Hamilton claims record with first ever ‘grand slam’

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix stats and facts

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Lewis Hamilton achieved the first perfect result of his F1 career with victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Hamilton achieved a ‘grand slam’ by taking pole position, leading every lap (Nico Hulkenberg did not cross the finishing line in the lead) and setting fastest lap as he took the 23rd win of his career.

Hamilton has now matched Nelson Piquet’s tally of race wins, putting him 11th on the all-time winners list. He also matched Piquet on another measure by achieving his 100th points finish.

This was his eighth win in as many years of racing in F1 – no other driver with a career that long has won a race in every season. Stirling Moss won a race in all seven full seasons he competed in between 1955 and 1961.

Michael Schumacher won in 15 consecutive seasons from 1992 to 2006 (after a partial season in 1991), then returned for three win-less campaigns in 2010 to 2012.

He also set the 33rd pole position of his career on Saturday, giving him as many as Jim Clark and Alain Prost. Only Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Sebastian Vettel have started from first on more occasions.

However Hamilton hasn’t had nearly as many fastest laps – this was the 14th of his career, equalling Felipe Massa’s tally.

Nico Rosberg backed him up in second place to secure the first one-two finish for Mercedes since the final race of their original F1 campaign. Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1955 Italian Grand Prix at Monza ahead of team mate Piero Taruffi.

This was Mercedes’ sixth one-two and the first for a team other than Red Bull since Ferrari finished first and second in the 2010 German Grand Prix. Mercedes have also led every lap of the season so far.

Valtteri Bottas became the fist driver to receive penalty points on his licence on Saturday, and was joined by Jules Bianchi and Kevin Magnussen the day after.

Rookies Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat have scored points in both of their first two races, and Marcus Ericsson posted his first finish.

Two races into the season the average proportion of classified finishers is 63.6%, considerably lower than the 87.6% observed last year, but perhaps not as low as was feared. However the next few races will be particularly significant in terms of reliability as teams start to reach the maximum mileage with their new power units.

Review the year so far in statistics here:

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

2014 Malaysian Grand Prix

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Images © Daimler/Hoch Zwei

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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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155 comments on “Hamilton claims record with first ever ‘grand slam’”

  1. knoxploration
    31st March 2014, 12:12

    And he did that despite having his engine turned down for more than half the race, not really pushing at any point in the race, and backing off even more towards the end.

    What does this tell you about this year? Two words. Mercedes whitewash.

    1. I really don’t think it is going to be Mercedes whitewash over the entire season. I presume it will be more like 2009 where BrawnGP is so dominant in first half of season. Mercedes will possibly lead comfortably in first half while others play catch up. Then, it will hopefully be a very interesting battle for championship in second half of the season. I rely on past to support my prediction.

      1. In 2009 the Red Bull was just as fast the Brawn car already after 2 races. It was just that Vettel threw away several races early in the season due to crashes and he had massive problems overtaking cars when Button didn’t have that problem.

        1. No it wasn’t. Brawn were considered to be comfortably fastest until around Silverstone. Underlined by Barrichello also being comfortably 2nd in the championship, ahead of both Red Bulls.

      2. knoxploration
        31st March 2014, 12:39

        How, pray tell, will the others catch up when it’s all about the engines now (even the car commonly recognized as being the best on the grid can’t overcome its engine to get anywhere NEAR close to Merc), and yet:

        * testing is banned, making the races themselves the only chance to test parts
        * engines are homologated, so you can’t make any change without begging and claiming it is for reliability
        * the entire powertrain has a set lifetime, so if your testing in-race causes a failure you will be penalized in races later in the year because you exceeded your allocation

        Every team which doesn’t have a Merc engine now has a carefully engineered deficit that will remain with them for the rest of the season, and will likely take multiple seasons to claw back, especially in Renault’s case. The best hope we have for a Merc challenger are Honda next year, because they have the opportunity to learn from Renault and Ferrari’s mistakes and apply the latest tech.

        Merc are sandbagging to an exceptional degree, and anybody who expects this season to be anything but a Merc whitewash is naive, in my opinion. I’ll be amazed if another team wins a single race if at least one Merc is still on the track, and there are no safety car / weather randomizers.

        1. testing is banned

          No it’s not – they’re doing the first of four in-season tests next week.

          And a huge amount of aero development can be done in a simulated environment anyway. New parts are often put on the car for the first time just to verify they’re working as expected, because teams’ virtual models are so accurate.

      3. knoxploration
        31st March 2014, 12:43

        BTW, as for relying on the past, can you please point to any time in the history of F1 when a team has been dominant because of a part that is homologated, has a defined lifetime it *has* to be used for, and without which the car cannot move?

        To my knowledge, it has never happened before. And for that reason, the past is meaningless — what we’ve got is what all the supposed cost-saving measures (“cost-saving” being in huge quotes, because we’ve just wasted a fortune on these new engines and their ancillaries) have basically guaranteed us.

        This has been on the cards ever since homologation was introduced. Nothing on the car should be homologated except spec parts that are identical on every car. Take away the teams’ ability to develop, and you take away their ability to catch up.

        1. Don’t forget the homologated Renault V8 that received some “reliability” tweaks, and suddenly became the most successful V8 engine.

          From some of the posts, it sounds like a lot of the Renault issues are programming problems– if that’s the case, expect Renault to catch up eventually.

