Hamilton hunting Prost
Lewis Hamilton on his way to victory at the 2016 United States Grand Prix (Image: Daimler AG)
This weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix could see Lewis Hamilton pull level with F1 legend Alain Prost’s tally of race wins. Prost took the chequered flag first 51 times in his illustrious career. Hamilton currently sits on 50 career wins in Formula 1, and shows no signs of stopping just yet.
During the course of his F1 career, Hamilton has accumulated records at a steady rate. He already has more wins (50) and pole positions (58) than any other British driver in the sport’s history (considering the number of British F1 drivers, the comparison is actually meaningful) and is equal with Jackie Stewart for most titles by a British driver (3).
In the overall standings, Hamilton lies third for pole positions on 58, after Michael Schumacher (68) and Ayrton Senna (65). If Mercedes remain competitive, it is possible that Hamilton could top the pole position list as soon as 2017.
A more significant record, though, is that for most career victories. Hamilton currently lies third in the overall standings, on 50 wins. Michael Schumacher leads the way by some margin on 91, with Alain Prost second on 51. It’s Prost’s second place that Hamilton seems sure to match, perhaps even in Sunday’s Mexican Grand Prix.
Prost achieved his 51st win (at the time a record) in his 196th race entry. Lewis Hamilton (if he wins on Sunday) would match Prost’s tally in only his 186th race, 10 fewer than the illustrious Frenchman. It’s worth noting here that Michael Schumacher’s 51st victory came in just his 158th F1 race when he won the 2001 Hungarian Grand Prix. Also interesting to note is Schumacher and Prost each took their 51st win in the year they won their fourth World Championship (Prost in 1993 and Schumacher in 2001). If Hamilton wins the title this year, he will also match Prost’s tally of 4 titles.
Lewis Hamilton is only 31 years old and potentially has several F1 seasons remaining in his career. It seems virtually certain that he will equal Prost’s tally of wins, perhaps even this weekend. The next target is Schumacher’s mammoth 91 victories. How close can Hamilton get? Time will tell.
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Rosberg heading for records in 2016
Nico Rosberg celebrates his Chinese Grand Prix victory (Image: Daimler AG)
Nico Rosberg is currently leading the 2016 World Drivers’ Championship. Whether or not he wins the title this year, it seems inevitable that Rosberg will break at least one record this season.
With 6 races remaining (including tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix), Rosberg already has 8 wins in 2016. That’s already one more than the highest number of wins without winning the title in a season. Currently the record stands at 7 (Alain Prost in 1984 and 1988, Kimi Raikkonen in 2005 and Michael Schumacher in 2006). If Rosberg loses out on this year’s championship, he will certainly break this slightly unfortunate record.
A happier record that beckons for Rosberg is the most wins in a season for a first-time champion. Currently the record stands at 9, achieved by Nigel Mansell when he won his only title in 1992. Rosberg has 8 wins with 6 races remaining in the season and he is in fine form, having won the last three races in succession. It therefore seems probable that he will at least equal Mansell’s 9 wins, and likely that he will exceed that number.
One other record is possible, but unlikely. Currently the record for most wins in a season stands at 13 (Michael Schumacher in 2004 and Sebastian Vettel in 2013). If Rosberg wins all 6 remaining races this year, he will have clocked up 14 wins in 2016. It seems improbable that Rosberg will break this particular record, as it would require him to win 9 races in a row. It would not, however, be the first 9-race winning streak in F1 history – Sebastian Vettel won the last 9 races of 2013.
Rosberg qualified second for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, putting himself in a strong position to fight for victory and draw closer to the title and a record-breaking total of wins in 2016.
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Hamilton on pole yet again in Hungary
Hamilton took his 9th pole position of 2015 in Hungary (Image: Mercedes AMG)
Hamilton’s incredible run of pole positions continued as the reigning World Champion topped qualifying for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton now has nine pole positions out of ten races in 2015, and five poles in a row. Nico Rosberg completed the front row of the grid for Mercedes, the fifth race in a row that has happened.
