The 1,000th lap of the 2019 season, a chance for Hamilton to equal Schumacher’s Japan record and a 100th points scoring race for Bottas? Here are the records which are up for grabs over the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix weekend!
THE NUMBERS AND MILESTONES
This will be the 1,014th F1 race. It’ll be the 44th Japanese Grand Prix since the event was first held in 1963, and the 35th time it has been held as a round of the Formula 1 championship. It’ll also be the 31st F1 race at Suzuka.
The 43rd lap of the Japanese Grand Prix will be the 1000th racing lap of the 2019 season.
The 29th lap of the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix will be the 1600th racing lap of the Suzuka circuit since F1 first visited the track in 1987.
THE RECORDS TO BEAT
Mercedes will equal Ferrari’s record of six consecutive Constructors’ Championship wins if they score a 1-2 finish this weekend. They will also win the 2019 championship if they out-score Ferrari by 14 points. Read more on this weekend’s title permutations here.
While Lewis Hamilton can’t match Michael Schumacher’s tally of six wins at Suzuka this weekend, he can match his total of six Japanese Grand Prix victories. Hamilton has won the Japanese Grand Prix five times so far in his career – four times at Suzuka and once at Fuji.
If Lewis Hamilton wins this weekend, he’ll become only the second driver to have taken three consecutive victories at Suzuka. Michael Schumacher is the only other driver to have won three in a row here, having done so in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
A win for Lewis Hamilton this weekend will see the number 44 will equal the number 3 as the car number to have taken the fifth-most victories in F1 history.
Renault and Mercedes are currently tied as the most successful engine manufacturers at the Japanese Grand Prix, with ten wins apiece. Should either engine win this weekend, they’ll extend the record to eleven. They’re also tied as the most successful manufacturers at the Suzuka circuit with nine wins apiece here. Meanwhile, Ferrari can equal Renault as the most successful engine manufacturers in Qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. A pole for Ferrari’s engines would mark their tenth pole in Japan.
If Valtteri Bottas finishes in the top ten this weekend, it will be his 100th points-scoring race. He will become the fourteenth driver to have scored points on 100 occasions.
If Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel set the fastest lap of the race on Sunday, they’ll equal Michael Schumacher’s record tally of four fastest laps at the Japanese Grand Prix.
McLaren and Williams are currently tied as the teams with the most fastest laps in Japan with eight each. Ferrari could join them on that record this weekend.
A pole for Lewis Hamilton would see him become the fifth driver to have taken three consecutive poles at Suzuka. The other drivers to have done so are Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg.
If Sebastian Vettel outscores Lewis Hamilton by nine points this weekend, he’ll become the driver to have scored the most points at the Japanese Grand Prix. Hamilton has currently scored 161 points in Japan compared to Vettel’s 153.
Ferrari and McLaren are currently tied for the most victories at Suzuka, with seven wins each. A win for either team would see them set an outright record of eight wins at the track.
If Sebastian Vettel leads twelve laps of the race, he’ll become only the second driver to have led 200 laps at Suzuka. Lewis Hamilton can also join that group if he leads 28 laps of the race.
A top ten finish for Kimi Raikkonen this weekend will see him match Michael Schumacher’s record of thirteen points-scoring appearances at the Suzuka circuit.
