Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Valencia, 2011

European Grand Prix sets record for most finishers

2011 European GP stats and facts

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Sebastian Vettel did the triple: win, pole position and fastest lap. Surprisingly, that’s the first time this has happened this year: the last driver to do the same was Fernando Alonso at Singapore last year.

He came very close to getting what would have been his first perfect result: he led all bar one lap, when Felipe Massa got ahead during the first round of pit stops. As it was, Vettel scored his second hat trick, the other coming at Silverstone in 2009.

He added to his tally of fastest laps for the first time this year and now has seven. He was one pole position for the seventh time this year – the 22nd of his career.

His 16th career victory gives him as many as Stirling Moss – and one more than Lewis Hamilton. It was his tenth podium finish in a row.

Out of 499 laps raced this year, Vettel has led 408 of them – 81.8%. The next highest lap leader is Jenson Button, with 31.

Vettel’s tally of 186 points means he has scored more in eight races this year than he did in 15 last year.

Vettl, Button and Mark Webber all scored points for the tenth race in a row.

It was the 50th consecutive points-scoring finish for a Renault-powered car – a streak which goes back to the 2008 European Grand Prix. Mercedes- and Ferrari-powered cars have been in the points for the last 46 and 30 races respectively.

Kamui Kobayashi failed to score points for the first time since the Australian Grand Prix (where he finished eighth but was disqualified).

Alonso and Vitantonio Liuzzi are the only drivers to have out-qualified their team mates in every race this year. Alonso has started in front of Massa for the last 14 races in a row.

The European Grand Prix set a new record for most drivers to finish a race, with all 24 taking the chequered flag. The record was broken earlier this season in China, where 23 drivers finished.

This also meant Narain Karthikeyan became the first driver to finish a race in 24th place.

Jaime Alguersuari matched his best ever race result of eighth – which he scored for the first time two weeks ago in Canada.

Review the year so far in statistics here:

Spotted any more interesting stats and facts from the European Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

2011 European Grand Prix

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    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    69 comments on “European Grand Prix sets record for most finishers”

    1. Good reliability, Mature driving.

    2. Anyone betting against Vettel being best prepared to take the triple in this years Silverstone again?

      Vettel is close to doing a better first half of the season than Alonso did and we can all be glad the races have (bar Valencia) been worthwile for the Championship really does not give much reason to look at the standings really.
      The most exiting thing in that respec is wether he will be confirmed Champion with more races to go in the season than Schumi was in his best form.

      1. I personally hope none of those things will happen but if Vettel does all that, he sure deserves it. He has a brilliant run and keeps it going. But brilliant runs end one day and I hope by then Ferrari will be back in a position to take advantage. I’d much rather see Alonsos third title than Vettels second but I’m not a dreamer.

      2. Statistically he has already beat Alonso’s run of 5 wins and 3 second places, but not yet Alonso’s streak over nine races.

        It’s all a matter of perspective. You could argue he’s beat Schumacher’s 2004 record because Schumacher retired at Monaco – but he won 12 of the first 13 races. So the difference is between a better start to the season and a better season overall. I dread to think what heights Vettel will climb to!

        1. Alonso took 6 wins and 3 second place finishes in 2006.

      3. The omens would suggest not – the last 8 races in Silverstone have all been won by different drivers: Barrichello, Schumacher, Montoya, Alonso, Raikkonen, Hamilton, Vettel Webber since 2003. It’s the best hope we have…

    3. and for being the dullest race of 2008,2009,2010,2011…
      how much longer do we have to suffer this race track?

      1. as long as they have stacks of money to throw at FOM

      2. Yes Ben Bailey. To produce a dull race this year actually seems something of an achievement, but not one to be proud of. Ditch this bore-fest.

        1. Pity, because the location is so good, but the races are so bad, perhaps the city fathers could drop a year or two and use the money saved to redesign the track with a purpose built section.

      3. Both GPs in Spain are awfully boring, at Barcelona and Valencia. When you have a track where F1 can’t do overtaking even with KERS, DRS and whatnot, then it’s worthless…
        After Canada, the race at Valencia was an anticlimax…

      4. Valencia’s contract was for 5 years if i remember correctly. so 2012 will be their last race unless they renew their contract.

    4. Keith, do you mean “Vettel continues his crushing dominance of 2011”?

      1. Yes! Have changed it.

    5. Congratulations to Karthikeyan for being the 1st driver to finish a race in 24th place. Hope this is a sign of more things to come.

      1. Maybe he can do even more next time around .. finishing 25th even behind himself or something. I kind of like HRT but this race I found them a bit annoying. And by the way, half the credit for 24th place goes to Hamilton not knocking off anyone, Petrov and Maldonado for holding it together somehow and Schumacher for some reason driving on and on without seeing any daylight but never giving up.