Who can beat Hamilton to pole? So far only Nico Rosberg has done so this year, and on only one occasion. The rest of the season, Hamilton has seemed untouchable. In qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Hamilton lapped over half a second faster than team-mate Rosberg, which is a massive margin in equal equipment. Rosberg didn’t seem to be able to put together a clean lap, perhaps a sign of how hard he is having to push to catch Hamilton.
Hamilton’s five poles in a row equals the most consecutive pole positions by a driver currently racing in Formula 1. Fernando Alonso achieved the feat in 2006 and Sebastian Vettel has done it twice – in 2010-11 and again later in 2011. Hamilton still has a way to go to beat Ayrton Senna’s astonishing record of eight successive pole positions, set in 1988-89, but it is certainly possible that Hamilton might dethrone Senna a bit later in 2015.
In a sport as competitive as Formula 1, any small advantage can be the difference between winning and coming second. Pole position provides at least two such advantages – pole position is generally on the “cleaner”, more grippy side of the track, which makes for a better start to the race than second place; the pole-sitter also controls the pace of the warm-up lap, which allows him to maximise the preparation of his own car for the start of the race. Pole position is definitely the place to be at the start of a Grand Prix.
Tomorrow, Hamilton will start from pole position for the ninth time this season. For the ninth race in 2015, he will have the advantages that make his race start a little bit easier and therefore potentially faster. And the Hungaroring, where the race is taking place, is a track at which overtaking is notoriously difficult. It’s not quite as simple as Hamilton needing to just make a clean start to win the race, but it’s not far off that. If Rosberg can pass Hamilton on track, it will be an impressive move indeed.
Once again, Hamilton has set himself up to have the best chance of victory in a Grand Prix. That’s just one of the many reasons he’s currently the man to beat in Formula 1.
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Hamilton closing in on pole records
Lewis Hamilton (pictured in Canada) has dominated qualifying in 2015 (Image: Mercedes AMG)
Lewis Hamilton is the reigning Formula 1 World Champion. He is leading the 2015 Drivers’ Championship and is the favourite to be this year’s champion too. One of the reasons for his current dominance is his qualifying performance. Hamilton has qualified in pole position for nine out of the first ten races of the season. That performance is remarkable, and could lead to Hamilton breaking some records in the not too distant future.
What’s perhaps most impressive about Hamilton’s qualifying record in 2015 is how much he has improved since 2014. Last season, Nico Rosberg had team-mate Hamilton soundly beaten in terms of pole positions over the season, taking 11 poles to Hamilton’s seven. In 2014 so far, Rosberg has just one pole position (in Spain), while Hamilton has had the top spot on the grid for every other race.
The record for most pole positions in a season is currently held by Sebastian Vettel, who was on pole an astonishing 15 times out of 19 races in 2011. Hamilton will need another seven pole positions this season to beat Vettel’s record. After this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, there are nine races left in 2015. If Hamilton keeps up his Saturday dominance, there is a distinct possibility that Vettel’s record could be under threat.
Given the dominance of the Mercedes team since the start of 2014, it looks like Hamilton is set to have many more pole positions over the next season or two. And that puts a more significant milestone within reach – Michael Schumacher’s record of 68 career pole positions.
Hamilton is currently on 47 career pole positions (up to and including the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix), 21 shy of Schumacher’s record. There are not enough races left in 2015 for Hamilton to challenge the record this season, but it could be within reach as soon as the end of 2016 if Mercedes can produce another dominant car for next year.
At just 30 years old, Hamilton still has potentially quite a long career in Formula 1 ahead of him. Even if he finds himself in less than dominant cars for a few seasons, it is still likely that he will ultimately beat Schumacher’s qualifying record.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that Sebastian Vettel (currently on 45 pole positions) will get there first.
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2015 Formula 1 race winners – gallery
This gallery contains 9 photos.
Rosberg gets one over on Hamilton in Austria
Nico Rosberg celebrates his Austrian Grand Prix victory (Image: Mercedes AMG)
Nico Rosberg has joined the 2015 Formula 1 World Championship fight with a superb victory at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Rosberg beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight for the win, with Felipe Massa finishing third for Williams.
