As Verstappen could become the first driver to win three races in fifteen days, Perez records his 200th race start and a Grand Prix will start with four World Champions on the grid for the 300th time. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
This will be the 1,044th World Championship Formula 1 race. It will be the 40th Austrian Grand Prix since the event was first held in 1963 and the 34th time that the Austrian Grand Prix has been held as a round of the World Championship. It will be the 35th World Championship Formula 1 race held at the Red Bull Ring.
For the sixth time in Formula 1, the sport will race for a third consecutive race weekend.
The 2021 Austrian Grand Prix will mark the tenth time that Formula 1 has hosted consecutive races in the same country, and the fourth time that the sport has raced at the same venue for two successive events. Read more: Consecutive Formula 1 races held in the same country.
With Austria hosting a second race this weekend, 2021 becomes the 41st season in which Formula 1 has raced in the same country twice in a year. There will also be a second trip to Italy later in the year for the Italian Grand Prix. Read more: The seasons when F1 raced in the same country twice.
This weekend, Sergio Perez will become the nineteenth driver to make his 200th Grand Prix start.
The 2021 Austrian Grand Prix will be the 300th Formula 1 race with four active World Champions on the grid.
This will be the sixth race to be held on 4th July. It’s the first race to be held on this date since the 2004 French Grand Prix. It will be the first F1 race held on this date to not take place in France.
The 25th lap of the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix will be the 2,100th lap at this circuit since Formula 1 first visited in 1970.
THE RECORDS TO BREAK
Should Max Verstappen win this weekend, he would become the first driver in the history of Formula 1 to win three races in the space of three weeks. There have been 30 occasions on which drivers have celebrated three wins in the space of 21 days, but Verstappen could become the first to celebrate victory three times in 14 days. At least two drivers have taken wins at the previous five triple headers held in Formula 1. A victory for Red Bull would see them become the second team to win three races on consecutive weekends. Mercedes were first to achieve the feat at the opening three races of the 2020 season.
A top three finish for Max Verstappen this weekend would see him become the seventeenth driver to record 50 podium finishes in Formula 1. He would equal Jenson Button for sixteenth in the all-time list of most top three finishes.
If a Honda-powered car wins this weekend, it would be the first time that Honda have won five races in a row since they took a streak of eleven successive victories with McLaren between the 1988 Brazilian and Belgian Grands Prix.
It has now been over fourteen years since Lewis Hamilton’s first F1 victory at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. Should he win this weekend, he would be the third driver – after Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen – to have a gap of more than fourteen years between their first and last Grand Prix wins.
If he finishes as runner-up, Lewis Hamilton would surpass Michael Schumacher as the driver to have recorded the most second place finishes in F1 history. Schumacher finished second on 43 occasions in his career, while Hamilton finished as runner-up for the 43rd time at the Styrian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen recorded his fourteenth Grand Prix win at the Styrian Grand Prix. Another win this weekend would put him one victory away from equalling Stirling Moss as the driver with the most wins to not win the title. Moss won sixteen Grands Prix in his World Championship career. Read more: Most F1 Wins Without Winning the Title.
If a Mercedes-powered car takes pole position at the Styrian Grand Prix, it would be the 213th race at which a Mercedes-powered car has taken pole. That would see them equal Renault as the engine manufacturer with the second-most poles in Formula 1.
THE AUSTRIAN RECORDS TO BREAK
Max Verstappen won last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix. If he wins this week’s Austrian Grand Prix, he will be the first driver to take four Formula 1 victories in Austria. Alain Prost has held the record for most wins in the country since winning the Austrian Grand Prix for a third time in 1986.
A win for anyone other than Max Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas or Lewis Hamilton would make them the 24th driver to have won the Austrian Grand Prix in World Championship history.
McLaren and Mercedes are currently tied for the most F1 wins in Austria, with six apiece. Either team could extend that record this weekend.
Mercedes are presently tied with Ford for the most victories for an engine manufacturer at this circuit, with nine apiece. A win for a Mercedes-powered car would see Mercedes set a new outright record for most wins at the track. Ford power last won here in 1982.
Valtteri Bottas or Lewis Hamilton could become the first driver to record four Formula 1 pole positions in Austria this weekend, while Max Verstappen or Charles Leclerc could become the ninth multiple polesitter in the country.
David Coulthard previously held the record for most F1 podium finishes in Austria, but that number was surpassed last weekend by Valtteri Bottas, who recorded his sixth podium finish at the Red Bull Ring. The Finn could extend his new record this weekend, or his tally may be matched by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Should Lewis Hamilton finish as runner-up this weekend, he will equal David Coulthard as the driver to have recorded the most second place finishes in Austria. Coulthard finished as runner-up four times at the A1 Ring.
A podium result for Valtteri Bottas or Kimi Raikkonen would see Finland surpass Brazil as the country with the second-most podium finishes in Austria.
A third place finish for Valtteri Bottas would see him surpass Rubens Barrichello as the driver to have finished in third on the most occasions at this circuit.
Lewis Hamilton recorded the fastest lap of the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix. Another fastest lap this weekend would see him surpass David Coulthard as the driver to have set the most fastest laps at the Spielberg venue.
A fourth place finish for either Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel would see them set a new outright record for most fourth place finishes at the track, becoming the first driver to finish fourth on three occasions. They currently share the record with Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann.
Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez will surpass John Watson as the driver to have finished the most races in Austria should they reach the chequered flag here on Sunday. Watson reached the finish line on nine occasions during his career, while Raikkonen and Perez crossed the finish line for a ninth time last Sunday.
A top ten finish for Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas would see them equal John Watson as the drivers with the most top ten results in Austria. Watson finished in the top ten on all nine of his finishes in Austria.
A first lap retirement for Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen or Max Verstappen would be their second at this circuit. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Marc Surer and Mario Andretti are the only drivers who have previously recorded multiple first lap retirements here.
If Kimi Raikkonen completes eight laps of the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, he will become the first driver to have raced 700 laps in Austria.
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will all be hoping to maintain their 100% Q3 appearance rate in Austria. A Q3 appearance for Hamilton or Bottas would see them surpass Nelson Piquet as the driver to have qualified in the top ten on the most occasions in Austria.
Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz could set a new record for most Q2 exits at the Red Bull Ring. They’re currently tied with Romain Grosjean on four Q2 eliminations at the track. Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel could equal the existing record.
If either Sergio Perez or Kimi Raikkonen are out in Q1, they would become the first driver to record five Q1 exits at the Red Bull Ring. They currently share the unwanted record for most Q1 eliminations here with Marcus Ericsson.