      4. @fractal Brawn GP didn’t have money for constant development, so they dropped back a bit in the second half of the season. Mercedes is one of the wealthiest teams on the grid, so…

        1. Yeah. I fully agree there has been quite some spending spree among top teams. And it can make a difference compared to 2009. Even then, teams with smaller budget like team Enstone manage to perform far better with raw talent and innovation over past couple of years. So budget isnt at all everything. Although I am not fully discounting its importance. Well, it’s important to some good extend. If budget is everything, why on earth we see the same pathetic excuses from Ferrari over and over again. I personally feel the likes of RBR has got more raw R&D ability to improve and push their car far ahead over a whole season; while sadly, even apart with all budget and resources, MercGP failed to perform to the same level as RBR or some low budget teams. So in 2014, if they can do it, they will take the WCC. We will see… :)
          Anyway, they are doing a good job now. Let’s hope, we get a fair and square fight with closely matched competitors with some new WCC and WDC just for the sake of a change, although I dont mind RBR and SV repeating their success again. The bottom line is f1 desperately needs a close fought season to keep fans excited. I wonder how a double point finish can help it.

          1. Jean-Christophe
            1st April 2014, 13:36

            How long have Mercedes GP been back as a work team? You seem to forget that RB only won when there was a rule change. Before that they were nowhere. Mercedes finished second last year. You don’t build a winning team overnight.

        2. Of course money helps in-season development, but it’s not necessarily the key factor. McLaren and Ferrari have money (or have never been money limited) and they’ve been so-so at best the last few years with in-season development. I’d say the biggest weakness at Mercedes has also been their in-season development the last several years as well.

    2. Give it a break will you, it’s like people only have knowledge of F1 since RBR domination kicked in (seems to be the common theme on here since the season started). Come the summer break we’ll have other teams in the mix, we’re already starting to see a massive climb in performance from RBR.

      If that’s what Merc can manage while still leading the race then fair play to them, it’s everyone else’s duty to catch up. I highly doubt Hamilton had his engine turned down to such a degree through out the entire race or he would of had a Rosberg/Vettel nipping at his heels.

      We’re two races in, enter the cliche driver response “it’s a long season, so we will see”

      1. knoxploration
        31st March 2014, 12:53

        What massive climb in performance? RBR were generally considered to be the best of the rest in terms of performance at the end of testing, with the best car on the grid but let down badly by their engine. They were the best of the rest in the first race, let down badly by their engine. They are the best of the rest in the second race, let down badly by their engine. At all times, they have been a huge distance behind Merc, even when Merc have turned the wick down and aren’t remotely pushing.

        The only change I predict during the season is that other teams (and especially other Merc teams) will catch up with RBR by developing their car in areas where it isn’t homologated and life-controlled, and where they can easily test parts during a race session without blowing up lumps left, right and center. They’ll nibble at RBR’s heels and take away valuable points, while nobody will genuinely be close to Merc’s heels — especially towards the end of the year when Renault and Ferrari lumps start letting go because they’ve been pushed far harder than Merc’s all year.

        Merc’s lead is here to stay because they have the best engine on the grid, and their car and engine were designed for each other. The only other teams who will have a realistic chance of catching them are the other Merc teams, because they too have the best engine on the grid — it just wasn’t designed specifically for their cars. And realistically, they don’t have a chance of catching up to Merc, either; all of them were already struggling before this year. (5th, 6th, and 9th in the WCC, respectively.)

        1. The engines were homoglated in the V8 era, yet the engine performance did still change, as manufacturers like Renault could claim the development was for “reliability” purposes.

      2. I disagree entirely. I started watching F1 in 2011 and have watched ten minutes each of three grands prix since. That makes me an expert on everything F1, and I know better than anyone else what is good for F1 and what is not. Furthermore, I demand that F1 change to satisfy my desire for instant gratification, since I’m more important than any other viewer.

        DRS should be available on every straight. Watching one driver breeze past another halfway down a straight, having known with 100% certainty that that was exactly what was going to happen as soon as he got a sniff of the exhaust of the guy in front is WAY more exciting than watching one driver attack and another defend for several laps before finally making it past with a death-defying balls-to-the-wall out-braking manoever.

        F1 needs to bring back V12 naturally aspirated engines with no torque. Loud high-pitched screams and cars glued to the road like they’re on rails is WAY more interesting than lower-pitched and quieter engine noises and drivers fighting to keep the car under control with the back end sliding about like it’s having its own personal race with the front.

        And there should be more downforce, ideally ground effect and skirts and a dirty great big fan on the back that wouldn’t look out of place on a 747. Cars should get faster every year, and never be reigned in by new regulations, until they reach the point where drivers can no longer remain conscious due to excessive lateral G while cornering. That way there would be more blood and guts. It’ll give the smaller teams a chance too, since everyone capable of scoring points on merit will be dead 10 laps into the first race of the season.

        Oh and there should be go-faster stripes built into the track which instantly accelerate the car to 350mph, like in Wip3out. With magnets or something. And drivers should be able to release clouds of smoke and oil slicks to confound the driver behind, and have machine guns in the front of the car, like in Spyhunter.

          1. hahaha love it you would think F1 is suppose to be like a video game,
            people are so far disconnected about how F1 works they cant see the big picture and what its really about….
            i for one love seeing someone else at the front, this happens,
            RB have had it too easy and now someone else has managed to take the lead’ get over it….

  2. Jules Bianchi has scored more points on his licence then his world championship points total.

    Before the start of this season the last two half points races were Australia 1991 and Malaysia 2009, interestingly both those races this season have been half points

    Toyota and BMW haven’t scored a point since 2009

    Felipe Massa finished a race for a non Ferrari powered car for the first time

    Max Chilton finished another race

    1. Toyota and BMW haven’t scored a point since 2009

      Alfa Romeo haven’t scored a point since 1984

      1. Alfa Romeo haven’t scored a point since 1984

        Nice stat that

        1. Tyrell haven’t scored a point since the 1997 Monaco GP either @david-a

          1. @aledinho @f199player @david-a
            Don’t think I’ve seen BRM score for quite some time, either…

          2. Actually Tyrell wrapped up a nice one-two with hamilton and britney just now.
            Seriously, i don’t get why people rejoice in Mercedes’ historic feat whilst bashing Enstone for using the Lotus name just two or three years ago. I mean its not like Mercedes are building the Car in their factory or with their engineers or anything–they are just a new title sponsor for brawn. i mean honda. i mean BAR. i mean Tyrell…

          3. I’m bashing Enstone for using the Lotus name now. The difference is that Mercedes actually own the team. If they want changes in management, they’ll happen.

