Goodbye Virgin, hello Marussia

Last week the 2012 F1 driver biographies were brought up-to-date for the new season and now the corresponding team information pages have been overhauled too.

Like the driver pages these now including interactive charts showing the teams’ performance in F1, revised histories of the team, and in some cases a selection of featured F1 Fanatic articles.

Each team page also has an up-to-date list of every driver that started a Grand Prix for them.

The names of prominent members of staff have also been reviewed. There are likely to be further changes announced for these between now and the start of the new season.

And, as with the driver pages, you can also find out which F1 Fanatics support which teams.

The 2012 season will see three changes in team names. Lotus have become Caterham and Renault have taken over the Lotus name. Virgin has become Marussia.

You can find the updated information pages here:

2012 F1 team statistics

Summary information on each of the 2012 teams plus the two former teams:

2012 F1 teams’ championship positions

Here are the constructors’ championship positions achieved by every team since the title was inaugurated in 1958.

You can use the controls below to hide or show different teams:

2012 F1 teams’ race wins

Here are how many races each team won in each season they competed:

2012 F1 teams’ pole positions

Here are how many pole positions each team set in each season they competed.

Last year Red Bull set a new record for the most pole positions achieved by a team in a single season:

More information on the 2012 F1 season.

2012 F1 season

• Jerez test day three in pictures
• Mercedes stay on top in Jerez test
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day three – Jerez
• Schumacher quickest on day two of test as Webber leads 2012 runners
• Jerez test day two in 100 pictures
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day two – Jerez
• Raikkonen leads Di Resta on first day of Jerez test
• Red Bull RB8 seen for first time as Jerez test begins
• Williams FW34 launch: First pictures of their 2012 F1 car
• Live: 2012 F1 testing day one - Jerez

Image © Renault/LAT

Nigel Mansell, Williams, Monaco, 1992

Sebastian Vettel equalled Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 pole positions in a single season in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

But while Mansell exerted a crushing superiority over his rivals at the wheel of his Williams, Vettel’s advantage has been far smaller.

And, as this data shows, Vettel’s rivals have got closer throughout the season.

14 pole positions in one season

This graph shows how far ahead of second place each driver was (in second) for each of their 14 pole positions:

Clearly Mansell’s advantage over his rival’s was usually larger than Vettel’s. On average he was 0.9s faster than second place. Vettel’s advantage was a much smaller 0.3s.

Mansell’s margin of superiority ballooned to daunting proportions at times. At Silverstone he was nearly two seconds quicker than his team mate and 2.7s faster than the next quickest car, the McLaren of Ayrton Senna.

At Spa Mansell took pole by the greatest margin of the season – 2.198s. Vettel’s largest advantage in real terms was much smaller – 0.778s, less than Mansell’s average margin as a pole sitter.

That high-water mark for Vettel came in the first race of the season at Melbourne. Since then his superiority in qualifying has been gradually eroded. Some of his most recent pole positions have been achieved by very slim margins – 0.141s in Abu Dhabi and 0.009s in Japan.

In Korea Red Bull were beaten to pole position for the first time the year and, as was the case for Mansell, it was a McLaren that spoiled the streak – this time one driven by Lewis Hamilton.

The cars: FW14B vs RB7

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Suzuka, 2011

Both drivers had Renault-powered, Adrian Newey-designed cars at their disposal. As you’d expect for creations of the wizard of downforce, both cars excelled in medium-to-high speed corners.

The Williams-Renault FW14B used advanced active suspension to maintain perfect aerodynamic balance.

The fearless Mansell was a supreme exponent of the FW14B’s capabilities, tackling F1′s fastest corners at speeds team mate Riccardo Patrese often couldn’t match. It wasn’t unusual to see the pair separated by a full second in qualifying – with Patrese still second on the grid with a comfortable gap to their pursuers.

Created with almost two decades’ more experience, Newey’s RB7 is a refined package which conjures maximum downforce out of F1′s increasingly stringent regulations, thanks in part to the effective design of its exhaust-blown diffuser.

