Mercedes claim the title, Lewis Hamilton performs a career first and it’s the shortest Brazilian Grand Prix in almost fifty years. Here are all the best facts and statistics from the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend!
On Saturday, Lewis Hamilton took the 82nd pole position of his Formula 1 career. It was his third pole at the Brazilian Grand Prix, meaning he equals Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa as the most successful qualifier at the Interlagos track. It was Hamilton’s tenth pole of the season. He’s now taken pole at half of the races this year. Hamilton’s pole was the eighth for a British driver at the track.
Hamilton took pole by 0.098 seconds, making it the seventh time in the past ten years that pole has been decided by less than a tenth of a second at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Mercedes became only the fifth team to reach 100 poles in Formula 1 after Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Lotus. They’ve taken pole at every Brazilian Grand Prix in the hybrid era, making it their fifth pole position at Interlagos.
On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton took his 72nd Grand Prix victory. His tenth win of the season saw him secure the 133rd podium finish of his career. His second win at Interlagos equals Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Felipe Massa, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg’s win tallies at the track. Meanwhile, his fifth podium finish here puts him equal with Felipe Massa and Sebastian Vettel on number of top three appearances in Brazil. It was the ninth win and nineteenth podium finish for a British driver at the circuit.
Mercedes claimed their 86th victory in the sport. It was their fourth win at Interlagos, equalling Williams and Red Bull. It was the ninth win for a Mercedes-powered car at the track, putting Mercedes engines equal with both Ferrari and Renault engines for most victories at the Sao Paulo circuit.
2018 marks the first time Hamilton has taken pole and won a race in a season after securing the championship. He has now won fifty of the 99 races held since 2014, meaning by the end of the season he’ll have won at least half of the Grands Prix in the hybrid era.
Finishing 1.469 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen, Hamilton clinched victory with the smallest margin in Brazil since Nico Rosberg in 2014.
MERCEDES WIN THE TITLE
Mercedes secured their fifth Constructors’ Championship victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix. They move to a clear fifth on the all-time of list of team championships, having been equal with Red Bull on four titles since their victory in 2017.
Mercedes have won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships in all of the past five seasons, equalling Ferrari’s clean sweep record from 2000 to 2004. Should they win the title again next year, Mercedes would equal Ferrari’s record of six consecutive Constructors’ championships between 1999 and 2004.
If he finishes on the podium in Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton will set a new record for number of points scored in a single season. The current record is 397, set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013. Hamilton is currently on 383 points this season.
Despite taking the crown, Mercedes’ 67-point lead is the smallest lead held by a team after the Brazilian Grand Prix since 2012. It’s also the first time since 2012 that the lead has been under 100 points after the Interlagos race.
ON THE PODIUM
2018 marks the first time three different teams have finished on the podium at the conclusion of a Brazilian Grand Prix since 2009.
Max Verstappen has finished on the podium in all of the last four races. That’s the longest streak of podium finishes so far in his career, surpassing his previous record of three in a row in Canada, France and Austria earlier this season. It was his 21st top three appearance, and his second at Interlagos. It was the first time a driver starting from as low as fifth has finished on the podium at Interlagos since 2012.
Kimi Raikkonen became the third driver to start 150 Grands Prix with the same team. On the occasion, he took his 103rd podium finish, and his seventh top three finish at Interlagos. It was the tenth time a Finnish driver has finished in the top three here, and was the 26th podium finish for Ferrari at the track, extending their record as the most successful team at the track by way of podiums.
Mercedes and Red Bull each claimed their ninth podium finish at Interlagos on Sunday.
SUNDAY STATS
Valtteri Bottas finished in fifth for a third race in a row. He set a new lap record during the Grand Prix, therefore taking the tenth fastest lap during his career, equalling Graham Hill and Mario Andretti. Only Bottas and Sebastian Vettel set lap times faster than Max Verstappen’s previous record during the race. Bottas is the 23rd different driver to set a fastest lap at the circuit.
Charles Leclerc has finished in seventh place in three of the last five races, with his only other result in that period being DNFs in the Japanese and U.S. Grands Prix. Leclerc’s performance saw Sauber seal their highest finishing position at the track since Robert Kubica’s second place in 2009.
The Brazilian Grand Prix was the first time both Haas cars have finished in the top ten in the same race since the Belgian Grand Prix. It was the first time the team have scored points in Brazil, as well as the first time both Haas cars have reached the end of race at the track.
Max Verstappen in second and Daniel Ricciardo in fourth took their best ever Interlagos results, while Kevin Magnussen equalled his best of ninth. Pierre Gasly in thirteenth and Lance Stroll in eighteenth each recorded their worst result from their two Brazilian Grand Prix appearances.
With seventeenth in the final order, Fernando Alonso recorded his worst finishing place in Sao Paulo, aside from his two DNFs at the track. It’s only the second time, after the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Alonso has finished seventeenth in a Grand Prix.
After a promising Saturday, Marcus Ericsson recorded his first retirement since the British Grand Prix. It’s the second time he’s retired from the Brazilian race during his F1 career.
Nico Hulkenberg retired from the Brazilian Grand Prix for the first time in his career, also failing to score at Interlagos in his eight appearances.
The race was the second shortest ever at Interlagos, lasting one hour, 27 minutes and 9.066 seconds. The only race here shorter than that was the 1974 event, which was won in a time of one hour, 24 minutes and 37.06 seconds.
Nine drivers have finished on the lead lap of the race at Brazil in five of the last seven seasons.
Lewis Hamilton’s victory marks the fifteenth time the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos has been won from pole. It’s the fifth time in last six races at track where the polesitter has gone on to win.
SATURDAY STATS
Marcus Ericsson recorded his best ever qualifying, reaching Q3 for the first time at Brazil. It was the first time he’s reached Q3 and not qualified in tenth as a result. His fastest lap in the final session was good enough to qualify seventh and he was bumped up to take his first ever top six start in F1 as a result of Daniel Ricciardo’s penalty.
Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who qualified in sixteenth and eighteenth respectively recorded their equal-worst qualifying performances of the season so far.
Stoffel Vandoorne has qualified in last place at five of the last ten races.
After 2014, this year marks only the second time where Nico Hulkenberg has failed to reach Q3 at Brazil. On both occasions, he was eliminated in Q2. It was also only the second time Fernando Alonso failed to reach Q3 here, having been eliminated in Q1 in both 2015 and 2018.
Nico Hulkenberg and Max Verstappen are still yet to be beaten by a team-mate in qualifying at Interlagos.
Ferrari and Red Bull have reached Q3 with both cars at Brazil in every season since 2010.
Toro Rosso made their first Q3 appearance at Interlagos since 2015.
After 2009 and 2015, 2018 is the third time both McLaren cars have been eliminated in Q1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
2018 marks the first time both Sauber drivers have reached Q3 at the Brazilian Grand Prix since the BMW Sauber days in 2007. It’s the first time any Sauber driver has reached Q3 at Interlagos since 2013.
