Following each of the 2022 season’s racing weekends, Motorsport.com brings you a compilation of the most important Grand Prix stats. These are the most interesting facts and figures after the second round of the campaign, the Saudi Arabian GP.
The event and the participants in the 2022 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP
– This has been the second edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as well as the second at the Jeddah city circuit.
– Fernando Alonso made his 336th F1 start, putting him 14 shy of the grand prix record currently held by Kimi Räikkönen (350)
– With Mick Schumacher retiring after qualifying and Yuki Tsunoda breaking down before the start, only 18 drivers entered the race, the lowest number since the 2015 Australian Grand Prix (15). On that occasion, the Manor team was not ready to race, Valtteri Bottas was injured in qualifying and both Daniil Kvyat and Kevin Magnussen were betrayed by mechanical problems before the start.
The classification of the Saudi Arabian GP of Formula 1
– Sergio Pérez became the 103rd driver in the history of Formula 1 to achieve a pole position.
– Although he has contested 215 Grands Prix, it was in his 217th qualifying session that Pérez achieved this feat, beating Mark Webber’s record of 132 classifications by quite a few grands prix to take his first pole position.
– This is the first pole position for a Mexican in Formula 1. It is the 23rd country whose representative has achieved this.
– This is Red Bull’s 74th pole position in F1, and the first for Red Bull Powertrains.
– With a difference of just 0.025s between Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc, it was the closest qualifying since the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix (0.007s between Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton).
– For the 103rd consecutive Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas finished qualifying in the top 10 (before grid penalties were applied). This is still a record.
– Lewis Hamilton, 16th, was eliminated in Q1 for the first time since the 2017 Brazilian Grand Prix. If you do not take into account any special circumstances, such as an accident, a power unit change or a technical problem, it is the first time since qualifying in the wet for the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix (20th). In the dry, it was the 2009 British Grand Prix (19th).
The race at the Jeddah circuit
– Max Verstappen got his 21st victory in Formula 1, the same as Kimi Raikkonen.
– This is the seventh consecutive season with a victory for Max Verstappen (2016-2022), equaling Stirling Moss (1955-1961), Jim Clark (1962-1968) and David Coulthard (1997-2003). Only four drivers have done better: Alain Prost (1981-1990), Ayrton Senna (1985-1993), Michael Schumacher (1992-2006) and Lewis Hamilton (2007-2021).
– It was Red Bull’s 76th victory in F1, and the first for Red Bull Powertrains.
– Max Verstappen won by 0.549s to Charles Leclerc, the smallest difference since the 2020 Italian Grand Prix (Pierre Gasly 0.415s ahead of Carlos Sainz).
– Charles Leclerc set his sixth fastest lap in the race, like many other great historical names such as Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and Carlos Reutemann, but also an active one, such as Sergio Pérez.
– It was the 61st podium for Max Verstappen, who beat Nelson Piquet, the 15th for Charles Leclerc, as many as José Froilán González, Thierry Boutsen and Sergio Pérez, and the 8th for Carlos Sainz, who equaled Lorenzo Bandini and Jean-Pierre Beltoise .
– Carlos Sainz added his 17th consecutive race in the points, as well as his 31st race finished in a row; only Lewis Hamilton (62), Daniel Ricciardo (34) and Nick Heidfeld (33) did better on the second stat.
– Sergio Pérez has broken the barrier of 100 laps in the lead (109). Charles Leclerc, for his part, now has more than 2,000 km as the race leader (2,153), surpassing John Surtees. Sainz has already led more than 100 km since arriving in Formula 1 (105).
– Lewis Hamilton finished 10th, his second worst race result since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix (he was 15th at Baku in 2021). It is also the first time he has finished in 10th place since the 2012 South Korean Grand Prix. Interestingly, he has never finished in 11th position.
– With a 3rd and 10th place finish, this is Hamilton’s worst start to the season since 2009 (when he was disqualified in Australia and was 7th in Malaysia).
– Nico Hülkenberg made his 181st start in a Grand Prix without getting on the podium, which is still the record. Among the current drivers, the closest to it is Nicholas Latifi (41 GP).
– Aston Martin crossed the checkered flag with Nico Hülkenberg 12th and Lance Stroll 13th, the first time since the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix (Esteban Ocon 12th, Sergio Pérez 13th, when the team was called Force India).
– Only 13 cars made it to the finish of this race, the lowest number since the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix (13). To find less, you have to go back to the 2020 Tuscan GP (12).
– Forced to retire for the third time in five grands prix, Nicholas Latifi now has the highest retirement rate on the grid (9/41 or 21.95%) ahead of Nico Hülkenberg (20.99%), Max Verstappen (20 .98%) and Fernando Alonso (20.83%). Lewis Hamilton is the only driver below 10% (9.31%).
