Leclerc overtakes Raikkonen for second on the list of most Ferrari starts, Mercedes seek two season-opening 1-2 results for the first time since 2019 and Ocon could become the driver to have made the most starts without taking pole. Here are the milestones and the records which could be broken at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix!
The 2026 Chinese Grand Prix Milestones
The 2026 Chinese Grand Prix will be the 1,151st race in World Championship history.
The 2026 Chinese Grand Prix will be the first Sprint weekend of the 2026 F1 season. This will be the 25th Sprint event in total. It will be the third time that Shanghai International Circuit has hosted the Sprint format, having hosted a Sprint event in each of the last two seasons.
The 2026 Chinese Grand Prix will be the 19th Chinese Grand Prix since the event was first held in 2004.
This will be the third Formula 1 race held on March 15. The 1981 United States Grand Prix West and the 2015 Australian Grand Prix are the other races which were held on this date.
At the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc will overtake Kimi Raikkonen as the driver who has made the second-most starts with Ferrari.
The Formula 1 Records Which Could Be Broken
Unless he takes pole position for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, Esteban Ocon will overtake Romain Grosjean as the driver who has made the most Formula 1 starts without ever starting from pole.
If George Russell wins the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, this will be the 20th time that a driver has won both of the first two rounds of a Formula 1 season.
If Mercedes record a 1-2 result at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix, it would be only the seventh time that a team has taken 1-2 finishes at each of the first two Grands Prix in a season. The last team to do so were Red Bull in 2024, while Mercedes achieved the feat themselves back in 2019.
If Arvid Linblad reaches Q3, he will become only the fifth driver – after Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica, Kevin Magnussen and Lando Norris – to reach Q3 on each of his first two F1 appearances.
The 2026 Chinese Grand Prix is Arvid Lindblad’s final opportunity to become the youngest winner or podium finisher in Formula 1 history. At the time of the next race, Lindblad will be older than Verstappen was when he took his maiden win at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
Victory for Norris would see him equal David Coulthard for sixth on the list of most Grand Prix wins with McLaren.
A victory for McLaren would make 2026 the 40th season in which they’ve taken a win.
If Oscar Piastri wins, he will join a list of eight other drivers who have won as many as ten Grands Prix without ever winning the title.
A sixth place finish for Carlos Sainz or Fernando Alonso will see them equal Felipe Massa for the most sixth place finishes in F1 history. Massa recorded 27 sixth place finishes during his career, while Sainz and Alonso have had 26 to date.
If British drivers lead 39 laps of the race between them, Britain will become the first nation to reach the milestone of 20,000 Grand Prix laps led by a country.
VERSTAPPEN AND RED BULL CHASING RECORDS
A podium finish for Max Verstappen would make him the eighth driver to record podium results in as many as 11 consecutive seasons.
Max Verstappen has won 71 races to date with Red Bull. Another victory would see him equal Michael Schumacher for the second-most victories with a single constructor. Schumacher won 72 races with Ferrari during his career. The record for most wins with a team is 84, for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
A fastest lap for Max Verstappen would be his 38th, equalling Sebastian Vettel for fifth on the list of most fastest laps.
A victory for Max Verstappen in 2026 would make him only the fourth driver – after Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to have won in as many as 11 different Formula 1 seasons.
If Max Verstappen wins a race in 2026, it would be the 11th consecutive season in which he has won a Grand Prix. Verstappen would be only the third driver to win in as many as 11 successive years. Michael Schumacher reached the milestone in 2002, while Lewis Hamilton achieved the feat in 2017. Both drivers went on to win in 15 consecutive years.
A pole position in 2026 for Max Verstappen would make him the fifth driver – after Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to record pole positions in as many as eight consecutive Formula 1 seasons.
If Max Verstappen leads from start to finish, this would be the 19th Grand Prix which he has led from lights to flag. That would see him equal Ayrton Senna for second on the list of most races led from start to end.
If Max Verstappen leads the Drivers’ Championship after any race in 2026, it will be the 79th race after which he has led the standings. He will overtake Alain Prost for the most rounds after which a driver has led the title race.
Max Verstappen holds the record for wins from the most different grid positions in Formula 1. He’ll become the first driver to win from 11 different grid slots this weekend should he win from 5th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th or 20th on the grid.
