As Alonso equals the all-time start record, Verstappen hopes to become the eighth driver to win five races in a row and Ferrari could become the first team to win at a circuit on 20 occasions. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
The 2022 Italian Grand Prix will be the 1,073rd World Championship race. It will be the 92nd Italian Grand Prix since the event was first held in 1921 and the 73rd time that the event has been held as a round of the World Championship. This will be the 72nd Formula 1 race held at Monza.
The 2022 Italian Grand Prix is the first World Championship event at which Queen Elizabeth II is not the reigning British monarch since the 1951 Spanish Grand Prix, won by Juan Manuel Fangio.
Nyck de Vries will make his Formula 1 debut at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, replacing an unwell Alex Albon. With both de Vries and Max Verstappen on the grid, the 2022 Italian Grand Prix will be the first F1 race to feature two Dutch drivers on the grid since the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, in which both Christijan Albers and Robert Doornbos competed.
De Vries becomes the first driver to race in car number 45 since Andre Lotterer, who made a one-off appearance at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso makes his 349th race start this weekend, equalling Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have started the most races in F1 history.
This weekend, Pierre Gasly will overtake Daniil Kvyat as the driver to have made the most starts with the Red Bull junior team. Having driven for both Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri, Kvyat made 89 appearances with the team in total over the course of his career. The 2022 Italian Grand Prix will mark Gasly’s 90th appearance with the outfit.
Red Bull will overtake the number of starts made by the Minardi team this weekend, putting them ninth in the all-time list of most starts for an F1 team. Minardi made 340 starts between the 1985 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix.
The 2022 Italian Grand Prix will be the eighth race held on September 11th. It becomes only the fifteenth date on which eight or more World Championship races have been held. All but one of the previous races on this day have taken place at Monza. The last race to take place on this day was the 2011 Italian Grand Prix. Read more: Which dates have hosted the most F1 races?
Fernando Alonso will equal the record for most appearances at Monza this weekend with his nineteenth appearance. Rubens Barrichello is the only other driver to enter the Italian Grand Prix on nineteen occasions.
THE F1 RECORDS TO BREAK
Max Verstappen has won all of the last four races. Should he win the Italian Grand Prix, he would become only the eighth driver in Formula 1 history to have won five consecutive races. It would be the first time a driver has won five races in a row since Lewis Hamilton won all five between the 2020 Eifel and Bahrain Grands Prix.
Should Lewis Hamilton, George Russell or Lando Norris score points this weekend, it would be the 88th consecutive race at which a British driver has scored. The 2018 Austrian Grand Prix was the last race in which no British drivers picked up a point. Should any of the trio score, it would equal the third longest consecutive scoring streak for a nation in Formula 1.
Ferrari will be the first team to win at a single circuit on 20 occasions if they win the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen is currently on the longest streak of consecutive races which he has led in his career. Should he lead again this weekend, it would be the ninth race in a row at which he has led a lap. He would become only the tenth driver to have led nine consecutive races.
Fernando Alonso has finished 278 races so far in his career. If he crosses the finish line this weekend, he will overtake Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have crossed the finish line at the most Grands Prix.
Both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon have scored at all of the last five races. Should both Alpine drivers score again this weekend, it would be the first time that both of the Enstone-based team’s cars have scored at six races in a row since their last title winning year. Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella scored at all 11 races between the 2006 Malaysian and German Grands Prix.
If Charles Leclerc takes pole position, he would become the first Ferrari driver to take eight poles in a single season since Michael Schumacher in 2004.
Valtteri Bottas has been eliminated in Q1 at each of the last two races. Should he be out in Q1 again at the Italian Grand Prix, this would be the first time he has recorded three consecutive Q1 exits in his career.