But it has not enjoyed anything like the margin of superiority the FW14B had in 1992. The Williams was on average 1.1s faster than the next best car in qualifying in 1992 – the Red Bull’s average advantage has been 0.3s.

This gap shows the difference (in seconds) between the fastest RB7 and FW14B in qualifying and the quickest other car:

Many of the tracks that were on the calendar in 1992 have been dropped and replaced by other venues. Of those held at the same tracks, the circuits themselves have been altered, making it hard to do a like-for-like performance comparison between these two F1 supercars.

Suzuka offers perhaps the best basis for comparison – the chicane and 130R were altered in 2003, producing a slightly shorter lap, but it is otherwise much the same as it was in 1992.

That year Mansell lapped Suzuka in 1’37.360. When Vettel took pole position 19 years later, he was 6.894s faster, lapping the track in 1’30.466.

In Brazil next week Vettel will have the chance to set a new record. Though he’s the first one to admit he’s had the luxury of more races in which to beat it:

“Everyone – not us – talks about it, you are aware of it. [Mansell] obviously took two races less to achieve the same but still, it’s something very special. It’s a great feeling, for sure.”

Mansell and Vettel’s results side-by-side

Here are the drivers’ qualifying results from the two seasons, plus the gap between them and the next-fastest qualifier or, where they weren’t on pole position, the pole sitter.

2011 F1 season

• How well do you remember the 2011 F1 season? Take the F1 Fanatic quiz
• The 2011 F1 season: The complete F1 Fanatic review
• Your 2011 F1 predictions revisited
• Barrichello tipped to stay at Williams
• 2011 F1 statistics part 3: Stats and facts highlights
• 2011 F1 statistics part two: Vettel's domination
• 2011 F1 statistics part one: car performance
• New 2011 rules produced best racing of last four years
• What F1 Fanatics really thought of the 2011 season
• F1 Fanatic's top guest articles of 2011

Images © Williams/LAT, Red Bull/Getty images

Vettel has won two-thirds of races since Korea last year

Sebastian Vettel has enjoyed an astonishing run of success since losing victory in last year’s Korean Grand Prix with an engine failure late in the race.

He’s finished each of the 18 races since then and his results have been remarkable: 12 wins, four seconds, one third and one fourth.

His 20th career win ties him with Mika Hakkinen in 12th place on the list of all-time winners.

Vettel led all bar two laps of the race, taking him up to 651 laps led this year. He is closing on the record for most laps led in a season and will pass it if he leads 42 laps of the next race in India:

The highest percentage of laps led in a season is 71.47% by Jim Clark in 1963.

Vettel added the eighth fastest lap of his career, giving him as many as James Hunt, Gilles Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher.

Red Bull clinched the constructors’ championship – more on that here:

• Red Bull seal second constructors’ title win

This was the tenth world championship victory and 140th race win for a Renault-powered car.

Hamilton ends Red Bull’s pole streak

Lewis Hamilton prevented Red Bull from becoming the first team since Ferrari in 1952 to set pole position in every race of a season.

It ends Red Bull’s streak of 16 consecutive pole positions, which is the third-longest in F1 history:

Red Bull can still beat the record for most pole positions by a team if they take pole in one of the final three rounds. McLaren achieved 15 in 1988 and 1989, as did Williams in 1992 and 1993, and Red Bull themselves last year.

The last driver to beat Red Bull to pole position was Nico Hulkenberg for Williams in last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s pole was his first since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix. It was the 19th of his F1 career, putting him 13th in the all-time list, one behind Fernando Alonso and Damon Hill.

McLaren started their 700th Grand Prix. As you’d expect, only Ferrari have started more, with 828.

Of their 700 starts, McLaren have won 174 (24.9%), set pole position at 147 (21.0%) and had at least one car on the podium at 376 of them (53.7%).

