Massa makes 100 Ferrari starts but no podium

2011 Brazilian GP stats and facts

November 28, 2011 at 3:05 pm by Keith Collantine

Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, Interlagos, 2011

Felipe Massa made his 100th start for Ferrari in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

During the race weekend Ferrari presented him with a cake and signed engine cover which also marked ten years since his F1 debut.

He is the tenth different driver to start 100 races with the same team:

Driver	Starts	Team
Michael Schumacher	180	Ferrari
David Coulthard	150	McLaren
Jacques Laffite	132	Ligier
Mika Häkkinen	131	McLaren
Alain Prost	107	McLaren
Nelson Piquet	106	Brabham
Fernando Alonso	105	Renault
Pierluigi Martini	102	Minardi
Rubens Barrichello	102	Ferrari
Felipe Massa	100	Ferrari

However he didn’t have much to celebrate during the race. He failed to better his season-best finishing position of fifth, meaning he ended the year with no podiums, while team mate Fernando Alonso has scored ten including victory at Silverstone.

The last Ferrari driver to go an entire season without finishing on the podium was Didier Pironi in 1981. Team mate Gilles Villeneuve finished on the podium three times that year, including two wins.

Vettel claims pole record

Sebastian Vettel made a new record for the most pole positions in a single season, setting his 15th of the year on Saturday.

He set pole in 78.95% of races this year which is the fifth-highest strike rate of all time:

Year	Driver	Poles	Starts	Strike rate
1992	Nigel Mansell	14	16	87.5%
1993	Alain Prost	13	16	81.25%
1989	Ayrton Senna	13	16	81.25%
1988	Ayrton Senna	13	16	81.25%
2011	Sebastian Vettel	15	19	78.95%
1956	Juan Manuel Fangio	6	8	75%

Vettel needed two more pole positions this year to beat Mansell’s strike rate.

This was Vettel’s 30th career pole position which means only five drivers in F1 history have made more starts from first place than he has:

Driver	Poles	Starts	Strike rate
Michael Schumacher	68	286	23.78%
Ayrton Senna	65	161	40.37%
Jim Clark	33	72	45.83%
Alain Prost	33	199	16.58%
Nigel Mansell	32	187	17.11%
Sebastian Vettel	30	81	37.04%
Juan Manuel Fangio	29	51	56.86%

Mark Webber’s first win of the year means five different drivers won races in 2011. It was his seventh win, giving him as many as Juan Pablo Montoya and Rene Arnoux.

That gave Red Bull their 27th win, putting them level with Benetton in the list of all-time winners:

Team	Wins	Starts	Strike rate
Ferrari	216	831	25.99%
McLaren	175	703	24.89%
Williams	113	572	19.76%
Lotus	79	529	14.93%
Brabham	35	394	8.88%
Renault	35	300	11.67%
Benetton	27	260	10.38%
Red Bull	27	126	21.43%

Webber also took his 13th fastest lap, putting him level with Jacky Ickx, Alan Jones and Riccardo Patrese – and leaving him four ahead of his team mate. It was Webber’s seventh fastest lap of the year, the most of any driver.

For the third year in a row the pole sitter failed to win the Brazilian Grand Prix. The last four races at Interlagos have all seen a different constructor on pole position: Red Bull, Williams, Brawn and Ferrari. Unusually, McLaren’s last pole position here was Mika Hakkinen’s in 2000.

Jan Charouz made his first appearance in an F1 race weekend when he drove for HRT during practice. He is only the second driver from the Czech Republic to appear in an F1 weekend, the other being Tomas Enge, who started three races for Prost in 2001.

Goodbye to Renault and Virgin

It was the 300th and last race for Renault before the team takes over Lotus’s identity in 2012.

Since they first appeared in F1 in 1977 the team has recorded 35 wins, 51 pole positions and two constructors’ championships. The drivers’ championship has been claimed by a Renault driver on two occasions: Alonso’s back-to-back triumphs in 2005 and 2006.