      2. Lancia hasn’t scored a point since 1955.

    2. half points?

      1. Because Abu Dhabi is the only full point race

    3. Kyle (@hammerheadgb)
      31st March 2014, 12:51

      BMW haven’t scored a point since 2009

      Not strictly true! “BMW Sauber” raced in 2010 and scored points (the team only legally changed its name in the 2010-11 offseason so as not to compromise their right to the entry slot in the 2010 season).

      1. Ok, The BMW works team haven’t scored since 2009

    4. Toyota and BMW haven’t scored a point since 2009

      Jeez! these guys have had a dry spell…..

      1. Doesn’t stop them putting their KERS technology to good use:
        Driving Slow Has Never Felt So Fast – BMW UK

    5. It’s the first time in history of F1 that half points have been awarded for two consecutive races.

  3. Despite all the reliability worries, Maldonado is the only driver to have retired in both races. However, McLaren and Ferrari are the only teams to have both cars finish both races.

    1. Also, Kvyat is the only Renault-engined driver to have finished both races.

      Chance of engines finishing so far –
      Renault – 50%
      Ferrari – 75% (Including Bianchi in Australia, as he was running at the finish)
      Mercedes – 81.25%

    2. …..McLaren and Ferrari are the only teams to have both cars finish both races….and have been easily the best at underperforming at each track!!!! #:)

  4. I honestly think that Hamilton is one of the best drivers in this era of F1. His pace is incredible and his race-craft is superb. He has really matured as a driver since his notable dip in form between 2009-11 and I think that he’s finally managed to fully harness the pace we saw in his debut season. Since 2012 I think he has been consistently impressive even if he hasn’t had the machinery to fully deliver.

    In my opinion it would be a crime for him not to win another world championship (along with Alonso, it must be said) but the grid is so competitive (in terms of the talent of the drivers) it’s sadly not unthinkable. It’s almost a pity because if the playing field was more level we could be treated with some of the most exciting races ever seen in F1. I mean there’s not only Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton, but also a whole host of incredibly talented drivers in the mix. Even the pay-drivers are damn good, by and large. But that’s F1 I guess – the formula lends itself to dominance by the big teams.

    1. In the spirit of last season: Ham is a mediocre driver simply driving the fastest car in the field :).

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        31st March 2014, 14:11

        @rcorporon that is mny “moral” choice for COTD!!! Yeah I remember many times many people said that about Sebastian. Now Hamilton has the fastest car, and we will read tons of comments praising him for daring to change teams not knowing if he was going to win again, etc.

      2. @rcorporon It beats me how you could call Hamilton mediocre. What more does he have to prove to you ? He has had a lot of car related problems at Mclaren and some tyre problems at Mercedes . In fact a lot of people including Helmut Marko , Niki Lauda believed that the Red Bull was actually faster in Hungary 2013 where he won . Same goes for Austin 2012 . He has so far beaten all his teammates comprehensively . So you just see something in the spirit of last season and make out report cards on that ? So would you say that since Fernando has not won a single title since 2006 , that he is too old or he is just not that much compared to Vettel ? Making comparisons without a reasonable head to head in the same car is baseless. I guess the whole field of drivers , engineers and everyone involved in all the other teams is just mediocre in your eyes as they were nowhere near the Red Bulls in the spirit of last season.

        1. Your sarcasm meter needs adjusting.

          1. @rcorporon :-) and ;-) makes a huge difference . My apologies .

          2. He even said in the spirit of last season. Any kind of smiley with a statement like that is indicative of sarcasm.

        2. Good points Akshay. I cannot agree with @corporon on this one – in my mind, HAM is very talented and drives to win……I am not sure where the mediocrity aspect has been observed. McLaren have become a mediocre team and HAM suffered as a result of that for a few years. BBC’s Andrew Benson always has been critical of HAM but yesterday even he has been effusive in his praise of HAM. It is alright for all of us to have an opinion about HAM, but this article shows clearly why HAM is special – 8 wire to wire wins is pretty amazing.

          1. @corporon is just being sarcastic.
            He is referring to the prevalent theme in the last couple years where people would say Sebastian Vettel is a mediocre driver who just happens to drive a great car (RBR 10-13).
            Since Hamilton is driving the best car, by that logic he would be just another mediocre driver.
            When in reality both are great drivers.

          2. @anilsk2013 I agree 100%. I was joking around.

        3. I think he was parodying what everyone was saying about Vettel last year @anilsk2013 @hamilfan

          Nevertheless, Hamilton is a brilliant driver

          1. @frankjaeger Exactly… seems that not everybody got the joke :(.

        4. He has so far beaten all his teammates comprehensively

          All team mates? Really?

        5. My apologies for not catching on @Corporon. Thank all for clarifying.

        6. He didn’t comprehensively beat Button at Mclaren…

      3. Lol, now that’s funny!

      4. Then why wasn’t Rosberg, the “thinking driver” faster? I mean, Rosberg is better at managing his tires, his fuel, his car, his race, his relationships, his dog, his private jet and his apartment in Monaco.

    2. You’re so right!

      Can’t wait for Seb to come join Merc, so Lewis can put him in his place.

      Unlike Seb, Lewis is NOT AFRAID of him.

