Hamilton passes 5,000 laps led, Mercedes secure a seventh consecutive title and Ricciardo becomes the first Australian to finish on the podium at Imola. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix!
HAMILTON WINS
Lewis Hamilton recorded his 93rd career victory at the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, winning for the ninth time in 2020. This was his 72nd victory with Mercedes, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record for most wins with a single constructor. Schumacher won 72 times with Ferrari. Hamilton also extends his record for most circuits at which a driver has won to 29.
Hamilton became the fifteenth different driver to have won at Imola. It was the sixth win for a British driver at the circuit, the first since David Coulthard was victorious in the 1998 San Marino Grand Prix.
On his way to victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Hamilton became only the second driver, after Schumacher, to have led 5,000 Grand Prix laps. Hamilton has now led 5,021 laps – just 90 less than Schumacher’s record of 5,111.
MERCEDES WIN A SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE TITLE
With their 1-2 result, Mercedes secured their seventh consecutive Constructors’ Championship victory. This is the first time in history that a team has won the title in seven consecutive years, breaking Ferrari’s former record of six successive titles between 1999 and 2004.
After the Imola race, Mercedes lead the 2020 Constructors’ Championship by 253 points, which is the seventh largest points lead ever held in the championship.
Mercedes are the first team to secure a Constructors’ Championship at Imola since Williams did so at the 1980 Italian Grand Prix.
As well as winning the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes became the seventh team to have scored points in 200 Grands Prix. The only other teams to have done so are Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Lotus, Red Bull and Renault.
Mercedes’ victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was their 100th victory since the V6 hybrid era began in 2014.
While Mercedes became the eighth different constructor to win at Imola, Hamilton’s win was only the second victory for a Mercedes-powered car at the circuit. David Coulthard’s victory for McLaren at the 1998 San Marino Grand Prix is the only other time that Mercedes power has won at the track.
ON THE PODIUM
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo became the 34th, 35th and 36th different drivers to have finished on the podium at Imola.
Valtteri Bottas finished as runner-up at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, becoming the first polesitter to finish in second place since Sebastian Vettel at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. This was Bottas’ 55th podium finish, which sees him move ahead of Niki Lauda to thirteenth in the all-time list of most top three finishes.
With both Hamilton and Bottas finishing on the podium, Mercedes became only the third engine manufacturer to have recorded 500 podium finishes. The other manufacturers to have to done so are Ferrari and Ford Cosworth.
Daniel Ricciardo finished in third place, becoming the first non-Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull driver to record two podium finishes in a season since Sergio Perez in 2016. Ricciardo now has 31 podium finishes, equalling his fellow Australian Jack Brabham’s career tally of podiums. Mark Webber is now the only Australian with more podiums than Ricciardo. Ricciardo is the first Australian to finish on the podium at Imola, making Australia the thirteenth nation to have had a top three finish at the circuit.
This was the third consecutive race at Imola in which Renault have finished on the podium. Fernando Alonso finished first and second for the team in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
At the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the driver who started second won, the polesitter finished second and the driver who started fifth finished in third place. This is the eleventh time that has happened in F1. Other races where this has happened: 1957 Pescara Grand Prix, 1958 Morocco Grand Prix, 1986 Brazilian Grand Prix, 1987 Austrian Grand Prix, 1988 Australian Grand Prix, 1991 Italian Grand Prix, 1998 British Grand Prix, 1999 Japanese Grand Prix, 2014 US Grand Prix, 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.
THE TOP TEN
With fourth place, Daniil Kvyat recorded his best finish since his podium finish at the 2019 German Grand Prix. It’s the seventh time that the Russian has finished in the top four in his career. Kvyat equalled the best result for his team at Imola in its entire history. Pierluigi Martini finished fourth for Minardi at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix.
Ferrari won the last Formula 1 race at Imola in 2006. Charles Leclerc was their best-placed finisher in 2020, in fifth place. This is the first F1 race at Imola in which Ferrari have failed to finish on the podium since the 1993 San Marino Grand Prix
For the third time during their stint as team-mates at Alfa Romeo, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi both scored for Alfa Romeo. They also both scored at the 2019 Austrian and Brazilian Grands Prix. It’s the first time that Alfa Romeo have finished in the top ten at Imola since Eddie Cheever finished seventh in 1984, and the first time that both drivers for the former Sauber team have scored in a single race at the track.
On the weekend where he became the first driver to race at home three times in a single season since Eddie Cheever in 1982, Giovinazzi gained ten places from where he started, which is the most positions he has gained in any race during his F1 career.
Giovinazzi is the second driver to score from last on the grid in the last three races. Nico Hulkenberg also scored having started last at the Eifel Grand Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen is the first driver to score from eighteenth on the grid at Imola since Elio de Angelis finished fourth at the 1980 Italian Grand Prix.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Nicholas Latifi finished eleventh in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, equalling the best result of his career to date. He also finished eleventh on debut at the Austrian Grand Prix.
With his twelfth place finish, Sebastian Vettel became the first Ferrari driver to finish at Imola in a position outside the points since Gilles Villeneuve finished seventh in 1981.
Lance Stroll finished in thirteenth place, making this the fifth consecutive race in which he has failed to score.
Finishing in fifteenth place, Alex Albon became the first Red Bull driver to fail to score at three consecutive races since Max Verstappen retired from the 2017 Canadian, Azerbaijan and Austrian Grands Prix. Albon is the first Red Bull driver to finish two successive races outside of the points since Mark Webber finished ninth at the 2009 European and Belgian Grands Prix.
With Albon fifteenth and Verstappen retiring, Vitantonio Liuzzi’s eighth place at the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix remains the only time that a Red Bull driver has scored at Imola.
THE RETIREES
Pierre Gasly recorded his third retirement of the season. On all three occasions, Gasly has been the first retiree from the race. It’s the first time that the driver who started fourth has retired since the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.
Esteban Ocon retired for the third time in the last five races and recorded the third retirement in the last four races for the driver starting twelfth on the grid.
Kevin Magnussen has not scored since the Hungarian Grand Prix. After retiring from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he has equalled the longest point-less streak in his F1 career. This was his tenth successive race without scoring. He last failed to score at ten successive races between the 2016 Spanish and Italian Grands Prix.
Crashing out behind the Safety Car, George Russell recorded Williams’ first retirement at Imola since the 2001 San Marino Grand Prix. It was Russell’s fourth retirement of the year; double the number of non-finishes he had in 2019.
Formula 1 has visited Italy on three occasions in 2020 and in all three races, Max Verstappen has retired. As a result, the Dutchman is knocked out of title contention and no longer has a mathematical chance of becoming Formula 1’s youngest-ever World Champion. His DNF was the first from third on the grid at Imola since Jacques Villeneuve failed to finish in 1996.