Jaime Alguersuari equalled the best result of his career with seventh place. With team mate Sebastien Buemi ninth, this was Toro Rosso’s best result since the 2009 Australian Grand Prix, where Buemi finished seventh and team mate Sebastien Bourdais was eighth.

Felipe Massa’s 150th 149th start

Felipe Massa celebrates his 149th F1 race start

Felipe Massa started his 149th Grand Prix. Big deal, you might say.

Well, not for Ferrari, who were convinced it was his 150th start, and decorated his overalls and helmet accordingly.

This takes us into the never-ending debate over what counts as a Grand Prix start.

Massa has seen the red lights go out 149 times in his F1 career. But he has been at two other race weekends where he hasn’t started.

These were at the Hungaroring in 2009, where he was hospitalised after a crash in qualifying, and at Indianapolis in 2005, where he along with all the other runners on Michelin tyres withdrew on the formation lap. Presumably it’s the latter that Ferrari are counting towards the total of 150 they’ve given him.

Massa clearly did not start that race. When Jenson Button marked his 200th start earlier this year, he did not count it.

F1 stats expert Sean Kelly put the discrepancy to Ferrari but they weren’t having any of it, telling him: “What was written? 150th participation so instead of criticising better reading carefully, don’t you think?”

If Ferrari are marking Massa’s race weekend ‘participations’, his total is 151. If it’s race ‘starts’, then the total is 149. So much for reading carefully – Ferrari need to work on their counting.

Review the year so far in statistics here:

• 2011 F1 statistics: Championship points
• 2011 F1 statistics: Season records
• 2011 F1 statistics: Races
• 2011 F1 statistics: Qualifying
• 2011 F1 statistics: Retirements
• 2011 F1 statistics: Strategy
• 2011 F1 statistics: Driver form guides
• 2011 F1 statistics: Race information charts

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

2011 Korean Grand Prix

• Hamilton wins close vote for Korean GP Driver of the Weekend
• Unhappy Hamilton and muted crowd in fans' Korean GP videos
• 2011 Korean Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
• Vote for the Korean GP driver of the weekend
• Red Bull: Team clinch title despite missed one-two
• McLaren: The old Hamilton reappears
• Ferrari: Alonso "gives up" on pursuit of Button
• Mercedes: Unlucky weekend for Schumacher
• Renault: No points for third time in six races
• Toro Rosso: Alguersuari shines in team's best result for 50 races

Images © Red Bull/Getty images, Ferrari

Both Lotuses retired in Hungary

More cars are finishing races than ever before as reliability in F1 continues to improve.

But one team is lagging behind this year: Lotus.

Team principal Tony Fernandes has urged his team to raise its game.

The T128 has been the least reliable car on the grid with Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli retiring from four races each due to car problems.

Gearbox problems have been a key weakness for Lotus this year and it was this that sidelined Trulli in Singapore.

Fernandes said: “Jarno suffered again with bad luck, but the reliability issue that ended his race is still something we need to improve on.

“We may be small and we may not have the facilities of the teams ahead of us, but that does not mean our standards should be any lower than them, so we have to make sure in Japan, and at the remaining races, that we are a two car team that can help us guarantee tenth place this year.”

Here’s how all the teams have fared in terms of reliability so far this year:

Retirements by team

Car failures in 2011

Red Bull have had repeated problems with their Kinetic Energy Recovery System, but so far it is yet to cause a retirement. Were it not for Mark Webber’s crash at Monza the team would have a perfect finishing rate.

Virgin have made major strides with their reliability. Last year they suffered 13 breakdowns, more than any other team. So far this year they’ve had just three, though Timo Glock’s failure to start in Istanbul should also be included.

But as ever the most striking thing about reliability in Formula 1 today is how infrequently the cars break down.

So far this year 11% of all starts have ended in a technical failure. That’s less than last year but slightly off the all-time low of 8.7% seen in 2008 – although there were two fewer teams in F1 then.