Virgin also made their last appearance before transforming into Marussia in time for next season. Since entering F1 at the beginning of last year they hold the record for making the most race starts (38) without scoring a point. HRT are behind them on 37, having failed to start this year’s Australian Grand Prix.

That covers off the stats for this weekend’s race but there’s much more to come in the F1 Fanatic 2011 season review, starting here soon.

In the meantime you can review some of the season statistics so far here:

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

2011 Brazilian Grand Prix

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81 comments on Massa makes 100 Ferrari starts but no podium

PJ (@pjtierney) said on 28th November 2011, 13:13

I was thinking during the Grand Prix… when was the last time that a podium didn’t contain a Red Bull, McLaren or Ferrari?

Reply
- GeoCucc (@geocucc) said on 28th November 2011, 14:20
  
  It was at the 2009 Malaysian GP with Brawn, BMW and Toyota.
  
  Reply
- Ilanin (@ilanin) said on 28th November 2011, 14:24
  
  Malaysia 2009 (Button in a Brawn, Heidfeld in a BMW, Glock in a Toyota), or, if you insist on it not being a half-race, Australia 2009 – two Brawns (Button, Barrichello) and a Toyota (Trulli).
  
  Reply
- Cacarella (@cacarella) said on 28th November 2011, 15:28
  
  @pjtierney Austrailia & Malaysia this year (2011) both had a Renault on the podium.
  
  Reply
- Cacarella (@cacarella) said on 28th November 2011, 15:32
  
  Also in 2010, Robert Kubica (Renault) was on the podium 3 times – two thirds and a second,
  Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) was on 3 times – the third places.
  
  Reply
  - JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1) said on 28th November 2011, 15:51
    
    @cacarella I think you misunderstood PJ’s point. The podiums you list all had a Red Bull, Mclaren or Ferrari on them (in each case on the top step too).
    
    Reply
    - Cacarella (@cacarella) said on 28th November 2011, 15:58
      
      @jerseyf1
      
      Ahhhhh,
      
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FnpaWQJO0
      
      Reply
      - James Bolton said on 28th November 2011, 16:30
        
        I remember how shocked we all were at the first race of 2003 when there wasn’t a Ferrari on the podium, for the first time since the 1999 European GP
    - PJ (@pjtierney) said on 28th November 2011, 18:29
      
      Exactly. Can’t have any of those 6 cars up there.
      
      Reply
xivizmath (@xivizmath) said on 28th November 2011, 16:57

So how many times this year we had a wheel flying off the car right after a pit stop?

Reply
- AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 30th November 2011, 22:56
  
  I count Jenson Button at Silverstone and Glock in Interlagos.
  
  Reply
N7 (@m77) said on 28th November 2011, 18:30

if we exclude slight name changes or takeovers of ownership stakes, how many other drivers pass the 100 mark for a team?! off the top of my head I can think of JB for BAR/Honda/Brawn. could well be the only other though

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- Bleu (@bleu) said on 28th November 2011, 18:45
  
  Fisichella. 66 with Benetton (1998-2001) and 53 with Renault (2005-07)
  
  Reply
paulgilb (@paulgilb) said on 28th November 2011, 19:01

This was Hamilton’s first race-ending mechanical failure since Hungary 2010 – which was coincidentally Webber’s last win before this one. Also, both races featured Michael Schumacher getting rather close to a Brazilian.

Interlagos is the first circuit at which Webber has won twice. In the last 3 years he has finished 1-2-1, having not scored a point at Interlagos prior to 2009!

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- Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 28th November 2011, 19:11
  
  Impressive! Webber has now matched Massa’s performance at Interlagos from 2006-2008 by going 1-2-1.
  
  Reply
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 28th November 2011, 19:07

@Keith

I really like the stats of starts per team for the drivers at the top.

