Ahead of the 1,100th Formula 1 World Championship race, we take a look back at the links between each previous milestone race, with an abundance of facts and statistics. Here’s everything you need to know about F1’s milestone events!
The Milestone Races
The 1,100th Formula 1 race takes place in Las Vegas, with the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix marking F1’s first race in ‘Sin City’ since the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix (race number 373).
Six of F1’s milestone races have been held as the third round of the season (races 200, 300, 600, 700, 900 and 1,000). April is the most common month in which milestone races are held, while the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix is the second milestone race to be held in November, after the 1990 Australian Grand prix (race number 500).
The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix will be the second milestone race not held on a Sunday. The 1978 South African Grand Prix (race number 300) was also held on a Saturday.
The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix marks the second time that a milestone Formula 1 race has been held at a brand new circuit. The 800th race, the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, was also held on a brand new track.
| Number | Race | Date |
| 100 | 1961 German Grand Prix | 6th August 1961 |
| 200 | 1971 Monaco Grand Prix | 23rd May 1971 |
| 300 | 1978 South African Grand Prix | 4th March 1978 |
| 400 | 1984 Austrian Grand Prix | 19th August 1984 |
| 500 | 1990 Australian Grand Prix | 4th November 1990 |
| 600 | 1997 Argentine Grand Prix | 13th April 1997 |
| 700 | 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix | 6th April 2003 |
| 800 | 2008 Singapore Grand Prix | 28th September 2008 |
| 900 | 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix | 6th April 2014 |
| 1000 | 2019 Chinese Grand Prix | 14th April 2019 |
| 1100 | 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix | 18th November 2023 |
MILESTONE APPEARANCES
In total, 181 drivers have appeared at a milestone F1 race, a number which will grow to 186 at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
55 drivers have appeared at more than one milestone race, with that figure set to rise to 63 this weekend.
With his appearance at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix, Riccardo Patrese became the first driver to appear in three of the milestone Grands Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen became the first driver to have been present at four of the milestone races at the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, having previously been present in the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix, the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix and the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso make their fourth milestone race appearances at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix.
At the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, Robert Kubica became the first driver to have been present at two non-consecutive milestone events. He was present for the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, but not the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix and then returned in time for race 1000 in China. At the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso becomes the second driver to skip a milestone race and then be present at the next one.
12 drivers, including World Champions Graham Hill, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, have recorded two DNFs at the ten milestone races so far, while Rubens Barrichello retired from all three of his milestone appearances.
MILESTONE RACES IN STATS
All but one of the last five milestone races have been won by under five seconds. The exception is the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix, which was won by Lewis Hamilton with a 6.552 second margin.
The smallest win margin in a milestone race came at the 1978 South African Grand Prix, which Ronnie Peterson won by just 0.466 seconds following a last lap scrap with Patrick Depailler.
Ronnie Peterson, Nelson Piquet, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are the only drivers to record multiple podium finishes at milestone races. Hamilton is the only driver to record three podiums in milestone events. He finished third in the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix (race 800) and won both the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix (race 900) and the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix (race 1,000).
Brabham, Ferrari and Mercedes are the only teams to have taken pole position at more than one milestone event. Brabham started from pole in both the 300th and 400th races and Mercedes have started from pole in the last two milestone events. Ferrari are the only team to have taken more than two poles at milestone events, having started from the front in races 100, 700 and 800.
Lotus and Mercedes are the only teams to have won more than one of the milestone events, with Stirling Moss winning the 1961 German Grand Prix and Ronnie Peterson being victorious in the 1978 South African Grand Prix for Lotus and Lewis Hamilton winning each of the last two milestone races for Mercedes.
Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas are the only non-champion drivers to take pole position for a milestone race – though Phil Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Nico Rosberg had not yet been crowned champions when they took pole for the 100th, 600th and 900th races respectively.
There’s yet to be a repeat polesitter in any of the ten previous milestone races. Valtteri Bottas is the only driver on the 2023 grid who could change that statistic at the 1,100th race.
LUCKY AND UNLUCKY GRID SLOTS
The polesitter has only won two of the ten milestone F1 races held so far. The polesitter won the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix (race 200) and the 1997 Argentine Grand Prix (race 600). The polesitter has finished as runner-up in the last two milestone events.
Pole and second on the grid are the only positions which have recorded multiple wins in milestone races. Both grid slots have won twice.
The furthest back a win has come from in a milestone race was Fernando Alonso’s controversial victory from 15th on the grid at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. It’s the only time a driver starting from that position has scored in the nine milestone races held so far – and one of only four finishes from that position.
Other unlucky grid slots in milestone races include 16th – which has retired from seven of the ten milestone events – and 20th – which is the only top 20 grid slot yet to score in a milestone event.
MILESTONES WITHIN MILESTONES
The ten milestone races so far have provided some milestones of their own. The 100th World Championship race, the 1961 German Grand Prix, saw Stirling Moss take the final win, the final podium, the final points and the final race finish of his World Championship career, which lasted just a further two Grands Prix, and was cut short following a heavy crash in a non-F1 race at Goodwood.
The 1978 South African Grand Prix saw the first race appearance for future champion Keke Rosberg, while Gerhard Berger made his first appearance at the 1984 Austrian Grand Prix – which also happened to be the only time an Austrian driver has won his home event, thanks to Niki Lauda.
The 1997 Argentine Grand Prix provided Williams with their 100th pole position, as Ralf Schumacher became the sport’s youngest podium finisher – a record which has since been bettered by nine other drivers (6 of whom are on the 2023 grid).
The 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix saw Jordan win a race for the final time in their history, while the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix saw both David Coulthard and Kazuki Nakajima score the final points of their careers.
