Verstappen seeks a third win in three weeks, Finland looks to score at 400 races and Hamilton could set a new record of Monza victories. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
The 2021 Italian Grand Prix will be the 1,049th World Championship Formula 1 race. It will be the 91st Italian Grand Prix since the event was first held in 1921 and the 72nd Italian Grand Prix to be held as a round of the World Championship. It will be the 102nd World Championship Formula 1 race held in Italy, and the 71st World Championship race held at Monza.
The 2021 Italian Grand Prix will be the second race weekend to use the Sprint Qualifying format.
With the Dutch Grand Prix taking place between the Spa and Monza events, this is the first time that the Italian Grand Prix has not followed the Belgian Grand Prix on the schedule since 2007.
This will be the eighth F1 race to be held on 12th September. It’s the first race to be held on this date since the 2010 Italian Grand Prix. Every previous race on this date has been held at Monza. The date becomes the thirteenth date on which eight or more World Championship races have been held.
Lap 43 of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix will be the 4,100th racing lap completed at Monza in F1’s history.
THE F1 RECORDS TO BREAK
Prior to this year, no driver had won three Grands Prix on three consecutive weekends. That changed at the French, Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix, with Max Verstappen victorious in all three. This weekend, at the Italian Grand Prix, he has the chance to repeat the feat. He’s won Grands Prix in Belgium and the Netherlands in the past two weeks.
Should Valtteri Bottas win the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, it would be the first time that a Finnish driver has taken victory at a World Championship F1 race held in Italy.
Meanwhile, if Valtteri Bottas scores a point, this will be the 400th Grand Prix at which a Finnish driver has scored a point.
The top three finished in the same order as they started at both the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix. Should the top three finish the Italian Grand Prix in the order they started, it would be the first time in Formula 1 history that three successive races have finished with an unchanged top three from the starting grid.
A victory for Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix would mark his 100th win in Formula 1, making him the first driver to reach the milestone.
If Hamilton scores half a point over the race weekend, he will become the first driver to have scored 4,000 points during his Formula 1 career.
If Lewis Hamilton sets the Fastest Lap at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, he would be the first driver to set the fastest lap at the same circuit on eight occasions. The current record of seven is shared between Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. While Hamilton has set the fastest lap seven times so far at Monza, Schumacher set the fastest lap at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on seven occasions during his career.
Should Fernando Alonso win this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, it will be the second time he has won the event on 12th September. He won the 2010 Italian 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.
THE ITALIAN RECORDS TO BREAK
Should he win the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton will set a new record for most Italian Grand Prix victories. He currently shares the record of five victories at Monza with Michael Schumacher.
A top three finish for Lewis Hamilton would see him overtake Michael Schumacher as the driver with the most podium finishes at the Italian Grand Prix. The duo are currently tied on eight top three finishes each at the circuit.
Ferrari could be the first team to reach 70 podium finishes at a circuit this weekend if either Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz finish in the top three.
If Lewis Hamilton finishes fifth or higher, he will become the first driver to have scored 200 points at the Italian Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas could become the fourth driver to have scored 100 points at Monza. Bottas needs seven points to do so.
Lewis Hamilton will become the first driver to have led 250 laps at Monza should he lead six laps of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
A second place finish for Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas would see them equal the record for most finishes as the runner-up at Monza. The current record of three runner-up spots is shared between Richie Ginther, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jean Alesi and Jenson Button.
Lance Stroll is one of only three drivers – along with Alex Albon and Sebastien Bourdais – to hold a 100% Q3 appearance rate at Monza. He’ll be hoping to stay in that group this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel could extend the record for most Q3 appearances at the Italian Grand Prix to thirteen this weekend.
