On F1’s second visit to Jeddah, Hamilton will set a new record for most starts with a single team while Red Bull will move into the top 10 of most starts for a constructor. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
The 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the 1,059th World Championship race. It will be the second Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with the event having first being held as the penultimate round of the 2021 season.
This weekend, Lewis Hamilton will overtake Michael Schumacher as the driver to have started the most races with a single team. Michael Schumacher started 179 Grands Prix with Ferrari during his career. This will be Hamilton’s 180th appearance with Mercedes.
Red Bull will start their 327th Grand Prix this weekend. That sees them move ahead of Ligier and into the top ten of most starts for a team in Formula 1.
This will be the fourth F1 race held on March 27th. It’s the first time a race has been held on this day since the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.
The final lap of the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the 100th racing lap to take place at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
THE F1 RECORDS TO BREAK
SAINZ’S FINISHING STREAK
The 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix was the 30th consecutive race at which Carlos Sainz has crossed the finish line. If he finishes again in Saudi Arabia, he’ll overtake Kimi Raikkonen for fifth in the list of F1’s longest ever finishing streaks. Lewis Hamilton (twice), Daniel Ricciardo and Nick Heidfeld are the only drivers to have had longer streaks than Sainz’s current 30.
Carlos Sainz can score for the 17th consecutive race weekend at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. If he does so, it would be only the 19th occasion on which a driver has taken points at 17 races in a row.
HAMILTON TO WIN IN JEDDAH AGAIN?
Lewis Hamilton took his last F1 victory at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. If he wins this weekend, it’ll be the tenth occasion on which a driver has taken successive career wins at a single circuit. Hamilton would be the first driver to have achieved the feat twice in his career.
Last weekend, at the 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.
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.
ALL EYES ON THE BRITS
If British drivers score 16 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.
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.
RECORD POINTS TALLIES
Valtteri Bottas will become only the fifth driver to have scored 1,750 points in his F1 career if he finishes eighth or better at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. A podium result for Bottas would see him equal Rubens Barrichello as the non-champion with the most podiums in F1.
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. 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.
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 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 Sergio Perez finishes in the top ten, he will become the 20th driver to have scored in twelve consecutive Formula 1 seasons.
This weekend, Sebastian Vettel can become the fifth driver to have scored in 16 consecutive Formula 1 seasons. Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are the only other drivers to have done so.
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, but only if he wins this weekend’s race.
THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX RECORDS TO BREAK
With only one previous race at the track, all of Jeddah Corniche Circuit’s records could be equalled or extended this weekend!