    6. 24 cars might of fininshed this race but I retired on lap 24, Fact.

      1. hahaha more like after 24 seconds

        1. McLarenFanJamm
          27th June 2011, 12:32

          Surprised the drivers didn’t nod off, I know a lot of people at home did.

    7. Jelle van der Meer (@)
      27th June 2011, 10:23

      Interesting is that champion leader last year after 8 races had 109 points like Button or Webber have now in 2011 – minor difference is that the leader now has 186.

      It took till end of race 14 (Italy) last year before Webber as leader had 187 points 1 more than Vettel has after only 8 races.

      1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        27th June 2011, 10:27

        Additionally Vettel has more points than Renault, Mercedes, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Force India, Williams, Lotus, HRT and Virgin combinted.

        186 points vs. 178 points

        1. Vettel’s lead is astounding. Cheers for the points stats guys!

          If Alonso won the next 11 races then Vettel could finish 3rd in every race and still clinch the title.

    8. Out of 499 laps raced this year, Vettel has led 408 of them – 81.8%. The next highest lap leader is Jenson Button, with 31.

      Has the safety car lead more laps than Button?

      1. Yes – it’s led 40 laps this year!

        1. Mercedes have something to cheer about then

          1. They’ve led more laps than the ’09 champion, woo!

    9. Vettel goes clear 3rd in the consecutive podium stakes with his 10th in a row. Only Alonso (12?) and Schumacher (19?) have had more.
      And he is also 3rd on the list of consecutive front row starts with 13, behind Damon Hill (17?) and Senna (23?)

      1. Alonso had 15 consecutive podiums and Schumacher 19.

        He’s 5th on the list of consecutive front row starts though, not 3rd.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Formula_One_driver_records#Most_consecutive_starts_from_front_row

    10. Isn’t 17th Schumacher worst race finish without retirement?

      1. It is indeed – I hadn’t noticed that. He also had his worst ever result at this track last year:

        https://www.racefans.net/2010/06/28/schumachers-worst-ever-race-result-european-gp-stats-and-facts/

        1. So for the first time in 4 years I have contributed something to this blog.

      2. Yes, it is – previously it was 15. place (on European GP…)

        1. Bah, forgot to refresh the page :D

      3. Nice find!

    11. May be I never am happy with formula and always blame…
      But I don’t like that kind of reliability. Also retirement for having stressed too much the mechanics is part of an exciting race…
      What do you think?

      1. It does take away from F1 being a motorsport. What’s that quote about the best race car being one that falls apart as soon as it passes the chequered flag.

        When you look at the fastest laps and compare them to previous years, it shows you the cars aren’t being pushed as much and are generally much slower.

        Qualifying is only faster than last year because of unlimited DRS and KERS.

      2. I agree, regretfully. Seeing a potential champion like Button or Webber driving a lesser teams car ahead of some main contenders and hoping the engine wont blow up this time added a lot of tension to the races. Sadly they usually did blow up.

    12. Half the top 10 qualifiers were of the same nationality (German)

      – Vettel
      – Rosberg
      – Schumacher
      – Sutil
      – Heidfeld

      That must be a record?

    13. Narain Karthikeyan has finished last at 2/3 of all GPs where all starters have finished

    14. Yes. 24/24. But Valencia is really bad track. Bernie most add something on his “GP selecting policy”. It can’t be all about money. Give us more Spas!

      Vettel did his job very well. I’d bet the name of his first child will be either(a) Adrian if it’s a boy or (b) Adriana in case it’s a girl.

      1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        27th June 2011, 12:41

        JCost believe me – IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY – with Bernie.

        Unless it has HUGE exposure or special media exposure like downtown New York or other major city it is all about money.

        Bernie has no problem to ax Silverstone, Monza, Spa, etc despite there undeniable contribution to F1 and fabulous tracks.

        1. I’ve tried hard not to believe you, but I failed. Bernie wants money to buy his “angels” super expensive mansions…

          I don’t think Manhattan would fit an interesting circuit, maybe downtown LA or even Vegas would but I still prefer purposed built tracks. Portugal’s Portimao circuit in The Algarve is wonderful and should be better than: Valencia, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi…

      2. Considering it’s a street circuit, it’s strange nobody crashed.

        1. I don’t think you can call Valencia a street circuit. Yes, the walls are close at some points, but with the huge tarmac run off area’s and considering that the track at its narrowest point is ‘just’ 14 metres across Valencia is almost as wide and open as purpose built tracks.

    15. If it wasn’t for his engine failure in Korea. Vettel would have finished in 1st or 2nd (just twice) in the last 13 races.