A victory for Red Bull would be their 131st win, equalling Mercedes for third on the list of all-time Grand Prix victories.
A victory for Red Bull in 2026 would make this the 11th consecutive season in which they have won a Grand Prix. They would be the fifth team to have won in as many as 11 successive seasons, after Lotus, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.
A fastest lap at any race in 2026 would see Red Bull set a new record for the most consecutive seasons in which a team has set a fastest lap. Having set fastest laps in every season since 2009, Red Bull are currently tied for the record with Ferrari, who set fastest laps in all 17 seasons from 1995 to 2011.
If a Red Bull driver leads a Grand Prix in 2026, it will be the 20th consecutive season in which the team has led races in as many as 20 successive years. Red Bull will be the third team to reach the milestone. McLaren hold the record for most consecutive years in which a team has led laps, having led in all 34 years from 1981 to 2014. Ferrari are the only other team to lead laps in as many as 20 years in a row, having done so twice – from 1950 to 1972 and from 1993 to 2019.
Ferrari to the Fore?
A win for Ferrari would make 2026 the 60th season in which they’ve won a Grand Prix.
A pole position for Charles Leclerc would see him equal Nigel Mansell for eighth on the list of most poles with a single team. Mansell took 28 poles with Williams during his career, while Leclerc has taken 27 poles with Ferrari to date.
A win for Lewis Hamilton would make him the 16th driver to have won Grands Prix with as many as three different teams.
A victory for Lewis Hamilton in 2026 would see him extend his record for the most different seasons in which a driver has won a Grand Prix to 17.
A fastest lap for Lewis Hamilton in 2026 would see him extend the record for most consecutive seasons in which a driver has recorded a fastest lap. His streak is currently 16 years, having started in 2010.
A Grand Slam for Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton – winning from pole position having led every lap and set the fastest lap – would be their seventh Grand Slam. It would see them take outright second place on the list of most Grand Slams in F1, behind only Jim Clark.
A victory for a Ferrari-powered car at any race in 2026 would be the engine manufacturer’s 250th Grand Prix win. The works team have taken all but one of the previous 249 wins for Ferrari power – the exception being Sebastian Vettel’s victory at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
The Chinese Grand Prix Records On Offer
Lewis Hamilton leads the way for most Chinese Grand Prix victories, with six. He could extend his record this weekend, or Fernando Alonso could become only the second driver to have won as many as three Chinese Grands Prix. A victory for Max Verstappen or Oscar Piastri would make them only the fourth driver – after Hamilton, Alonso and Nico Rosberg – to have won multiple races in Shanghai.
Ferrari and Mercedes are tied for most podium finishes at the Chinese Grand Prix, with 13 apiece. Either team could set a new outright record this weekend, while McLaren could equal or overtake the existing record, having had 12 top three finishes at the track to date.
Red Bull and McLaren are currently tied as the teams with the most fastest laps at the Chinese Grand Prix. Either team could extend the record this weekend, while Mercedes could equal the existing record of four fastest laps in Shanghai.
If Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc complete 71 laps of the race between them, Ferrari will become the first team to have raced 2,000 laps at Shanghai International Circuit. Williams could also join the club, having completed 1,909 laps to date.
A second place finish for Lando Norris would see him equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of three runner-up finishes at the Chinese Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton’s record of 13 points-scoring finishes at the Chinese Grand Prix could be equalled this weekend by Fernando Alonso. The pair are tied for the most top ten results at Shanghai with SebaFstian Vettel and have the opportunity to set a new outright record.
Longevity Records on Offer for Alonso
Fernando Alonso’s last win came at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. A victory at any race in 2026 would see him set a new record for the longest gap between wins in F1 history, by quite a margin. Riccardo Patrese holds the current record, having waited 6 years, 6 months and 28 days between wins at the 1983 South African Grand Prix and the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix.
A podium finish for Fernando Alonso at any race in 2026 would see him overtake Alain Prost for fifth on the list of most podium finishes in Formula 1. Both drivers have recorded 106 top three finishes.
If Fernando Alonso leads a race, he would become only the third driver – after Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton – to have led a lap of a Grand Prix in as many as 16 different seasons.
A victory for Fernando Alonso in 2026 would make him only the fourth driver – after Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart and Alain Prost to have won with as many as four different constructors during his Formula 1 career.