Lewis Hamilton recorded the ninth furthest back win in F1 history, Sebastian Vettel ensured every driver has now had at least one DNF in 2018 and Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo record rare non-Q3 appearances. Here are all the best statistics and facts from the 2018 German Grand Prix weekend!
Lewis Hamilton scored his 66th win in F1. He joins Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Fernando Alonso on three wins at Hockenheim. It’s the fifth time a driver has won consecutive races at the track. It was Hamilton’s fourth win of the season. Mercedes and Ferrari now have the same number of poles and wins this season (four wins each, five poles each).
Lewis Hamilton’s win from fourteenth marks the furthest back win since Fernando Alonso won from fifteenth on the grid at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. Hamilton’s victory was the ninth furthest back win in Formula One history. It’s only the sixth time a race has been won from fourteenth, and was the first win from fourteenth since Jenson Button won the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. Hamilton recorded the furthest back win at Hockenheim since Rubens Barrichello won from eighteenth in 2000. It’s the furthest back win since the circuit was re-profiled.
It was Mercedes’ first 1-2 finish at the German Grand Prix, giving them their 80th victory in the sport. It was the third time the team have triumphed at Hockenheim.
Lewis Hamilton gained thirteen places from his starting place to take victory in the German Grand Prix. That’s the most places gained by a driver in a race so far this season, beating Fernando Alonso’s previous record of twelve places gained in the Austrian Grand Prix. It’s the most places Hamilton has gained in a race since the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix, where he made up eighteen positions.
Valtteri Bottas took his 27th podium finish in Formula One. It was his fifth podium of the season. He’s finished second on all five of his podium appearances so far this season.
Kimi Raikkonen scored his fourth consecutive podium finish. It was his 98th in total, putting him two away from joining The 100 Club.
Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium at Hockenheim for the fourth time, equalling the podium tallies David Coulthard, Fernando Alonso, Jacques Laffite and Nigel Mansell at this track.
Kimi Raikkonen took his third podium finish at Hockenheim, while Valtteri Bottas took his second. In both of Bottas’ German Grand Prix podiums, he’s finished second.
Nico Hulkenberg finished fifth in the Grand Prix, recording his best result of the season so far and his best result during his time at Renault. He hasn’t finished as high since he finished fourth in the 2016 Belgian Grand Prix for Force India.
Williams recorded their first double DNF since the 2015 U.S. Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel took his 55th pole position on Saturday. It was his fifth pole of the season. It marked Ferrari’s 218th pole position in Formula One, and the eighth time the team have taken pole at Hockenheim. Vettel joins Damon Hill, Gerhard Berger, Mika Hakkinen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Nico Rosberg with two poles at Hockenheim.
Before the German Grand Prix weekend, five drivers had reached Q3 at every round in 2018. With Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo being eliminated in Q2, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas are the only three drivers to have reached the final part of qualifying at all eleven rounds so far this year.
Lewis Hamilton recorded his first Q2 exit since the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix. It was only the seventh time he hasn’t reached Q3 since joining Mercedes. He hasn’t beaten a team-mate in Qualifying at Hockenheim since 2008.
Daniel Ricciardo recorded his first Q2 exit since the 2015 Italian Grand Prix. It’s only the fourth time he’s failed to reach Q3 since he joined Red Bull.
Charles Leclerc progressed to Q3 for the third time in his career, and for the third time in the past four races. He equals Marcus Ericsson’s total number of Q3 appearances.
Both Haas drivers have progressed to Q3 at all of the last four race weekends. It three of those four events, Kevin Magnussen has beaten Romain Grosjean in Qualifying.
The pole time for the 2018 German Grand Prix was 3.151 seconds faster than the pole time for the 2016 German Grand Prix.
Kevin Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson both recorded their best qualifying results of the year so far at the German Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon and Stoffel Vandoorne all recorded their worst.
Lewis Hamilton became the sixth different driver to set a fastest lap in a Grand Prix this season. It’s the first time he’s set the fastest lap of a race since the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix.
2018 marked the fourth time that a Grand Prix at Hockenheim has been affected by rain. It was the first wet race at the track since 2000.
Sebastian Vettel recorded his first retirement since the 2017 Japanese Grand Prix. Every driver has now had at least one retirement in 2018.
Fifteen cars reached the chequered flag in the 2018 German Grand Prix. That’s the least number of finishers at the Hockenheim track since 2003, where just eleven drivers reached the end of the race.
