The youngest ever podium in Formula 1, the first time two Alfa Romeos have finished in the top five since 1951 and the first McLaren podium in over five years. Here are all the facts and statistics from the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix weekend!
VERSTAPPEN TAKES POLE POSITION
Max Verstappen became the 70th driver to take multiple pole positions in Formula 1. With his second pole position in F1, he became the 23rd driver to take pole at Interlagos and the first Red Bull driver to start from pole at the Brazilian Grand Prix since Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
Red Bull have now taken pole position in both F1 qualifying sessions held on Team Principal Christian Horner’s birthday. The last qualifying session to be held on his birthday was for the 2013 United States Grand Prix, where Sebastian Vettel took pole.
Red Bull become the fifth team to take 62 pole positions and the first to reach that number since Mercedes at the 2016 British Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen’s Red Bull is the first Honda-powered car to take pole at Interlagos since Ayrton Senna did so with McLaren in 1991.
FROM POLE TO VICTORY
Max Verstappen recorded the eighth win of his Formula 1 career and his first win at the Brazilian Grand Prix. He now has the same number of career victories as Jacky Ickx and Denny Hulme. This was the first time in his career that Verstappen has won from pole – the sixth polesitter to win at Interlagos in the last seven years. Verstappen is the 24th different driver to victorious at the Interlagos circuit. It was the 30th podium finish for Verstappen, meaning he equals Juan Pablo Montoya for the 33rd in the all-time list of most F1 podiums.
This was the first time a Honda-powered car has won the Brazilian Grand Prix since Ayrton Senna won with McLaren in 1991. Max Verstappen led 57 laps on his way to victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix. It means that Honda-powered cars have now led over 5,000 laps of Grands Prix. They’re only the fifth engine manufacturer to reach this milestone.
After recording their 62nd pole on Saturday, Red Bull recorded their 62nd win on Sunday. They’re the sixth team to have recorded 62 wins. It marked their fifth win at the Brazilian Grand Prix, making them the fourth most successful team at Interlagos.
A DAY TO REMEMBER FOR GASLY AND TORO ROSSO
Pierre Gasly recorded the first podium finish of his career by finishing second. He’s the 210th different podium finisher in Formula 1 history and the first French driver to finish on the podium since Romain Grosjean at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix. Gasly is the first French driver to finish on the podium at the Brazilian Grand Prix since Oliver Panis in 1997.
Gasly also became the youngest French driver to finish on the podium. The previous youngest Frenchman on the podium was Jean Alesi at the 1990 United States Grand Prix. It was the 304th podium finish for a French driver and the 112th time a French driver has finished as runner-up.
Gasly’s podium marks the first time that Toro Rosso have finished on the podium twice in a season, with Daniil Kvyat having finished third at the German Grand Prix. Toro Rosso have finished in a different position on the podium in all of their three top three finishes. This was their best result since Sebastian Vettel’s win at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
Toro Rosso have now had the same number of podiums as Kuzma (who only competed at Indianapolis 500 in the 1950s), Penske, Toleman, Lola and Prost. They become the eighteenth different team to finish on the podium at Interlagos.
With Daniil Kvyat finishing tenth along with Pierre Gasly’s podium finish, this is the first time that Toro Rosso have finished the Brazilian Grand Prix with both cars in the top ten.
A PODIUM AT LAST FOR McLAREN
After a 2,072 day wait, McLaren finally ended their wait for a podium. After Lewis Hamilton’s penalty was applied, Carlos Sainz became Formula 1’s 211th different podium finisher.
It was McLaren’s first podium since both cars finished in the top three at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. On that occasion, Jenson Button, who finished third, also didn’t appear on the podium as the eventual top three was decided by a post-race penalty. This was McLaren’s 24th podium finish at the Interlagos circuit and their first at the track since Button won in 2012.
Sainz finished in the top five for the sixth time in his career. On both occasions that Sainz has finished in the top four, both Ferrari drivers have retired from the race. The last time he did so was at the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix.
Sainz is the first driver to score points having started from 20th at Interlagos. His third place beats the previous best result of seventh from that grid slot at this circuit by Marc Surer in 1980. It also beats the record for the furthest back grid position that a podium finish has come from at the track. The previous record was seventeenth, which is where Lewis Hamilton started from before finishing third at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Sainz’s podium was the 100th top three finish for a Spanish driver. It was also the first podium for a Spaniard since Fernando Alonso finished as runner-up in the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. He’s the first Spanish driver to finish on the podium at Interlagos since Alonso in 2013.
