Ricciardo makes his 200th Formula 1 start, Alonso becomes the driver to have started the second most races and Hamilton could be the first driver to reach ten podium finishes at Spa-Francorchamps. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
This will be the 1,047th World Championship Formula 1 race. It will be the 76th Belgian Grand Prix since the event was first held in 1925, and the 66th Belgian Grand Prix to be held as a round of the World Championship. It will be the 54th World Championship F1 race held at Spa Francorchamps.
This will be the seventh race to be held on 29th August. It’s the first race to be held on this date since the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix.
The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix will be the 200th Grand Prix to feature a Russian driver on the grid. Russia is the 20th nation to reach that milestone.
This will be the 200th consecutive Grand Prix which Daniel Ricciardo has started. Only Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have started more consecutive races. Ricciardo will become the 20th driver to have started 200 Grands Prix.
George Russell and Lando Norris will make their 50th race starts at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
At the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso will overtake Rubens Barrichello as the driver to have started the second most Formula 1 races. This will be Alonso’s 324th Grand Prix start.
At the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas will all reach 150 starts with their current car numbers.
The 2021 Belgian Grand Prix marks Kimi Raikkonen’s seventeenth entry to a round of the World Championship at Spa Francorchamps. That equals Rubens Barrichello’s record of seventeen appearances at the venue. If he makes the start on Sunday, Raikkonen will equal Barrichello and Michael Schuamcher’s record tally of sixteen starts at Spa.
THE RECORDS TO BREAK
A victory for Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix would mark his 100th win in Formula 1, making him the first driver to reach the milestone.
Max Verstappen recorded his fifteenth Grand Prix win at the Austrian Grand Prix. Another win this weekend would see him equal 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.
Should Lewis Hamilton win this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, it will be the second time he has won the event on 29th August. He won the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix, which was held on the same day. It would be the 22nd occasion that a driver has won the same race on the same date twice in Formula 1. Read more: F1’s Groundhog Days.
A top three finish for Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix would see him become the first driver to record ten podium finishes at Spa Francorchamps. It would eclipse Michael Schumacher’s current record of nine top three results at the circuit.
McLaren currently hold the record for most pole positions at Spa Francorchamps with eleven – but Ferrari could equal that tally this weekend, should Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz take pole.
If he wins the race, Valtteri Bottas would become the fourth driver – after Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher – to have scored 100 points at Spa Francorchamps. Daniel Ricciardo could also achieve this, but only if he were to win the race and set the Fastest Lap.
Lewis Hamilton has led 180 laps at this circuit so far in his career. Should he lead 32 laps of the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton will overtake Ayrton Senna as the driver to have led the second-most laps at Spa Francorchamps. Michael Schumacher holds the record for most laps led at the track, with 259.
If he completes eleven laps of the race, Kimi Raikkonen will overtake Michael Schumacher as the driver to have raced the most laps at Spa Francorchamps in their F1 career. Schumacher raced 602 laps here between 1991 and 2012, while Raikkonen has raced 592 so far.
Sebastian Vettel could set a new record for most finishes at Spa Francorchamps this weekend. Should he reach the chequered flag on Sunday, it will be the thirteenth time he has done so at the Belgian Grand Prix. He currently shares the record of twelve finishes with Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. If Vettel fails to finish, Kimi Raikkonen could equal the existing record.
Fernando Alonso has never won the Belgian Grand Prix, but has finished as runner-up on two occasions. Should he finish in second place this weekend, he would equal Bruce McLaren, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher as the driver with the most second places at Spa Francorchamps. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton’s record of three third place finishes here could be extended this weekend, or equalled by Valtteri Bottas or Max Verstappen.
Kimi Raikkonen currently holds the record for most top ten qualifications at Spa, with thirteen. The Finn could extend that to fourteen this weekend, or Lewis Hamilton could equal his existing tally. Meanwhile, if Sebastian Vettel reaches Q3 at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix and Hamilton does not, Vettel would equal Hamilton’s record of twelve Q3 appearances at the circuit.
Fernando Alonso currently shares the record for most Q1 exits at the Belgian Grand Prix with Daniil Kvyat and Marcus Ericsson. Alonso could be eliminated in Q1 for a record-breaking fourth time this weekend, or the existing record could be equalled by Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo and Lance Stroll.
A first lap retirement for Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton would see them become the first driver to record three first lap retirements at Spa Francorchamps. A DNS for either Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen or Carlos Sainz would see them become only the second driver, after Bob Anderson, to fail to start a race here twice.
If Carlos Sainz or Antonio Giovinazzi fail to finish, it will be the 22nd time that a driver has recorded three consecutive non-finishes at Spa Francorchamps. Giovinazzi is yet to finish a race here, and will be hoping to move out of a group of 67 drivers with a 100% DNF rate at the track.