Sebastian Vettel has gained positions from where he has started in all of the last eight races. If he finishes in a better position than where he starts again at the Italian Grand Prix, Vettel would equal his own personal best streak for most consecutive races in which he has gained places. He last gained positions in nine consecutive races between the 2014 Italian Grand Prix and the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton could be the first driver to set the Fastest Lap at a single Grand Prix on eight occasions. Only two other drivers have set the Fastest Lap at the same Grand Prix on seven occasions – Nigel Mansell at the British Grand Prix and Michael Schumacher at the Spanish Grand Prix. All seven of Schumacher’s were set a Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Lewis Hamilton can equal the record for most poles at a single venue this weekend. Should he take pole, it would be his eighth at Monza. Hamilton currently shares the record for most poles at a single circuit with Ayrton Senna (8 at Imola) and Michael Schumacher (8 at Suzuka). Hamilton has also taken eight poles at Albert Park and the Hungaroring.
If three Ferrari-powered cars finish on the podium, Ferrari would become the first engine manufacturer to have recorded 800 podium finishes in Formula 1.
If Lando Norris scores four or more points without winning the race, he will move ahead of Romain Grosjean to second in the list of most points scored without taking a victory.
George Russell has led 87 laps in his career without winning a race. Should he lead another 21 laps this weekend and not win the race, he will overtake Jean Behra as the driver to have led the second-most laps without taking a victory.
If Fernando Alonso finishes in the top ten at the Italian Grand Prix, it will be the first time that he has scored at 11 races in a row since scoring at all 15 races between the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. It will be the seventh time in his career that he has scored at 11 or more consecutive races.
If an Aston Martin driver is eliminated in Q1 at the Dutch Grand Prix, this will be the first time that the Silverstone-based team have recorded at least one Q1 exit at 11 races in a row since at least one of the team’s cars was out in Q1 at all 48 races between the 2006 French Grand Prix and the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix.
If Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton finish first and second, they will set a new record as the driver pairing to have recorded the most 1-2 results. The current shared record is 31, for Hamilton & Verstappen and Hamilton & Nico Rosberg.
Rubens Barrichello currently sits ninth in the all-time list of most races in which a driver has scored. He scored in 140 races during his career. That number could be equalled by Valtteri Bottas this weekend.
If the race is won by less than a second, 2022 will be the first season since 2017 to have had at least three races in which the win margin was under a second. The record for most races won by under a second in a single season is seven, in 2002.
If Fernando Alonso reaches Q3, he will equal Kimi Raikkonen for third in the list of most Q3 appearances since the system was introduced in 2006.
A podium result for Bottas would see him equal Rubens Barrichello as the non-champion with the most podiums in F1.
Sebastian Vettel will become the third driver to record podium finishes in fifteen different seasons if he finishes in the top three.
If three Mercedes-powered cars finish on the podium, Mercedes will equal Renault’s record tally of 17 podium lockouts for an engine manufacturer.
THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX RECORDS TO BREAK
Lewis Hamilton can set a new outright record for most Italian Grand Prix victories this weekend. He’s currently tied with Michael Schumacher on five wins at the event.
Hamilton is also currently tied with Schumacher for most podium finishes at the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton could extend the record to nine top three finishes at Monza this weekend.
If Hamilton finishes fifth or better, he would become the first driver to score 200 points at the Italian Grand Prix.
If Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz finish on the podium, Ferrari would be the first team to record 70 podiums at a single circuit.
Ferrari will become the first team to score 600 points at Monza if their drivers score nine points between them.
Should he complete 41 laps of the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso will overtake Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have raced the most laps at Monza. He’ll be the first driver to race 900 laps here if he completes 51 laps on Sunday.
Lando Norris will be looking to maintain his 100% points-scoring record at the Italian Grand Prix. He’s one of only twenty drivers to score on every appearance at Monza.
Alex Albon will be looking to maintain his 100% Q3 appearance record at Monza. Sebastien Bourdais is the only other driver who reached Q3 here on every appearance since the qualifying system was introduced in 2006.
Fernando Alonso can equal the record for most Q2 exits at the Italian Grand Prix. Daniil Kvyat is the current record holder, with five Q2 eliminations at Monza.
HAMILTON SEARCHES FOR FIRST WIN OF 2022
Victory for Lewis Hamilton in any race in 2022 will see him 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.
June 10th marked 15 years since Lewis Hamilton’s first F1 win at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. If Hamilton wins any race from now on, he’ll become only the second driver – after Kimi Raikkonen – with a gap of longer than 15 years between his first and last F1 wins.
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.