A new record was set in Valencia as all 24 starters finished the race:

• European Grand Prix sets record for most finishers

Retirements by driver

NC: Not classified (did not complete more than 90% of the race distance)
DQ: Disqualified
DNQ: Did not qualify
DNS: Did not start
W: Withdrawn

No driver has had more than two retirements due to crashes this year. However Vitaly Petrov was classified after crashing out in Malaysia.

Sebastian Vettel is the only driver to have finished every race this year.

Find updated statistics on reliability throughout the season here:

• 2011 F1 statistics: Retirements and penalties

2011 F1 season

• How well do you remember the 2011 F1 season? Take the F1 Fanatic quiz
• The 2011 F1 season: The complete F1 Fanatic review
• Your 2011 F1 predictions revisited
• Barrichello tipped to stay at Williams
• 2011 F1 statistics part 3: Stats and facts highlights
• 2011 F1 statistics part two: Vettel's domination
• 2011 F1 statistics part one: car performance
• New 2011 rules produced best racing of last four years
• What F1 Fanatics really thought of the 2011 season
• F1 Fanatic's top guest articles of 2011

Valencia was Vettel's sole win from the last five races

Red Bull dominated the beginning of 2011 but their rivals are putting them under more pressure than ever.

McLaren and Ferrari have shrunk the performance deficit and won four of the last five races.

This graph shows each team’s deficit to the fastest car as a percent in every race this year:

As was the case last year, Red Bull are leading the way on pure performance, and are yet to be beaten to pole position.

Despite having struggled in the off-season, McLaren have been their closest rivals over the 11 races so far. They had their worst result at Silverstone due the one-off change in the exhaust-blown diffuser rules.

Last year Ferrari had the second-quickest car by a tiny margin over McLaren. They started badly this year and were 1.2% slower than Red Bull on average over the first six races. But since Canada the 150° Italia has been working much better, and they’ve been within 0.4% of the RB7s on average.

Aside from a great performance in Turkey, where Nico Rosberg was third on the grid, Mercedes have been as far off the pace as they were at the end of last year.

They have moved ahead of Renault in the constructors’ championship largely because Renault have struggled to maintain the pace of development. Hungary was their worst showing yet, over 3% slower than the Red Bulls for the second time this year.

Force India have made steady improvement and finished ‘best of the rest’ behind Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari in the last two races.

But the three new teams that arrived last year are yet to get on terms with the established outfits.

Lotus are slowly getting closer to the midfield

Lotus are leading the charge and have been 1.5-2% off the pace of the next slowest cars this year compared to the 2-3% we saw last year. And this figure will be exaggerated slightly by their regular Q3 eliminations.

Lotus occupy a kind of performance no mans’ land between the midfield and the last two teams, Virgin and HRT, who are well off the pace. So much so that they would fall foul of the 107% rule more often if the front runners used the fastest tyres available to them in Q1.

If these two teams fail to score a point in next week’s Belgian Grand Prix they will equal the record of most starts for a team without scoring. That belongs to RAM, who entered 31 races between 1983 and 1985 without claiming a point.

• 2010 F1 car performance analysis

Reliability

Having improved their reliability last year, Red Bull have made further gains in 2011. Despite repeated problems with their Kinetic Energy Recovery System, neither of their drivers have retired from a race for technical reasons.

Ferrari have had one such retirement and McLaren two (though one of those was due to an error during Jenson Button’s pit stop).

Lotus have the worst reliability with seven technical retirements. This vulnerability could jeopardise their hold on tenth place in the constructors’ championship, and the vital extra prize money it brings.

With none of the last three teams scoring points, their championship position will be determined by which has the highest race finish. On a day when both Lotuses retire and several other cars are eliminated, this could open the way for HRT or Virgin to claim a 12th place finish which would relegate Lotus.

Such a scenario almost unfolded in Canada.

Leading driver performance

This graph shows the gap between a drivers’ best lap and the fastest lap of each race weekend as a percent. The drivers from the top four teams are included:

Massa has usually not matched Alonso's pace

The performance margins between the front running drivers are, as you’d imagine, very fine indeed. The McLaren drivers have been within a tenth of a second of each other in qualifying on average this year.