This is not Rosberg’s first win of the 2015 season – in fact it’s his third – but it’s a very significant victory. Why? Because it’s the first time in 2015 that Rosberg has beaten Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight. It’s a psychological victory more than a points victory and it signals the start of what could be an epic battle for the Drivers’ Championship.
Hamilton is the reigning world champion. He’s had the lion’s share of pole positions – 7 out of 8 races this season, with the other one going to Rosberg in Spain – and has been the man to beat in all of the races so far, winning 4 out of 8 in quite dominant fashion. And until today, it looked like Rosberg might not have an answer for Hamilton’s form.
It’s true that Rosberg had already won two races this season, but neither would have been as satisfying as today’s win. In the Spanish Grand Prix, Rosberg drove flawlessly to win from pole position, but was never in a straight fight with his team-mate, who had a poor start and was stuck behind Sebastian Vettel for much of the race.
In Monaco, Hamilton had the race firmly under control when his team called him into the pits at the wrong time in response to the safety car being deployed late in the race. Rosberg inherited the win, but it had clearly been Hamilton’s day.
While a win counts for 25 points no matter how it is earned, Rosberg will have been aware that he had yet to beat Hamilton in a straight for victory this season. But that’s all changed now. In Austria, Rosberg made a stunning start to beat Hamilton (who was on pole) into the first corner. He then fended off a determined attack from Hamilton into turn 2 and again into turn 3 on the opening lap.
Rosberg controlled the rest of the race to take a much-needed victory and close the gap to championship leader Hamilton to just 10 points. But perhaps more importantly for Rosberg, he had a wheel-to-wheel battle with Hamilton and won. In Austria, Rosberg was the better driver.
Until today, it was hard to imagine Rosberg beating Hamilton to the title. But now it’s a possibility. Hamilton and Rosberg could be locked in a battle for the title reminiscent of Senna and Prost in the 1980s. Formula 1 just got exciting again.
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Rosberg still needs to beat Hamilton in 2015
Nico Rosberg celebrates his Spanish Grand Prix victory (Image: Mercedes AMG F1)
Nico Rosberg took a big step forward in his 2015 championship campaign by winning the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday. But there’s still an important step Rosberg needs to take if he is to challenge for the championship this season – he needs to beat Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight for victory. That didn’t happen in Spain.
Let’s take nothing away from Rosberg’s Spanish Grand Prix performance. He did everything right. His race was faultless. He took pole, led from the start and didn’t put a wheel wrong all afternoon – all of which resulted in a commanding victory.
The trouble was Hamilton was never really in the fight for victory. Having qualified second, Hamilton started from the dirty side of the track (the part of the track not on the racing line). He made a less than perfect start and was passed by Sebastian Vettel into the first corner. From then until the second round of pitstops, Hamilton was stuck behind Vettel, unable to get close enough to pass despite having a much faster car.
Rosberg took full advantage of the situation and pulled away, creating a gap that Hamilton could not hope to close once he eventually passed Vettel using pit strategy. Full marks to Rosberg for controlling the race. But he will be aware that he did not actually out-drive Hamilton. At no point in the race did Rosberg have to pass Hamilton, or defend against him.
Had Hamilton made it into the first corner second, instead of third as was the case, then the race would have been entirely different. Rosberg would have had to fight Hamilton for victory from lights to flag. As it happened, the two Mercedes drivers were not really in the same race, although they ended up finishing first and second in the Grand Prix.
So Rosberg won fair and square. But at no point in the race was he actually racing Hamilton. In the entire weekend, Rosberg only really did two things better than Hamilton – he took pole, which is to Rosberg’s credit as that was a straight fight between the two Mercedes drivers; and he made a better start, which is at least partly the result of starting on the “clean” side of the track.
So Rosberg’s satisfaction at winning the race, while significant, will be tempered by the knowledge that he still needs to assume some form of psychological ascendancy if he is to mount a serious title challenge. Admittedly, that wasn’t possible as the race played out on Sunday. Perhaps it will still happen.