      1. @jason12 When was Seb afraid of Lewis? Vettel has no reason to fear any driver. Your comment is as cruel as it is unfounded. Please be nice.

        1. @curmudgeon
          It was made public knowledge that Seb contributed to stopping Lewis from joining RBR.

          I can only attribute that to fear of being out-classed.

          You’ll think I’m being cruel when I say Vettel is on Rosberg level. But that’s my genuine assessment of their driving capabilities.
          Of course Rosberg never had the chance of driving a dominant Redbull.

          1. @jason12

            It was made public knowledge that Seb contributed to stopping Lewis from joining RBR.

            Was that ever confirmed? I remember the speculations, but other then that…

          2. It was made public knowledge speculation by Hamilton fans that Seb contributed to stopping Lewis from joining RBR.

            Corrected that for you.

          3. @jason12

            Alonso was blocked as well by Vettel. But that was a rumour as well.

            I believe Alonso said that he would love to have Vettel as a teammate… but these were all psychological games during the 2012 season I think.

            I really doubt after winning 4 WDCs, Vettel would want to risk putting his reputation at stake against the likes of Alonso, Hamilton or even the Hulk. It’s actually funny that Alonso and Hamilton would have nothing to lose when going up against a 4 time WDC, but Vettel would have a lot at stake if he didn’t come out on top.

            I honestly pray for Vettel to be teamed up against one of them though

          4. @jason12

            You’ll think I’m being cruel when I say Vettel is on Rosberg level. But that’s my genuine assessment of their driving capabilities.

            Rosberg finished just 18 points behind Hamilton last season, despite having more mechanical retirements.

            Also, Rosberg actually lost to Mark Webber in the same car.

      2. @jason12

        That probably explains Vettel has been to every single Race of Champions he could have been to going toe to toe with various well respected multiple champions and we haven’t seen Hamilton once. Because Hamilton isn’t afraid of anybody…

        But yeah, you keep beating down on Vettel for no good reason other than you hating on his winning streak. Very mature.

        Also, I remember what was said when Button announced he would join Hamilton at McLaren. “Button is going to be destroyed”, “Button is no match for Hamilton” and various other confident statements regarding Hamilton’s unrivaled brilliance behind a wheel. 3 years in the same car and Button score more points AND beat him very convincingly in 2011. And that was just Button.

        1. You’ve got to be kidding me with giving us all a points comparison between Button and Hamilton from their time at McLaren. The car let Hamilton down more than he let the team down. Just as last season at Mercedes, Nico won 2 races and Lewis 1 but again, the car let Lewis down on several occasions and the tires exploded on another occasion, gifting victory to Nico. Button was never the class of Hamilton, the qualifying results showed that. Hamilton led many races in that Mclaren convincingly, only to end up a smoking heap on the side of the track due to failure of the car. For anyone to even suggest Button is in the same class is asinine. Hamilton may be the most talented driver in F1 today, and just like every other driver in the field, he needs luck, a good car, and a quality team to win. Hamilton, Alonso, Kimi, etc. would have multiple titles if they had the fortune to drive the Red Bull in the last few years just as Vettel did. That is no disrespect to Vettel, but I’m simply saying those guys are just as talented. Alonso is still a dominant driver, he just isn’t being given a car with which to win. It’s not as if his skills have regressed.

          1. *edit

            Perhaps if they were team mates driving the same car in the same team. How’d that be? What would the excuses be then?

            Should read – Perhaps if they were team mates driving the same car in the same team for 10 years. How’d that be? What would the excuses be then?

          2. @medman

            Nico won 2 races and Lewis 1 but again, the car let Lewis down on several occasions and the tires exploded on another occasion, gifting victory to Nico.

            Aside from Mercedes’ 2013 tyre woes (which affected Rosberg as well), it was pretty much that one time in Silverstone, and a gearbox penalty in Bahrain that the car let LH down. Rosberg had 3 mechanical race retirements.

          3. @medman
            I think the guys on this blog already know everything you’re saying, but they’ll be damned to accept it……

          4. @medman

            Completely missed the point there. My point is that some are still glorifying Hamilton saying he’s unbeatable. He isn’t. Rosberg can take the fight to him as we’ve seen last year. Button can beat him over an entire season as we’ve seen in 2011. And in 2011 the difference between Button and Hamilton was simply Button outperforming Hamilton.
            Hamilton may be the most talented on the grid but we’ll never know because this is F1. It’s always a team effort.

            @jason12

            No reply to my comment? Funny that. Although, not very surprising.

        2. Hamilton was the man for more seasons, despite his terrible luck, particularly in 2012.

      3. @jason12
        You agree with a comment then post your own ramblings which go against the spirit of the original post?

        1. I disagree with you simply because it seems Lewis has had more misfortune when leading races, while Nico’s retirements have not cost him race victories and huge points, unlike Hamilton.

          1. @medman LH had that one misfortune while leading a race, but the smller points NR lost from 3 races would roughly match what Hamilton lost at Silverstone. Thus the small 18 point gap between them at the end of 2013 was clearly representative of how close they were.

    3. What dip in form was that? In 2011, yes. In 2009 and 2010? Years in which he did well with an initially terrible car and was arguably the best driver on the grid respectively?

      1. @matt90

        The beginning of 2009 wasn’t exactly impressive. Neither was the end to his 2010 season. Mistakes in Monza and Singapore ’10 cost him a lot of points, maybe even the championship.
        But then, Vettel and Alonso made multiple mistakes that season as well.

        1. The very beginning of 2009 was incredibly impressive. The car was at it’s worst, and were it not for off-track stupidity (his and the team’s) he would have finished 3rd. After that? The car was so hopeless that I doubt anybody could have been seen to be impressive.