      1, 1*, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 1

      *if he had gone on to win Korea.

      1. With this “if” and “but” game one can make even Karthikeyan champion.

        1. Not with a straight face :)

      2. If it was for his engine failure in Korea, Vettel would have finished in 1st or 2nd (just twice) in the last 10 races (which is still outstanding).
        You actually put 12 results, not 13!

    16. I think Vettel will win 14 of the 19 races come the end of the season and from this point on only dropping the victory to Mark at Spa and Fernando at Monza, i don’t think he’ll DNF this year or finish the season with a position any worse than 4th. I think we are almost mid-way through one of the most dominated seasons in the history of the sport. Domination records will be broken by Sebastian come Brazil and he’ll probably win the title as early as the Korean Grand Prix – 4 races from the end.
      Yet dispite all this i’m really looking forward to the rest of the season, it should be an intresting Battle for 2nd in the Championship between Mark, Lewis, Fernando & Jenson and also 2nd in constructors between McLaren & Ferrari.
      I’m going to Silverstone in a couple of weeks so i’m hoping for a better race than Valencia!

    17. Having read my comment back i realise my math is a bit…off, Seb to win 15 of 19 races, not 14. :)

      1. The only real last unknown is what the off-throttle ban will do, Silverstone will be the very final watershed moment for the season. I still think the worst case scenario for Vettel is that his second-half of the season goes for how it went for Button in 2009, but he’ll still win the championship. Maybe not as bad as Button had it in 2009 I guess.

        1. I can’t see Vettel doing anything other than winning every race left unless he gets a couple of DNFs

    18. Younger Hamii
      27th June 2011, 14:13

      At Least Vettel hasnt done a Grand Chelem(Pole,Lead every Lap,Fastest Lap and Victory) YET.Surprisingly,Lewis hasnt done so too,closest was Hungary 2007.

      1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
        27th June 2011, 17:18

        That has little to do with drivers skill more with pitstops. Alonso was suppose to come in earlier and Massa after Alonso – so if Massa pitted 1 lap earlier it would have been.

        Also if we would go back to refuelling – Vettel would have carried more fuel considering that his car was quicker anyway.

        That on leading all laps – with regards to fastest laps – surprissed that Vettel actually got one this year.

        Why would the leader set the fastest lap? Fastest laps are set at the end of the race where Vettel usually comfertably holds his lead on older tyres no need to risk it all. Fastest times are usually set by who made the last pistop for fresh rubber of the top teams.

      2. Grand Chelem is very very rare.
        It was done by Michael many times in 2004 and after that only repeated by Alonso in 2010 Singapore and even that occurred because Vettel and Alonso chose to stop on the exact same lap.

        However, it is one of Alonso’s best wins as he was clearly in the slower car.

    19. This track is bleak it has nothing going for it,time to ditch it.
      A return to Austria would be a welcome addition in place of this bore.

    20. 24 finishes out of 24 cars!!!
      How.. eh … oh, got it:

      1. “Hamilton will “think twice” about risky moves”

        1. Well seen :). However it’s better to see him in “aggressive mode”, one Felipe Massa is enough!

          1. Had Hamilton been in aggressive mode, it’s unlikely this thread would have been started.

    21. Does anyone know the record for most consecutive points-scoring races for a team? McLaren have scored in every race since Button joined in 2010 (right?), so they must be approaching that record, I would expect.

      1. 55 by Ferrari (Malaysia 1999 – Malaysia 2003), so McLaren is nowhere near that yet.

    22. The Button laps-led stat apparently reflects his habit of pitting late, rather than controlling the race. The fact that his figure, the second-best, is at only 6% of Vettel’s, underlines how desperate McLaren’s competitive position actually is now.

    23. Believe it or not, since 1950, this was only the fourth GP where all cars finished. The three previous were 1961 Dutch GP, 2005 Italian and US GPs.

    24. Paul Gilbert
      27th June 2011, 17:26

      First time that somebody other than Hamilton has finished 2nd at Valencia.

    25. Nick Heidfeld has now finished one (1) consecutive race.

    26. Interesting facts as always! Vettel is just embarrassing everyone!

    27. can see vettel winning the rest, and as for next year , he,ll probably win them too

    28. Jeffrey Powell
      28th June 2011, 12:51

      The fact is these are detuned F1 cars with tyres that do not allow the drivers to put much stress on them. Of course they are still incredibly fast but they are not at there limit for anywhere near long enough to cause the sort of problems we are used to. I know how dissapointing it was to see our chosen hero retire with a malfunction but to see 24 cars trundling round saving there tyres is getting beyond a joke.

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