It took Mark Webber a few races to get within range of Sebastian Vettel but he’s been much closer of late and has ensured not all of Red Bull’s pole positions have gone to his team mate.

The situation at Ferrari and Mercedes is more one-sided. Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg have been comfortably quicker than their team mates by around 0.5%. Curiously, at both Canada and Europe both pairs of drivers were much more evenly matched.

The second half of 2011

Red Bull remain the fastest team over a single lap. But, as was often the case last year, they are less dominant in races than in qualifying. As a consequence, they’ve only won one of the last five races.

Their reduced advantage at the Hungaroring is perhaps most significant. This track, and the Circuit de Catalunya, can be considered ultimate Red Bull circuits, with lots of mid-to-high speed corners where the RB7′s superior downforce makes its presence felt.

They were around 1% faster than their rivals at both those tracks last year. They retained a similar performance advantage in Spain this year, but in Hungary both McLaren and Ferrari were well within that margin, indicating they’ve made significant progress in this area.

Red Bull’s supremacy will now be tested at two circuits where they’ve tended to be weaker. The team is yet to win a race at Spa-Francorchamps or Monza.

2011 F1 season

• How well do you remember the 2011 F1 season? Take the F1 Fanatic quiz
• The 2011 F1 season: The complete F1 Fanatic review
• Your 2011 F1 predictions revisited
• Barrichello tipped to stay at Williams
• 2011 F1 statistics part 3: Stats and facts highlights
• 2011 F1 statistics part two: Vettel's domination
• 2011 F1 statistics part one: car performance
• New 2011 rules produced best racing of last four years
• What F1 Fanatics really thought of the 2011 season
• F1 Fanatic's top guest articles of 2011

Hamilton received two of his four penalties in a single race

The F1 Fanatic statistics pages have been revised and expanded with the aim of producing the most comprehensive data on the 2011 season.

Among the new additions is a breakdown of all the penalties handed to drivers during 2011.

Lewis Hamilton has the most so far with four, two of which were handed down during the Monaco Grand Prix which led to his famous outburst afterwards.

He’s not the only driver to pick up two penalties in one race, however: Sergio Perez did likewise at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Of the 22 penalties handed down, six have gone to the two McLaren drivers.

Drive-through penalties remain the preferred punishment of the stewards, with time penalties taking their place if they are handed down late in the race.

Stop-go penalties were used instead at Silverstone due to the short length of the new pit lane. Sebastien Buemi is the only driver to receive a stop-go penalty at another track after breaking the pit lane speed limit by 20kph during the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Here are all the drivers who have received race penalties during 2011:

Post-race: Time added after the race
Penalties not served were not counted

Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld, Vitaly Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari, Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock, Pedro de la Rosa, Daniel Ricciardo and Karun Chandhok have not served any race penalties in 2011.

An updated version of this table will be posted after every race here:

• 2011 F1 statistics: Retirements and penalties

See here for information on qualifying penalties:

• Penalties

More 2011 F1 statistics

Season records

The season records page now includes data broken down by team as well as by driver:

• 2011 F1 statistics: Season records

Race information charts

All the lap charts, lap times charts, lists of pit stop times, tyre strategies and more information on every race so far this year can now be found via new single page:

• 2011 F1 statistics: Race charts

You can find all this data and more via the top menu (2011 F1 Season > 2011 F1 statistics) here:

• 2011 F1 statistics

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Valencia, 2011

Sebastian Vettel has been dubbed ‘baby Schumi’ by some. And he shows every sign of rivalling Schumacher’s record-smashing feats.

After a scorching start to the season, Vettel is rapidly making inroads into F1′s all-time records for wins, pole positions and more.

And he’s already already the youngest driver to win a championship, a race, score a point and set pole position.

Most wins

Just 73 races into his F1 career, Vettel is already equal 14th on the all-time list of winners. He’s tied with Lewis Hamilton, who has started nine more races.