          And exactly, Hamilton made as many or fewer mistakes than anybody else that season. He was certainly somewhat unfortunate how the contact with Webber turned out- it was a bit of a racing incident which both drivers could have done more to avoid (Hamilton cut across a bit too much and Webber was running too deep considering he was on the inside), and the damage was unfortunately severe.

          Just watching it back, it was reminiscent of Hakkinen using the backmarker against Schumacher up until they hit one another.

    4. I believe Hamilton will win the drivers championship this season and Mercedes will walk the constructors. The only thing to stand in Hamilton’s way is car failure or an injury removing him from the seat. He is a better qualifier than Nico, and I believe a better racer as well. So considering everything in balance, this will be his best chance by far to win the title since his last in 08′.

  5. These stats are interesting!

    Out of the top 10 all time winners (Hamilton moving into 11th) only one has won less than 2 world titles (Mansell). Now I know I’m stating the obvious kinda (to win the championship you need to win races = multiple champions will win more races and be higher up the list) but I think the fact tham Hamilton is now one win from entering the top 10 (who would bet against Him winning in Bahrain next weekend) despite arguably never having the outright fastest car for a season (2007/8 was very close with Ferrari and seemed to swing back and forth between races) is a great achievement. I would say the same for Alonso too. 05/06 Good car, 07/10/ car that was capable of wins if not the outright fastest.

    Surprising that Hamilton has only ever had 14 fastest laps but i think this also highlights his sub-par machinery.

    Wonder what everyone else thinks of that? i know there are more races now but since the 80s there have always been 15-20 races each season and the top 10 stats for winners/poles etc have the top drivers from the 80s right in there (often seen as the golden generation of f1)

    1. @aledinho I wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s had sub-par machinery, he’s had a winning car every year….I guess he made the difference in 2009 only, but apart from that, I don’t see how he has had to contend with sub-par machinery to the tune of an Alonso, for example…

      1. @wsrgo my point was that Hamilton has still won a couple of races every year despite neevr having a dominant car. Compare that to say a Damon Hill who’s just outside the top 10 in all time wins but did all his winning over 4 seasons.

        Sub par was probably too strong a word – but Hamilton has never had a car that was capable of winning every grand prix, he’s always had the 2nd/3rd best car.

      2. @wsrgo If by Alonso ins sub-par machinery you are talking about his run in Minardi I can understand outside of that he is in the same boat as Lewis.

        1. @magillagorilla I agree with that too. Both had very similar experience since 07 really. Always been in cars there or thereabouts, never had THE car everyone wanted to be in, therefore restricting their chances of wins.

        2. @magillagorilla Alonso’s 2003 and 2004 Renaults can be compared to Hamilton’s 2009 McLaren at best. The 2005 and 2006 Renaults weren’t the outright fastest cars in the field for most of the season, probably similar to Hamilton’s 2008 and to some extent, 2012. In 2007, both he and Hamilton had the same car. In 2010, the cars were pretty similar, Ferrari had higher highs, but lower lows. The 2011 McLaren and the 2013 Mercedes were better packages than Alonso’s respective cars that year. All this, not counting 2001.
          Not to forget Alonso’s 2012 Ferrari which was 3rd fastest at best, back of the midfield at worst.

      3. You are aware the one year Alonso was in the same chassis, Lewis had the better season and nearly won the championship……as a rookie. So why compare machinery when those results speak for themselves? Hamilton is as talented as anyone in F1, he’s had bad luck at times with reliability of the car just as Raikkonen had when he raced for McLaren. The McLaren was a dog for the last few seasons, and the direction of the team did not exactly inspire confidence with Whitmarsh showing a severe lack of leadership. So Lewis had a competitive car for a few years, then he didn’t.

        1. So Lewis had a competitive car for a few years, then he didn’t.

          Yes, cause no other McLaren driver in the last 5 years has finished any higher than 4th in the championship have they?

          Oh wait…

    2. And just think…Lewis Hamilton is a Toyota-staying-out-on-dry-tyres-in-the-rain mistake away from having ZERO driver’s championships. If not for Timo Glock staying on dry tyres in Brazil in 2008, there’s a very good chance that Felipe Massa would’ve actually won that championship. Instead, we saw a Toyota lose it in the last turn, and we were treated to one of the most simultaneously funny/sad videos you’ll ever see (Massa’s dad celebrating before learning Lewis actually won the championship).

      Personally, I really like Lewis. I actually credit his drive in 2008 with really winning me over to F1. I remember watching the Brazilian Grand Prix with my Dad in ’08, and he asked me if McLaren owned some stake in Toyota or if they just offered Glock several thousands fo dollars to move over so Lewis could claim the driver’s championship.

      1. and you still think that to this day!

      2. @bdunc82

        I’d just like to correct that Glock not pitting for wet tyres was what even gave Massa hope of winning the WDC… he was running in 4th before the rain came and eventually got overtaken by Vettel and Hamilton at the last corner to finish 6th, handing the crucial 5th place to Hamilton… had he pitted for wet tyres earlier on he would have never been ahead of them to begin with and we would not have had such a dramatic twist of events.

        1. @woshidavid95 – I came here to say exactly that. Cheers.

      3. “And just think…Lewis Hamilton is a Toyota-staying-out-on-dry-tyres-in-the-rain mistake away from having ZERO driver’s championships.”

        Not only is that factually incorrect, in that it was Glock taking a risk and staying out on drys that gave him a chance in the first place, had he pitted for wets he would never have been in the mix, but its also naieve and a bit stupid. A championship is won/lost over the course of a season. So, you can say Lewis was one very dodgy-post-race-stewards-decison-away from winning the championship with races to spare, had they not robbed him of 10 clear points in Spa, and gave an extra 2 to his nearest title rival by way of post-race promotion, in a race where he was nowhere to be seen by the front runners.

