As F1’s new era begins in Bahrain, Alonso will set a new longevity record and Hamilton could become the first driver to win in sixteen different seasons. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix will be the 1,058th World Championship race. It will be the 18th Bahrain Grand Prix since the event was first held in 2004. This will be the 19th Formula 1 race held at Bahrain International Circuit.
This will be Mercedes’ 250th appearance as a works team in Formula 1.
Pierre Gasly will make his 75th race start with the Red Bull junior team this weekend. He’s the second driver, after Daniil Kvyat, to start that many races with the team.
This weekend, Fernando Alonso will set a new record for the most races between a driver’s first and last appearances. The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix will mark 393 races since his first race start at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. Alonso currently shares this record with Kimi Raikkonen, but will become the outright record holder following the Finn’s retirement at the end of the 2021 season.
Guanyu Zhou will make his Formula 1 debut at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix. He becomes the first Chinese driver to compete in F1. He’ll be the 90th different driver to have started a Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit.
Sebastian Vettel has tested positive for COVID-19, meaning he will miss the Bahrain Grand Prix. It’s the first race weekend since the 2007 European Grand Prix at which Vettel will not appear. This will be only the second race in the last 280 Grands Prix which Vettel will not start. He also failed to start the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix following an engine failure on the formation lap.
Nico Hulkenberg will return to F1 with Aston Martin, replacing Sebastian Vettel. This will be Hulkenberg’s first appearance since the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix and his 180th start in total.
The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix will be the third F1 race held on March 20th. The last race to be held on this day was the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.
This will be the fourth time that Bahrain International Circuit has hosted the season-opening race. The venue overtakes Interlagos as the circuit to have hosted the sixth-most season-openers, while Bahrain overtakes the United States as the country to have hosted the sixth-most season opening Grands Prix. Read more: F1’s season opening races in stats.
This will be the first race to feature a newly-crowned World Champion on the grid since Sebastian Vettel first competed as World Champion at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix. It will also be the first race to feature a driver using car number 1 since Vettel last used the number at the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
THE F1 RECORDS TO BREAK
If British drivers score 43 points between them this weekend, the nation will become the first to have scored 10,000 points in Formula 1. Meanwhile, if Sergio Perez scores ten or more points, Mexico will become the tenth nation to have scored 1,000 points – overtaking the United States and Austria in the process.
Pole for a British driver would see the nation equal their own record for most consecutive seasons in which a nation has taken pole. The current record held by British drivers is 19 consecutive seasons with a pole position, between 1955 and 1973.
Pole for Mercedes would make them the first engine manufacturer to have poles in 26 consecutive seasons. Ferrari are the only other engine manufacturer to have poles in 25 successive years. Their record streak ended in 2020. Meanwhile, if a Mercedes-powered car leads the race, the manufacturer would be first to lead races in 28 consecutive seasons.
If three Mercedes-powered cars finish on the podium, Mercedes will equal Renault’s record tally of seventeen podium lockouts for an engine manufacturer.
If Red Bull win and take pole position, they will become the fifth team to take pole and win on the same weekend on 50 occasions.
If Lewis Hamilton wins any race in 2022, he will become the first driver in F1 history to have won a race in 16 different seasons, as well as the first to win in 16 consecutive seasons. Meanwhile, a podium finish would see him become the second driver after Michael Schumacher to record podium finishes in 16 different seasons – and the first to do so in 16 consecutive years. Similarly, if Hamilton leads the race, he would equal Schumacher as the driver to have led a lap in the most different seasons.
If Lewis Hamilton sets the Fastest Lap of the race, he will become the first driver to set 60 Fastest Laps with a single engine manufacturer.
A top ten finish this weekend would see Lewis Hamilton become the first driver to have scored in 250 Grands Prix.
Should he win this weekend, Fernando Alonso would become the third driver to have scored 2,000 points during his F1 career. Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are the only other drivers to have done so. Alonso is 20 points away from achieving the feat.
Max Verstappen is 8.5 points away from overtaking Michael Schumacher for seventh in the all-time list of F1’s most prolific points scorers. He’ll overtake Schumacher’s tally if he finishes fifth (or sixth with the fastest lap) this weekend.
If Fernando Alonso scores a point he will become only the fourth driver to have scored in 18 different Formula 1 seasons. Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello are the only other drivers to have done so.
Carlos Sainz has scored at all of the last 15 races. If he scores again this weekend, it would be the 20th time that a driver has scored in 16 consecutive Grands Prix. Sainz can also become only the sixth driver to reach the chequered flag at 30 consecutive races. Meanwhile, if Sainz scores 14 points, he will be the first to score 550 career points without taking a victory.