Schumacher’s 91 wins towers over the rest but what’s even more impressive about that record is the strike rate.

Schumacher won almost one-third of the races he started, a record which has taken a knock since his win-less comeback. Vettel’s strike rate is 21.92%, which underlines just how hard it would be to match Schumacher’s record.

He would need both a superior car and a weaker opposition to match Schumacher’s tally in the same kind of time frame. But when it comes to hitting that all-time figure, Vettel has the advantage of youth on his side.

Most podiums

Vettel isn’t the only current driver who’s showing well on the list of most podium finishes.

Fernando Alonso and Hamilton also feature highly on the list. It’s a testament not just to their skill as drivers, but also the benefit of spending several season in reasonably competitive cars, and the ever-improving reliability we see in F1 today.

Schumacher leads the list, of course, but hasn’t added to his tally of 154 since returning to F1 at the beginning of last year.

Most pole positions

For Vettel, two changes in F1 coincided perfectly to make him the modern master of the pole position.

The first is, obviously, the superior one-lap pace of the recent Red Bulls. He and team mate Mark Webber have been first on the grid for each of the last 12 races.

But another key factor here is the ban on refuelling at the beginning of last year. This meant drivers in the top ten no longer had to qualify with their race fuel loads.

Thanks to that, we’ve seen a return to proper, low-fuel qualifying laps. It’s an area where Webber previously excelled, but his team mate has proven a formidable opponent.

Last year the margin between the two was often very tight – in the region of a tenth of a second at many tracks. This year Vettel has tended to have the upper hand, though Webber has gradually chipped away at his advantage since the beginning of the season.

Even so, the numbers speak for themselves: Vettel has been on pole position in 18 out of 30 races since the beginning of last season. He is already among the top ten drivers to have set the most pole positions:

His strike rate may not be up there with the likes of Ayrton Senna, Jim Clark or Juan Manuel Fangio, but it is comfortably better than that of the current ultimate record holder. It’s quite possible Vettel could move up to sixth on this list by the end of the year.

‘Youngest ever’ records

Last year Vettel claimed the record for being the youngest ever world champion off Hamilton.

That completed the set for him – he is the youngest driver to score a point (the only teenager to do so), and the youngest driver to claim pole position and win a race:

With a long-term Red Bull contract in his pocket and Adrian Newey set to remain at the team for the foreseeable future, Vettel’s ascent through the history books could prove very rapid indeed. He’s also passed the mark of 1,000 laps led.

Do you expect Vettel’s streak of success to continue? What other records could he break?

And which drivers are best-placed to stop him? Have your say in the comments.

F1 statistics

• 2011 F1 statistics: Championship points
• 2011 F1 statistics: Season records
• 2011 F1 statistics: Races
• 2011 F1 statistics: Qualifying
• 2011 F1 statistics: Retirements
• 2011 F1 statistics: Strategy
• 2011 F1 statistics: Driver form guides

Start, Melbourne, 2011

The new F1 Fanatic data pages for 2011 are a feast for the stats fan.

The revised 2011 F1 statistics pages contain all the year’s data on races, qualifying, team mates and more.

A new layout makes it easier to find whatever statistics you’re looking for.

If you want to see which driver prefers the super-soft tyre, who’s had the most car failures, you can find it all here.

And you can find out who holds the upper hand in each team by comparing team mates in the driver form guides.

As there’s only one race in the books so far, some of the pages are a little light on data, but that will change as the season progresses. The pages will be updated every race day.

Have a look at the 2011 F1 statistics pages here:

• 2011 F1 statistics
• 2011 F1 statistics: Championship points
• 2011 F1 statistics: Season records
• 2011 F1 statistics: Races
• 2011 F1 statistics: Qualifying
• 2011 F1 statistics: Retirements
• 2011 F1 statistics: Strategy
• 2011 F1 statistics: Driver form guides

You can find the 2011 F1 statistics pages in the menu under “2011 F1 season” or “Statistics”.