        1. Indeed that was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen; re-writing the rules to suit the stewards decision is about as low as it gets.

          It was a bad tyre decision in the Chinese GP that cost Hamilton the 2007 title.

      4. I will join the chorus of people saying that Glock actually did better by staying out than he would have done otherwise. No mistake.

      5. Besides the obvious Glock “mistake” not being a mistake, there’s also the fact that Lewis lost a championship because of team and car problems as well: The team kept him out too long on worn tires, which (probably) cost him the win in China? and last race was lost due to a gear box problem. If one of those hadn’t happened, he would probably have won the WDC in his very first year.

      6. @bdunc82

        Lewis Hamilton is a Toyota-staying-out-on-dry-tyres-in-the-rain mistake away from having ZERO driver’s championships. If not for Timo Glock staying on dry tyres in Brazil in 2008, there’s a very good chance that Felipe Massa would’ve actually won that championship.

        No he’s not. If Glock hadn’t stayed out on slicks he would not have been in front of Hamilton to begin with, so Hamilton would have still finished fifth only without the last-lap drama.

        https://www.racefans.net/2008/11/04/2008-brazilian-grand-prix-analysis/

        1. Indeed @keithcollantine , and wouldn’t that have been dull! Would have robbed us of your infamous “it’s all over” line in the live commentary!

      7. Ok. You could say the same about several F1 drivers who have won titles throughout F1 history. You could say the same about Kimi who seriously lucked up into a title over Hamilton and Alonso in 07′. And you’re conveniently forgetting the rest of that year, including spa being gifted to Massa when he didn’t drive a race deserving of a win. You could also site China where the team left him out on tires so long he couldn’t manage pit lane and ended up stuck in the gravel. The bottom line is a championship is a championship.

      8. Wait– Glock could have pit without losing track position? How’s that work again? I know rules have changed since 2008, but I wasn’t aware of the “instant tire change” rule. Glad they dropped it.

    3. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      31st March 2014, 14:53

      @aledinho the fact that there are more “modern” drivers equalling breaking the ’80s records is a clear prove of modern reliability. In the past you needed to be a great driver AND to be lucky enough to have your car finish the race. So more reliability plus more races gives the current guys better chances to break records. I’m not saying Vettel, Alonso or Hamilton aren’t great, but their records would have taken more time to come in the 80s.

      1. Not to mention that we have more races in a season nowadays than in the past!

        1. by a couple per season… the norm in the 80s was about 16…now its just under 20.

          @omarr-pepper yeah reliability is a factor but how do you explain the pole positions stats?

          I’ve barely missed a race in almost 20 years and the field now is stronger than it’s ever been since I watched (In my opinion) . If anything the difference between cars were much bigger back then (The 80’s early 90’s) so you could argue winning a grand prix is a much harder task these days.

          I just found it interesting, In my opinion Hamilton is the best driver Britain have produced in decades and therefore I expect him to eventually end up quite high up these lists so It’s only natural that the other greats of his era are up there too; Vettel and Alonso.

      2. @omarr-pepper spot on !! If only Mr.senna senior had been……..

      3. why don’t you try doing percentages? if he started 100 races, and if he winned, i dunno, 23, then he has 23% of winning percentage. If fangio started 52 races and won 24, then he has 46% of success. I don’t find it as hard. Ok, maybe the Fangio is a little extreme (not finishing a race may mean the driver was dead :D)

    4. Interesting assessment @aledinho

  6. Hamil is the 23rd driver achieved a ‘grand slam

  7. Hamilton remains the only driver in history to have a pole and a win in every season he has competed

    1. Now that’s a stat

    2. if you only count full seasons, Vettel has done that as well as he only didn’t manage a pole and win in his half season in 2007

    3. Every team mate Hamilton had in those years also won races.
      That only means Hamilton has always had a competitive car. He started in a top team and has always been in a top team.

      Most other drivers started at the bottom, so they had no chances of winning races. If you consider full seasons, Vettel has also done that

      1. I don’t know about that @Brunes, I believe Kova didn’t win in 2009.

      2. Every team mate Hamilton had in those years also won races.

        With the exception of Kovalinen in 2009

        1. @tango @Sumedh

          Okay, in 7 years only in 2009 did his team mate not win a race.

          that still shows his has had a car capable of winning races since he started in F1.
          Look at what Alonso, Button, Senna etc were driving before they had their first win. Hamilton jumped in a competitive car right away. I am not taking away his hard work, just this record does not include what other went through before their first win.

          Lets check how drivers did since their first win. How many years in a row did a driver win a race from the time he won his first race?

          @keithcollantine

          1. I don’t understand. I mean, besides Kova, who got panned by Ham, you yourself are saying that he has had great team mates (Alonso, Button, Rosberg). And all in all, winning multiple times in a debut season is always great, because it means you actually beat your team mate (and in top teams, they generally are great). Being a rookie in a top team isn’t any easier than in a bad team. I believe getting one win in every season entered is a great achievment, regardless of where you stand. Staying in top teams is also quite difficult. So I wouldn’t diminish in any way Hamilton’s streak.

  8. First 1-2 for the Brackley-based team since Monza in 2009.

    Perez’ 2nd DNS, and the first Formula One race he has failed to be classified in since 2012. First DNS for Force India in its current guise.

    Bottas’ 2nd consecutive points finish. A personal best.

    Max Chilton has as many pole positions in a turbo-powered F1 car as Sebastian Vettel.

    First double retirement for Sauber since Monza 2011.

    Kobayashi has already scored a better result than Pic or van der Garde managed last season, with 13th.

    Kvyat now holds the record for the longest points scoring streak from the start of a season for a Toro Rosso driver. (Bourdais finished 10th in Malaysia in 2009, but that was the old system).

