As Miami becomes the eleventh venue to host a Grand Prix in the United States, we could see a Grand Slam at a third race in a row for the first time, while Sainz could achieve a rare and unenviable feat. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
The 2022 Miami Grand Prix will be the 1,062nd World Championship race. It will be the first time that the Miami Grand Prix has been held as a round of the World Championship. The very first Grand Prix of Miami was held at Fulford–Miami Speedway back in 1926.
The 2022 Miami Grand Prix will be the 150th World Championship race to take place in May. May becomes only the second month, after July, to have hosted 150 races.
This will be the fourth F1 race held on May 8th. The last race held on this day was the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix. All three previous races held on this day were won from pole position.
Daniel Ricciardo will start his 215th Grand Prix this weekend. It will see him equal Mark Webber as the Australian to have started the most races in Formula 1.
Miami International Autodrome will be the 76th different venue at which Formula 1 has raced in World Championship history. It’s the eleventh different circuit to host a race in the United States.
The 2022 Miami Grand Prix will be the 72nd World Championship race to take place in the United States. That includes the eleven times that the Indianapolis 500 was run as a round of the F1 championship.
With the United States Grand Prix set to take place later this year in October, 2022 will be the first Formula 1 season to feature two races in the country since 1984, when the sport raced in both Detroit and Dallas. In total, it’s the twelfth season in which F1 will race in the United States twice.
This will be the first time F1 has raced in the state of Florida since the 1959 United States Grand Prix, which took place at Sebring International Raceway.
GRAND SLAM SEASON
If any driver were to take pole, set the fastest lap, lead every lap and win the race, this would be the first time that a Grand Slam has been recorded a three consecutive races. Charles Leclerc recorded a Grand Slam at Albert Park, while Max Verstappen did so at Imola. If any driver records a Grand Slam, it would be the 12th time that a driver has recorded a Grand Slam at a brand new circuit. The last driver to do so was Nico Rosberg, at the 2016 European Grand Prix.
If Max Verstappen records a Grand Slam in Miami, it would be the fourth time that a driver has recorded Grand Slams at successive events. The other drivers to have done so are Alberto Ascari, Jim Clark and Sebastian Vettel.
THE F1 RECORDS TO BREAK
If the polesitter takes victory at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix, it would be the 450th time that the polesitter has won the race in World Championship history.
Lewis Hamilton can become the first F1 driver to win at a 32 different circuits at the 2022 Miami Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel can equal Michael Schumacher for second on this list, should he win at a 22nd different track this weekend.
A top ten result for Fernando Alonso would see him equal Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have scored in the third-most Formula 1 races. Should he score 18 points 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.
A podium finish for Max Verstappen would see him overtake David Coulthard for tenth in the all-time list of most Formula 1 podium finishes. He would also equal Alain Prost for fourth in the list of most podiums with a single team. Prost took 62 podiums with McLaren during his career.
The team on pole has gone on to win all of the last eight races. Should the pole-sitting team win again this weekend it would be the first time that the pole-sitting team has won at nine successive races since the nine races between the 2016 Canadian and Singapore Grands Prix.
If Alex Albon scores two points, he will become the seventh driver to score 200 points without recording a victory. Lance Stroll can achieve the same feat if he scores 18 points.
If French drivers score 37 points between them, the nation will overtake Brazil as the country to have scored the fourth most points in Formula 1.
A podium result for Bottas would see him equal Rubens Barrichello as the non-champion with the most podiums in F1.
If Max Verstappen scores 8 points, car number 1 will reach 4,000 points scored in Formula 1. Car number 5 is the only car number to have scored more points.
Sebastian Vettel will become the third driver to record podium finishes in fifteen different seasons if he finishes in the top three.
If Carlos Sainz is the first retirement from the race, it would be the first time that the same driver has been classed as the first retiree at three consecutive Grands Prix since Pedro Diniz, at the last three races of the 1998 season. Jackie Oliver, in both 1969 and 1973, is the only other driver to achieve this unenviable feat.
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.
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 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.
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.
At the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton recorded his 32nd third place finish in F1. Another third place this weekend would see him equal Sebastian Vettel as the driver to have recorded the second-most third places in F1 history. Only Kimi Raikkonen sits ahead of Vettel and Hamilton in this list, with 45 third place results.
MERCEDES SEEK SUCCESS
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.