As ever I’m always looking for ways to improve and I think some of the data could benefit from a more attractive, graphical presentation. If you have any suggestions along those lines or for other statistics you’d like to see please leave a comment.

One are that is covered at present is overtaking. Several F1 Fanatic readers are assisting with compiling data on overtaking – see the forum for more information.

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Melbourne, 2011

Lewis Hamilton reached an historic milestone in the Australian Grand Prix.

It was his 72nd start for McLaren, meaning he now shares the record for the longest F1 career spent driving for a single team with Jim Clark.

But while Clark took nine years to amass 72 starts for Lotus in world championship races, Hamilton has equalled the tally at the start of his fifth season.

Sebastian Vettel scored his first hat-trick of wins, adding his Australian victory to the two he scored at the end of last year. Indeed, he’s won four of the last five races.

It moves his wins total up to 11, giving him as many as Jacques Villeneuve, Felipe Massa and Rubens Barrichello.

The last time the reigning champion won the first race of the year was Fernando Alonso in 2006. That was also the last time a driver successfully defended their title.

Vettel also bagged his 20th podium finish and 16th pole position – the latter matching the totals of Kimi Räikkönen and Stirling Moss.

Vettel’s pole position time of 1’23.529 (an average speed of 228.552kph) was the fastest-ever lap of the Albert Park circuit in an F1 race weekend, almost four-tenths faster than the previous best also set by Vettel last year.

However the fastest lap in the race (Felipe Massa, 1’28.947) was almost five seconds slower than the record set by Michael Schumacher in 2004, of 1’24.125. The Drag Reduction System, tyres that degrade more rapidly and the refuelling ban explain much of the difference.

That was Massa’s first fastest lap since Monaco 2009. He’s racked up 13 in his career, as many as Jacky Ickx, Alan Jones and Riccardo Patrese.

Until this weekend Red Bull had never been on the podium at Melbourne. Vettel put that to an end, but Mark Webber once again failed to better his first result in his home race – fifth for Minardi in 2002.

Rubens Barrichello set a new record for starting more seasons than any other driver. He has raced every year since 1993, giving him a record 19 seasons, beating the previous record of 18 set by Graham Hill.

Assuming the FIA’s decision to exclude Sauber from the results is upheld, Paul di Resta became the 70th driver to score a world championship point in his first race.

That mark should have fallen to Sergio Perez. Instead he and team mate Kamui Kobayshi became the first drivers to be disqualified from a race since Lewis Hamilton at the same circuit two years earlier.

Vitaly Petrov, Renault, Melbourne, 2011

Vitaly Petrov scored his first Formula 1 podium – and the first for a Russian driver – in his 20th start.

The return of Pirelli meant we had our first non-Bridgestone win since Alonso won for Renault on Michelin tyres at Suzuka in 2006. Pirelli made their first appearance in an F1 race since Australia 1991 and won their first race since Canada 1991.

Spotted any other interesting statistics and facts from the Australian Grand Prix weekend? Share them in the comments.

F1 Fanatic’s 2011 season statistics pages will be launched ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

2011 Australian Grand Prix

• Hamilton and Button expect more from McLaren
• Sauber will not appeal Australia disqualification
• 2011 Australian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
• Who was the best driver of the Australian Grand Prix weekend?
• No home advantage for Webber at Red Bull
• Relief at McLaren after last-minute changes pay off
• Ferrari look for answers on missing pace
• Collisions spoil Mercedes' start to the season
• Petrov fires Renault with fine drive to first podium
• Unreliability and driver errors hold Williams back

Image © Pirelli, Renault/LAT

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, Yas Marina, 2010

Racing drivers live to win. But when they reach the pinnacle of the sport they face the best of their peers in the fastest cars – and the wait between victories can be a long one.

For one driver on the 2011 grid it’s been well over a decade since his last win in a major international race.

Cast your eye on the list below to see who’s been waiting longest for their next taste of success.