    Kevin Magnussen scored as many points towards the championship as he did on his license.

    Worst classified finish for Raikkonen since China, 2012.

    Fernando Alonso has not had a podium in the first two races for the first time since 2011. He waited until the fourth round in that year for his first.

    This is the 6th time where Lewis Hamilton has won a race where he failed to finish in the previous race. He has also scored points in every single Malaysian Grand Prix that he has raced in, but this is his first win there.

    First double points finish for Williams since USA in 2012.

    1. Max Chilton has as many pole positions in a turbo-powered F1 car as Sebastian Vettel.

      Great stat haha!

      1. I guess he has more finishes ……. oops ( with kimi accent )

    2. Max Chilton is tied with Alonso for pole positions in 2013!!

  9. I have found some interesting stats
    – Maldonado did not manage to finish the first two races of the season in his f1 carreer yet
    – Force India and Toro Rosso had their best first two races of the season ever
    – For the second year in a row the first two qualifying sessions of the season have been driven in wet conditions and the races in dry conditions
    – With 20 points in two races, Williams have scored 4 times as much points as they did in the whole of last season
    – Kevin Magnussen has outqualified his team mate two times in two GP’s. His father Jan has also outqualified his team mate two times, but it took him his whole carreer (25 GP’s) to achieve that.
    – Lewis Hamilton’s win was the second win for a driver with number 44. The first one was for Maurice Trintignant in a Ferrari in 1955
    – Fernando Alonso qualified on every position from 1 to 22 except for 14. The number he has chosen this year.
    The applies to Jenson Button a he qualified on every position from 1 to 21 but never qualified 22nd, also his driver number

    1. Love that last stat. Well done.

  10. Still no finishes for Pastor Maldonado in Australia and Malaysia in 4 attempts. I don’t know why but this fact always surprise me each year…

  11. Judging by Hamilton’s historic win/DNF pattern. He will retire or crash out in Bahrain.

  12. Here’s a question for you all.
    When was the last race a driver (other than Vettel) dominated from start to finish?

    I know Hamilton won the Hungary race last year from pole, but his winning margin was ‘only’ 10 seconds and he didnt get fastest lap.

    1. I would say the last race we saw that was Australia, where Rosberg romped away at the start and was never under threat during the race @sato113

      1. I suppose that depends if sato113 meant the race only or the whole weekend.

      2. @bascb @matt90 silly me. i meant to say before this season. so discounting rosberg (even rosberg didnt start from pole bear in mind.)

        @blockwall2 Alonso at singapore in 2010 is OK but he was pressured by Vettel ALL race. I’m looking for a dominating driver under no pressure whatsoever from starting from Pole.

    2. Agree with @bascb

      If you are looking for the last non-Vettel Grand Slam, it was Fernando Alonso at the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix

  13. Why am I surprised by these two records :

    1. First ‘grand slam’

    2. This was Mercedes’ sixth one-two and the first for a team other than Red Bull since Ferrari finished first and second in the 2010 German Grand Prix.

    1. Mercedes AMG Petronas have so far only won races in which they’ve had a car starting from pole position.

  14. It’s telling that there are so few records left on the table post-Schumacher that they are being won now because Schumacher came back and spent enough time racing to degrade his statistical legacy in certain ways.

    Anyway, I’m thinking even odds on Hamilton surpassing Vettel in pole positions by the end of the year.

    1. He’d need 13 more poles than Vettel in the remaining 17 races to do that..possible but I’d say unlikely!

      1. What’s the record for most poles in 1 season? Presumably he’d have to break that record as well to pass Vettel.

        1. Most poles in one season: 15 poles (out of 19), Vettel, 2011.
          Followed by Mansell with 14 (out of 16). I’m sure you can guess the year. This is also the highest pole percentage in one season.
          Then Senna who scored 13 poles (out of 16) in 1988, 1989, and Prost the same in 1993.

  15. Thnx Keith putting such nice facts together.
    Wet or Dry HAM is the best !!

  16. – Jean-Eric Vergne is a real rain master
    All of his 5 Q3 apperances in his whole carreer were in wet qualifying sessions
    – Ferrari is still stretching it’s record for consecutively scoring points. From Germany 2010 onwards they scored points in 69 Consecutive GP’s
    – Kevin Magnussen lost his record of most points scored on average per GP. Now Vettel holds the record again with 12 points per GP. Magnussen is second with 10
    – This was the 100th time Vettel finished a GP. That’s 82% of all the GP’s he has driven
    – Nico Rosberg leads the championship for 2 races in a row now. The last time a non-world champion was in the lead of the championship was Mark Webber in the 2010 Japanese GP
    – Marcus Ericsson is the first Swedish driver to finish a GP since Stefan Johansson scored a third place at the 1989 Portugese GP in his Onyx

  17. Well done Hamilton! Nice to see him have an easy win for the first time in I don’t know how long.

  18. First of all, congratulations to Hamilton’s 1st Grand Chelem.

    But, I think the praises on Hamilton is way over hyped.

    1. How?

      I would hype it up anyway 17 seconds is 17 seconds very rare that gap. But this is 1st race in 2014 of these rules and clearly Ham is quicker and bye a long way.

      Hope Ham is reliable and shuts all the critics up. The only guy on grid who fears no 1.

      1. The only guy on grid who fears no 1.

        He fears the guy with #1 on his car?

        1. @David-A

          Ha ha you see Malaysia Vettel was so dominant over his teammate wasnt he lol. Let me think Ham has had 2WC and Ros as teammates who as Seb had. Funny how Ham was literally begging to go to Red Bull aswell.

          1. @Dan
            Webber isn’t far off Button, yet Vettel beat his teammate far more convincingly than Hamilton did.