Does anyone know who has the most wins for each team? For example, Schumacher had 180 starts for Ferrari and in that time had 72 wins.

Reply
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 28th November 2011, 19:43

Webber’s 7 fastest laps this season puts him tied for 8th most fastest laps in a season with Schumacher, Prost, and Piquet. The only other drivers in the top 10 on that list are all world champions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Formula_One_driver_records#Most_fastest_laps_in_a_season

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Dizzy-A (@david-a) said on 28th November 2011, 23:59

Vettel took 11 wins, 5 2nd places and 1 third – exactly the same as Michael Schumacher in 2002.

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wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 29th November 2011, 2:48

Vettel for sure in years time will break pole record of Schumacher.

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firestorm69 (@firestorm69) said on 29th November 2011, 3:51

Jenson Button’s third place at Interlagos takes him to an impressive 3rd in the all time points scored table:

1 SCHUMACHER Michael 1,517
2 ALONSO Fernando 1,086
3 BUTTON Jenson 811
4 PROST Alain 798.50
5 VETTEL Sebastian 773
6 HAMILTON Lewis 723
7 WEBBER Mark 669.50

Alain Prost’s points were of course, all scored before the new higher points systems of late.

Reply
- firestorm69 (@firestorm69) said on 29th November 2011, 3:52
  
  As were most of Michael’s! ;-)
  
  Reply
- Lachie (@lachie) said on 29th November 2011, 6:46
  
  I think this is a stat that really needs to be put to bed or officially adjusted. The tenth point for a win and points down to 8th etc. were things that could almost be passable when comparing early F1 to modern times, but now that points are essentially worth 2.5 times as much its far too skewed.
  
  Reply
  - PJ (@pjtierney) said on 30th November 2011, 14:25
    
    I think average finishing position would be a better barometer.
    
    Reply
PJ (@pjtierney) said on 30th November 2011, 14:25

Another stat: Every driver from Alonso upwards score more points than Vettel did last year.

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The Limit said on 30th November 2011, 15:14

Nice statistics Keith! Proves just how good Sebastien Vettel now is compared to other legendary drivers of years gone by. To be that close at such a young age to the likes of Aryton Senna is something he can be very proud of. Vettel has not just won the championship this year, he has dominated it in such a crushing fashion that Senna himself would have been no doubt proud of.
Alot has been written about the strength of the Red Bull chassis and the part it has played in Vettel’s double world championship. For this there is no doubt, and it was the case for Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Senna in 1988 for example. But, as with those two superb drivers, you have to have the quality behind the wheel to achieve these statistics. Vettel has that quality, which at times, has made the rest of the grid look quite average.
However, Vettel’s dominance is not just down to skill and car performance on the part of Red Bull. Alot can be attributed to the lack of pace from McLaren and Ferrari, both of which have been caught cold by Red Bull’s progress in 2011. Despite the great performances by Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, both teams found it impossible to catch Red Bull. This
obviously made Red Bull’s task all the more easier. As it was with Williams in 1992, they maintained their advantage throughout the season and never looked back.
If Ferrari or McLaren deliver a car in 2012 like Red Bull have done this year, then Vettel will have a fight on his hands. Ferrari are not stupid. Signing Alonso to a multi year contract earlier this year clearly states just how confident they are that they have the right man in their car. All they need now is a machine that matches Fernando’s obvious talent. McLaren ofcourse have Lewis Hamilton and the vastly impressive Button aswell, so if they can improve on 2011, then ding dong. That ofcourse, is the hope of every fan at the moment.
Nobody really hated Michael Schumacher, but seeing him win year after year did get a little tiresome after five straight seasons. F1 thrives on close battles and titles coming down to the wire. Fingers crossed!

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AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 30th November 2011, 22:52

Sounds a bit harsh on Virgin regarding the number of race starts without a point. The only reason HRT aren’t level with them is that they were deemed to slow to start the race!

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