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel

2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Red Bull-Renault RB6
10.162s ahead of Lewis Hamilton

Mark Webber

2010 Hungarian Grand Prix
Red Bull-Renault RB6
17.821s ahead of Fernando Alonso

McLaren

Lewis Hamilton

2010 Belgian Grand Prix
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
1.571s ahead of Mark Webber

Jenson Button

2010 Chinese Grand Prix
McLaren-Mercedes MP4-25
1.53s ahead of Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso

2010 Korean Grand Prix
Ferrari F10
14.999s ahead of Lewis Hamilton

Felipe Massa

2008 Brazilian Grand Prix
Ferrari F2008
13.298s ahead of Fernando Alonso

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher

2006 Chinese Grand Prix
Ferrari 248 F1
3.121s ahead of Fernando Alonso

Nico Rosberg

2005 GP2 Bahrain Sprint Race
ART GP2 Dallara
8.335s ahead of Ernesto Viso

Renault

Nick Heidfeld

1999 F3000 A1-Ring
West Competition Team Lola B99/50
8.957s ahead of Soheil Ayari

Vitaly Petrov

2009 GP2 Valencia feature race
Barwa Addax Dallara GP2-08
0.396s ahead of Nico Hülkenberg

Robert Kubica

2008 Canadian Grand Prix
BMW F1.08
16.495s ahead of Nick Heidfeld

NB. Not starting the season due to injury

Williams

Rubens Barrichello

2009 Italian Grand Prix
Brawn BGP-001
2.866s ahead of Jenson Button

Pastor Maldonado

2010 GP2 Spa-Francorchamps feature race
Rapax Dallara GP2-08
0.243s ahead of Alvaro Parente

Force India

Adrian Sutil

2006 Japanese F3, Fuji Speedway (fourth race)
TOM’s Dallara F305-Toyota
2.491s ahead of Kazuya Oshima

Paul di Resta

2010 DTM Hockenheimring (second race)
Mercedes C-Klasse 09
10.532s ahead of Timo Scheider

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi

2008 GP2 Barcelona sprint race
DAMS Dallara GP2-08
1.176s ahead of Sebastien Buemi

Sergio Perez

2010 GP2 Abu Dhabi feature race
Barwa Addax Dallara GP2-08
21.065s ahead of Oliver Turvey

Toro Rosso

Sebastien Buemi

2008 GP2 Hungaroring Sprint Race
Arden GP2 Dallara
7.978s ahead of Andy Soucek

Jaime Alguersuari

2009 Formula Renault 3.5 Portugal (second race)
Carlin Dallara FR35
1.448s ahead of Charles Pic

Lotus

Jarno Trulli

2004 Monaco Grand Prix
Renault
0.497s ahead of Jenson Button

Heikki Kovalainen

2008 Hungarian Grand Prix
McLaren-Mercedes
11.061s ahead of Timo Glock

HRT

Narain Karthikeyan

2010 Superleague Formula Brands Hatch (second race)
PSV Eindhoven Panoz DP09B
12.736s ahead of Davide Rigon

Vitantonio Liuzzi

2008-09 Speedcar Series Bahrain (fourth race)
UP Team Speedcar 6.0 V8
3.453s ahead of Thomas Biagi

Virgin

Timo Glock

2007 GP2 Valencia Ricardo Tormo Sprint Race
iSport GP2 Dallara
5.474s ahead of Javier Villa

Jerome d’Ambrosio

2010 GP2 Monaco sprint race
DAMS Dallara GP2-08
0.351s ahead of Giedo van der Garde

2011 F1 season preview

• The complete F1 Fanatic 2011 season preview
• The 2011 F1 season in 20 questions
• The 2011 F1 rules changes at-a-glance
• Which F1 races are you going to in 2011?
• DRS: Separating the good from the bad
• How new tyres will change F1 in 2011
• Waiting to win: When each F1 driver last won a race
• Rookies bring three countries back to F1
• Glock doubts Virgin will reach midfield in 2011
• Hard to see much progress for HRT in 2011

Image © Bridgestone/Ercole Colombo