  19. After not leading the championship in his entire career, Nico Rosberg has now lead the WDC for two consecutive rounds.

    This is the first 1-2 finish by a team other than Red Bull since Germany 2010.

    1. And Max Chilton has as many victories in turbo-powered cars as Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso combined.

      1. Could’ve added in Raikkonen and Button there as well for extra drama!

  20. Can somebody post the how much fuel each car has used?

    1. Ham 91.56%
      Ros 95.08%
      Vet 95.66%
      Alo 94.80%
      Hul 92.66%
      But 94.67%
      Mas 88.46%
      Bot 89.87%
      Mag 94.36%
      Kvt 93.70%

  21. What’s the record for the most penalties handed out in a race weekend? This race must come pretty close.

  22. I think I’ve noticed a small error @keithcollantine:

    Valtteri Bottas became the fist driver to receive penalty points on his licence on Sunday

    I believe that should say Saturday – he received them after qualifying if I’m not mistaken. Great article as always though!

  23. First circuit at which Rosberg has been on the podium twice without winning.

    First time Vettel has scored but not won in Malaysia.

    First time since Abu Dhabi 2012 that no German driver officially led a lap.

    And some from magnetimarelli.com:

    21st time that Hamilton & Vettel have shared the front row – same as Mansell & Senna.

    Ferrari have gone 12 months without a front-row start.

    First time 2 Mercedes have finished on the podium since Italy 1955, and the first time they have managed back-to-back wins since then.

    The last 3 races have all had all their laps led by a different single driver (Vettel in Brazil, Rosberg in Australia, Hamilton in Malaysia – curiously none of them actually led the whole race). This also happened in Japan 1977 – Brazil 1978 and Australia 1987 – San Marino 1988.

    First time since 2006 that the first 2 races were won by team-mates.

    Mercedes have managed both poles, both wins, both fastest laps, and every lap in the lead in the first 2 races of 2014. Last team to manage this: McLaren in 1998 (a season in which a certain multiple world champion from Germany helped ensure that the team didn’t run away with the title).

    First time that Hamilton, Rosberg, and Vettel have shared the podium.

    4 years since Alonso last had a mechanical retirement.

  24. For those saying Hamilton has been unlucky with machinery, I would like to point out that Hamilton did not suffer a mechanical-related terminal reliability failure for the first 51 races of his career. The 2009 Abu Dhabi GP was the first time such a thing befell him. His move to Mercedes in 2013 was expected to be a backwards step initially, before being a better move in the long run, looking at the new engine rules. But who would have expected McLaren to have such a bad year in 2013? Mercedes that year were one of the fastest cars in terms of a single lap, their race pace improved mid season too, their chances were hurt by the 2012 tyres returning and tyre swapping being shelved.
    Yes, he’s never had a car which has been dominant uptil now. But to say he has had bad luck with machinery is plain wrong. Having said that, I believe it would be great if he could add another title to his one in 2008, I feel he’s justly deserving of two championship titles in the very least.

    1. Hahaha in 2007 he lost the title due to a car glitch unless you really believe it was his mistake.

      1. Damonw –
        It was his mistake to slide off into the gravel in China and go off road battling Alonso in Brazil.

        But a title is won over the course of a season, whereby Raikkonen won it with more race wins and despite more mechanical failures than either Hamilton or Alonso.

  25. Doesn’t the author say M.Schumacher won in 15 seasons of his first 15 seasons. But prior to that he says of Lewis,

    This was his eighth win in as many years of racing in F1 – no other driver with a career that long has won a race in every season.

    1. Schumacher’s career was longer than 15 seasons and he didn’t win a race in every year, as also noted in the article.

  26. I don’t really have time to check, but when was the last time the national anthem of all the drivers on the podium was played (as this time the German anthem for the constructors happened to fit Rosberg and Vettel)?

    1. That’s an interesting one and also one I don’t know the answer to. The most likely scenario currently would probably be with Hamilton winning and then any two of Vettel, Button, Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Sutil or Chilton making up the podium (this didn’t happen when Hamilton won last year so assume last case probably no later than 2012).

      It could also happen with Bottas winning and any two of Raikkonen, Button, Hamilton and Chilton filling the steps or Magnussen along with Button, Hamilton or Chilton.

      Least likely scenario is probably Chilton winning with any two of Kvyat, Hamilton or Button behind.

      Thinking about most likely combinations (Mainly Germans, Brits and Italians) the latest I can find is 1999 Hungarian GP which Hakkinen won ahead of two Brits (he also did so at 1998 Japanese GP). In 1997 Frentzen won ahead of a Brit and German in a Williams and in 1996 Villeneuve beat two Brits in a Williams.

      The lack of Austrian, French and Italian drivers during periods of dominance by Red Bull, Renault and Ferrari has made it much harder post-millennium but there may well be a combination I’ve not thought of.

  27. A few more things I’ve noticed:

    Mercedes are the first team since Renault in 2006 to win the first two races with both its drivers.
    This is the worst start to a season for the “Enstone-based team” (Lotus) since 2001 where, under the Benetton name, it didn’t score points until the third race of the season. If they fail to score in Bahrain, they will have had their worst start to the season since their Toleman days.

    And some more fluffy facts about the championship standings:

    Vettel is only the 3rd highest-ranked German.
    Chilton is the highest ranked out of the “new team” drivers.
    Bottas is the top-scoring Finn.
    The most lowly ranked driver in this year’s championship is a Red Bull driver, with Ricciardo scoring 1 retirement and 1 disqualification.

  28. Kudos to Lewis for the 8th consecutive year winning at least one race, but I wouldn’t consider it a record for the longest streak in a career while his career is ongoing. If he fails to win a race next year (or the year after), it becomes less than meaningless as he’s far behind Schumacher in years with a victory to “start” a career.

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