This weekend, Lewis Hamilton can become the fourth drives to have scored in 16 consecutive Formula 1 seasons. Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso are the only other drivers to have done so.
If Sergio Perez finishes in the top ten, he will become the 20th driver to have scored in twelve consecutive Formula 1 seasons.
Both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas can equal Nico Rosberg for ninth in the all-time list of most races in which a driver has scored. Rosberg scored in 133 Grands Prix during his F1 career.
If Alex Albon scores three points, he will become the seventh driver to score 200 points without recording a victory. Lance Stroll could do the same thing, if he scores 24 points this weekend.
A podium result for Valtteri Bottas would see him equal Rubens Barrichello as the non-champion with the most podiums in F1.
Max Verstappen could record his 61st podium finish in Formula 1 this weekend. That would see him move ahead of Nelson Piquet and up to eleventh in the all-time list of most F1 podiums.
If Lewis Hamilton finishes on the podium without winning the race, he will become the second driver to have stood on the podium in second or third place on 80 occasions. The only other driver to have done so is Kimi Raikkonen.
If he takes pole position, sets the fastest lap and wins the race, Lewis Hamilton would become the second driver – after Michael Schumacher – to record 20 hat tricks in his F1 career.
If Daniel Ricciardo reaches the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix, he will overtake Nico Rosberg for tenth in the all-time list of most F1 finishes. Rosberg crossed the finish line on 175 occasions during his F1 career.
THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX RECORDS TO BREAK
Lewis Hamilton currently holds the record for most Bahrain Grand Prix victories, with five. He could extend that record to six this year.
Victory for Lewis Hamilton would make this the seventh occasion that a driver has taken back-to-back wins at the circuit. He’d be the first driver to take consecutive wins here on three occasions.
Ferrari have held the record for most Bahrain Grand Prix victories since the event was first held in 2004. Mercedes equalled the record last year. Either team could set a new outright record with a seventh win this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are tied for most pole positions at the Bahrain Grand Prix, with three apiece. Hamilton could set a new outright record this weekend. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez or Max Verstappen can become the fifth driver to take multiple wins at the track.
If Lewis Hamilton takes pole position, it would be the fourth time a driver has taken back-to-back poles at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton would be the first to take consecutive poles here on multiple occasions.
Should someone other than Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas or Max Verstappen take pole, they would become the sixth consecutive different polesitter at Bahrain International Circuit. It would equal the record for the longest streak of different polesitters at the track, which last happened between 2005 and 2010.
Lewis Hamilton can equal Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have crossed the finish line on the most occasions in Bahrain this weekend. Raikkonen reached the chequered flag here on fifteen occasions.
Valtteri Bottas has the opportunity to equal Nico Rosberg’s record of three Fastest Laps at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Ferrari could equal Mercedes as the team with the most Fastest Laps at this venue.
Mercedes currently hold the record for most team podium finishes in Bahrain, with fifteen. That figure could be overtaken by Ferrari this weekend, if Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finish on the podium, with neither Mercedes driver finishing in the top three.
If he scores seven points or more, Valtteri Bottas would become the fourth driver to have scored 100 points at Bahrain International Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton could overtake Sebastian Vettel as the driver to have led the most laps at Bahrain International Circuit. Hamilton currently sits 23 laps away from equalling Vettel’s record.
If both Williams drivers complete the first 41 laps of the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, the team will become the first to have raced 2,000 laps at this circuit.
Nicholas Latifi could equal the record for most consecutive non-finishes in Bahrain. The Canadian driver has retired from the last two races held at Bahrain International Circuit. The record for most consecutive non-finishes here is three. Carlos Sainz recorded three DNFs in a row here between 2015 and 2017, while Jenson Button recorded non-finishes in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
If a British driver wins, the nation would equal Germany as the country with the most victories at Bahrain International Circuit. Similarly, Finnish and British drivers are tied on twelve podiums apiece at the circuit. British drivers are more likely to take this record outright this weekend, while there’s also an outside chance that the existing record will be equalled by Germany.
Lando Norris or Daniel Ricciardo could set a new outright record for most fourth places finishes in Bahrain this weekend. They currently share the record of two fourth place finishes with Nick Heidfeld.
Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to reach Q3 in Bahrain for the fifteenth time this weekend. He is the only current driver with a 100% Q3 appearance record at the circuit. Christian Klien, Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul di Resta are the only other drivers in that group.
Nicholas Latifi could equal the record for most Q1 exits in Bahrain. He’s one away from equalling the record of four Q1 eliminations at the track, currently shared between Adrian Sutil, Kevin Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson. Magnussen could set a new outright record.