As Red Bull look to equal their longest winning streak, Verstappen could set a new record for most wins in a year and Sainz could become the Ferrari driver with the most retirements in a single season in 25 years. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
The 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix will be the 1,077th World Championship race. It will be the second time that the event has been given the ‘Mexico City’ Grand Prix title. It will be the 22nd race held in Mexico, as well as the 22nd Formula 1 race held at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Charles Leclerc will make his 100th Grand Prix start this weekend. He becomes the 77th driver to reach that milestone.
With both the Drivers’ Championship and Constructors’ Championship already decided, the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix will be the 77th ‘dead rubber’ race in F1 history. It’s the first time that both titles have been decided ahead of a race since the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
This will be the seventh dead rubber race to take place at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – the first since 2015.
The 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix will be the fourth Formula 1 race held on October 30th. The last race held on this day was the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix.
THE F1 RECORDS TO BREAK
Victory for Max Verstappen this weekend would be his 14th of the season, setting a new record for most Grands Prix won in a single year. Verstappen equalled Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s shared record of 13 wins in a year at the United States Grand Prix. Schumacher won 13 races in 2004, while Vettel won 13 in 2013.
A win for Red Bull would make this their ninth consecutive victory. It would match the team’s longest ever winning streak, when Sebastian Vettel won nine consecutive races with Red Bull at the end of the 2013 season. In total, it would be only the seventh time that a team has taken nine wins in a row. It would be the first time a team has had such a long winning streak since Mercedes won all ten events between the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 2019 French Grand Prix.
Having set a personal best for most 1-2 finishes in a season at the Japanese Grand Prix, Red Bull could record their sixth 1-2 result of the year at the United States Grand Prix. It would be the 11th time that a team has recorded six 1-2 finishes in a year and Red Bull would be the fifth team to achieve the feat after Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Mercedes.
Red Bull could match their longest consecutive podium streak this weekend. It would be only the eighth time that a team has finished on the podium at 19 consecutive races. It would be the longest streak of podium finishes for a team since Mercedes took top three finishes at 22 consecutive races between the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix and the 2018 French Grand Prix. Red Bull last finished on the podium at 19 consecutive races between the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix and the 2011 Indian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc could take his tenth pole of the season this weekend. It would be the 18th occasion on which a driver has taken ten poles in a single year. With Verstappen having already won this year’s championship, Leclerc could become only the fourth driver to take ten poles in a year and not win the title, after Ayrton Senna in 1989, Nico Rosberg in 2014 and Lewis Hamilton in 2016.
A pole position for Charles Leclerc would make him only the second Ferrari driver to take ten poles in a single season. Michael Schumacher is the only other Ferrari driver to achieve the feat, doing so in 2001.
Polesitter Carlos Sainz retired from the United States Grand Prix. Should the polesitter retire again in Mexico, it would be the first time that the polesitter has failed to be classified at consecutive races since the 2005 Canadian and United States Grands Prix.
Carlos Sainz has recorded six retirements so far this season. Should he retire again at any remaining race in 2022, he would become the first Ferrari driver to fail to cross the finish line seven times in a single season since Eddie Irvine in 1997.
If Lance Stroll is eliminated in Q1, he would overtake Timo Glock for second in the all-time list of most Q1 exits in Formula 1. Glock was out in Q1 on 59 occasions. Only Marcus Ericsson, with 71 Q1 eliminations, has been eliminated in Q1 at more races.
If Sebastian Vettel scores a point this weekend, it will be his 219th points-scoring race. That would see him equal Kimi Raikkonen for fourth in the list of most Grands Prix in which a driver has scored during their career.
Sebastian Vettel has finished in the top eight at all of the last three races. Another top eight result this weekend would mark the first time that he’s finished in the top eight at four consecutive races since his streak of 19 consecutive top eights between the 2018 Hungarian and 2019 Austrian Grands Prix.
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.
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.
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 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix will be held on October 30. Lewis Hamilton has previously won in Mexico on this date, in 2016. Should he win again in 2022, it would be the 22nd occasion on which a driver has won the same Grand Prix twice on the same date.
THE MEXICO CITY GRAND PRIX RECORDS TO BREAK
Max Verstappen could set a new record of most Mexican Grand Prix victories should he win the event for the fourth time this weekend. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton has the opportunity to equal Verstappen’s existing record.
Should he win the 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix, Max Verstappen would make this the second time that a driver has taken consecutive wins at the event. Verstappen is the only driver to have previously achieved the feat, having done so in 2017 and 2018. Meanwhile, if a Red Bull driver wins, it would be the sixth time that a team has taken back-to-back wins in Mexico.
Lotus have held the record for most wins in Mexico since the event was first held as a round of the World Championship in 1963. Their record of three wins could finally be broken this weekend, if McLaren, Williams, Mercedes or Red Bull take victory. Ferrari can equal the existing record of most wins at the venue.
There’s yet to be a repeat polesitter in Mexico since the country’s return to the calendar in 2015. That could change this weekend, if Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc or Valtteri Bottas take pole position. If any of those drivers did so, they would be the fourth driver to take multiple poles at the track.
The last ten F1 races in Mexico have all had different polesitters. If someone other than Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc or Valtteri Bottas takes pole, that streak would be extended to eleven.
Lewis Hamilton can become the first driver to record five podiums in Mexico. He’s currently tied with four other drivers for most podiums in the country. Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen can equal the record tally.
If they finish in second place, Lewis Hamilton or Sebastian Vettel will equal Jack Brabham as the driver to finish as runner-up on the most occasions in Mexico.
McLaren can equal Ferrari’s record of most podium finishes in Mexico – but only if both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris finish on the podium, with neither Ferrari driver in the top three.
Pedro Rodriguez has held the record for most Grand Prix laps completed in Mexico since overtaking Jack Brabham’s record in 1970. In total, Rodriguez raced 457 laps at his home event. His record can be overtaken this weekend by Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen can extend the record for most points-scoring appearances in Mexico to seven, while Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas can equal their existing record. Hamilton and Verstappen can also set a new outright record for most top ten finishes here. They’re currently tied with Pedro Rodriguez on six top tens apiece.
If they finish the race, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas will overtake Pedro Rodriguez as the drivers to have reached the chequered flag in Mexico on the most occasions. It would be their seventh finish at the track.
Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will be hoping to remain in the group of drivers who’ve scored on every appearance in Mexico. There are only five other drivers in this group: Clay Regazzoni, Michael Schumacher, Mike Spence, Nico Rosberg and Richard Attwood.
There are seven drivers with a 100% Q3 record in Mexico on the current grid. Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Valtteri Bottas will be looking to remain in that club. Nico Rosberg is the only other driver who reached Q3 on every appearance here.
Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso are currently tied with Kimi Raikkonen for most Q2 exits in Mexico. Either driver could extend the record to four this weekend, while Esteban Ocon can equal the record.
If he’s out in Q1, Lance Stroll will equal Romain Grosjean as the driver with the most Q1 exits in Mexico.
If Mick Schumacher or Yuki Tsunoda retire on the first lap of the race, they would become the first drivers to record multiple first lap retirements in Mexico.
HAMILTON STILL SEARCHES FOR FIRST WIN OF 2022
Time is running out for Lewis Hamilton to maintain his record of having won at least one race in every season that he’s competed in. Victory for 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.