A MILESTONE DAY FOR ALFA ROMEO
Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi finished fourth and fifth in the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. It’s the first time Alfa Romeo have had two drivers finish in the top five since the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix – when Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina and Felice Bonetto finished first, third and fifth. It was the first time the former Sauber team have finished with both cars in the top five since Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld finished fourth and fifth in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, and the first time both of their cars have finished in the points in Brazil since 2007.
Antonio Giovinazzi recorded the best result of his career so far. It was the best result, and first top five finish, for an Italian driver since Jarno Trulli finished as runner-up at the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen scored points for the first time since the Hungarian Grand Prix. The seven races in between Hungary and Brazil equated to the longest non-scoring streak in the Finn’s career. His previous longest streak of non-scores was between the 2002 Malaysia and Monaco Grands Prix, when he retired in six consecutive events.
THE NON-FINISHERS
Sebastian Vettel recorded the first non-finish, and the first non-score, for the driver starting from second on the grid at Interlagos since Ralf Schumacher in 2002.
Lance Stroll recorded the first DNF from seventeenth on the grid at the track since Heikki Kovalainen in 2007. It was Lance Stroll’s first retirement since the Spanish Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas retired from the Brazilian Grand Prix, recording his, and Mercedes’, second retirement of the 2019 season. It was also Mercedes’ first ever retirement at the Brazilian Grand Prix, and the first retirement at Interlagos for the Brackley team since both cars were out at the 2007 race.
RARE OCCURRENCES
The 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix marked a new record for the youngest ever average age of podium finishers at a Grand Prix. The average age of Max Verstappen, Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz is three months and three days younger than that of Sebastian Vettel, Heikki Kovalainen and Robert Kubica at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas recorded the thirteenth Fastest Lap of his career despite failing to finish. This was the first time the driver who set the Fastest Lap failed to finish the race since Lewis Hamilton at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. He’s now equal 25th for most Fastest Laps, tied with Alan Jones, Riccardo Patrese and Daniel Ricciardo. Bottas is the ninth driver to have taken multiple Fastest Laps at Interlagos.
This is the first time two drivers have scored their maiden podium finishes in the same race since Olivier Panis and Éric Bernard finished second and third at the 1994 German Grand Prix. Of course, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen both stood on the podium for the first time at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, but Ricciardo was later disqualified.
With his penalty applied, Lewis Hamilton finished seventh for the eighth time in his career. It’s the first time he’s done so since the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.
The 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix featured no Mercedes or Ferrari drivers. It was the first time neither Mercedes or Ferrari finished in one of the podium positions since the 2013 United States Grand Prix, exactly six years ago to the day!
A BAD DAY FOR FERRARI
Ferrari endured their first double DNF since the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix – a race in which both of their drivers were similarly involved in the same race-ending incident. It was the team’s first double DNF at the Brazilian Grand Prix since 2003.
Sebastian Vettel made his 100th race start with Ferrari at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix. It made him only the second driver to have started 100 races with two different teams. He previously started 113 races with Red Bull.
The race resulted in Sebastian Vettel’s first DNF from the Brazilian Grand Prix, and the first time he has finished outside the top six at the track, since his first appearance2007.
SATURDAY STATS
Lewis Hamilton last took pole position back at the German Grand Prix, nine races ago. This is now Hamilton’s longest pole-less streak since joining Mercedes. His last longest streak of races without poles was eight, between the 2013 Italian and Brazilian Grands Prix.
Williams recorded their first double Q1 exit at the Brazilian Grand Prix since 2008. With their double Q1 exit, they became only the second team to reach 150 Q1 exits. Only Sauber/Alfa Romeo have had more Q1 exits, recording 155 Q1 eliminations since 2006.
Carlos Sainz recorded his third Q1 exit of the 2019 season. In the last five years, 2017 is the only season that neither McLaren driver has been eliminated in Q1 at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll is still yet to make it out of Q1 in Brazil, but 17th is his best qualifying result so far at Interlagos. It was the team’s first Q1 elimination at the circuit since 2014.
Haas recorded their first double Q3 appearance since the Spanish Grand Prix. It was also the first time both of their cars have qualified in the top ten at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
