 20th and final eighth place finish at the 2016 German Grand Prix.
A points finish for Nico Hulkenberg would see Germany equal France for the third longest streak of seasons in which a nation has scored points. German drivers have scored at least one point in every season since 1991.
If Logan Sargeant picks up two points this weekend, the United States would become the tenth nation to have scored 1,000 points in Formula 1.
A top ten finish for Yuki Tsunoda this weekend will see him overtake Takuma Sato as the Japanese driver to have scored the second-most points in Formula 1. Kamui Kobayashi is the Japanese driver to have scored the most points, with 125.
If Nico Hulkenberg lines up seventh on the grid, he’ll equal Fernando Alonso for most seventh places on the grid. Alonso could extend the record to 27.
A 14th place finish for Lance Stroll would see him set a new record for the most 14th place finishes in Formula 1. He currently shares the record with Pastor Maldonado.
THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX RECORDS TO BREAK
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have each won one Saudi Arabian Grand Prix so far. Either driver could be the first to take multiple wins at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, while any other driver could become the third to have won here.
Both Mercedes and Red Bull will be looking to become the first team to take multiple wins and multiple poles at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton or Sergio Perez could become the first driver to take multiple pole positions in Saudi Arabia.
Max Verstappen is the only driver to record multiple podium finishes at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could join him in that group at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull each have two podium finishes at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Any of those teams could set a new outright record for most podiums at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
The record for most laps led at Jeddah Corniche Circuit is 37, for Max Verstappen. Any driver could break Verstappen’s record in the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Similarly, Ferrari or Mercedes could overtake Red Bull as the team to have led the most laps in Jeddah. Red Bull have led 51 laps here so far.
Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen have completed every racing lap held so far at Jeddah Corniche Circuit. All seven drivers will be hoping to maintain their record at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
If both of the teams’ drivers complete every lap, Mercedes and Ferrari will become the first teams to race 300 laps in total at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
DOES HAMILTON’S COMEBACK START HERE?
Victory for Lewis Hamilton would see car number 44 equal car number 2 as the car number to have taken the third most wins in Formula 1.
A victory for Lewis Hamilton at any race in 2023 would see him move into the top 20 of the oldest drivers to win a Grand Prix in Formula 1. He would overtake Damon Hill as the third-oldest British driver to have won a Grand Prix.
If Lewis Hamilton wins any race this year, he’ll overtake Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have had the longest gap between his first and last Grand Prix victories. He’d also be the first driver to have won after the 300th race of his career. Fernando Alonso would break the record if he were to take victory.
A victory for Lewis Hamilton would make him the first driver to have won in 16 different Formula 1 seasons. 2022 is the only season during his career in which Hamilton has not taken a victory.
A top three finish for Lewis Hamilton would make him the first driver to have recorded a podium finish in 17 different Formula 1 seasons.
If Lewis Hamilton leads a lap, he would become the first driver to have led a lap in 17 Formula 1 seasons. That would see him overtake Michael Schumacher at the top of the list – a record which the German has held since 2004.
ARE MERCEDES BACK IN THE FIGHT?
A victory for Mercedes would make 2023 the 12th consecutive season in which the team has won a race. They would be only the third team to win in 12 consecutive seasons, after Ferrari (1994-2013) and McLaren (1981-1993).
Pole position for Mercedes would see them become only the second team, after Ferrari between 1994 and 2008, to have taken pole positions in 12 consecutive seasons.
Victory for a Mercedes-powered car would see them become only the third engine manufacturer to have won in 17 consecutive Formula 1 seasons. The only other manufacturers to have done so are Ferrari (20 seasons, between 1994-2013) and Ford Cosworth (17 seasons, between 1967-1983).
A fastest lap for a Mercedes-powered car would see them become the second engine manufacturer to have powered 200 fastest laps in Formula 1. Ferrari are the only other engine manufacturer to have reached the milestone, having done so at the 2007 European Grand Prix.
If three Mercedes-powered cars finish on the podium, Mercedes will equal Renault’s record tally of seventeen podium lockouts for an engine manufacturer.
