As Alonso becomes the driver to have started the most F1 races, Verstappen could become only the fifth to have won six races in a row and Singapore could have its fifth Grand Prix winner. Here are the milestones and records which could be broken at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix!
THE MILESTONES
The 2022 Singapore Grand Prix will be the 1,074th World Championship race. It will be the 21st Singapore Grand Prix since the event was first held in 1966 and the thirteenth time that the event has been held as a round of the World Championship. This will be the thirteenth Formula 1 race held at Marina Bay Street Circuit; the first since 2019.
Fernando Alonso makes his 350th race start this weekend, overtaking Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have started the most races in F1 history.
Kevin Magnussen will make his 96th start with the Haas team this weekend. That sees him equal Romain Grosjean as the driver to have started the most races with the American team.
Haas will equal the number of race starts made by Toyota this weekend. Toyota made 139 starts in total, sitting 22nd in the list of most starts for a team in F1. Unless Haas win the race, they’ll equal Toyota for fifth in the list of most Grand Prix starts without a win.
The 2022 Singapore Grand Prix will be the fifth Formula 1 race held on October 2nd. The last race held on this date was the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Lap 24 of the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix will be the 750th racing lap held at Marina Bay Street Circuit.
VERSTAPPEN CAN WIN THE TITLE
Max Verstappen has a mathematical chance of winning his second title at the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix. If he were to do so, he would become the first driver to win the title at the Singapore Grand Prix, with Marina Bay becoming the 31st different circuit to crown a champion in Formula 1 history.
Verstappen would also be only the third driver to win the title with five or more races remaining in the season. Nigel Mansell claimed the 1992 crown with five races left to run, while Michael Schumacher won the title with six races to spare in 2002.
THE F1 RECORDS TO BREAK
Max Verstappen has won all of the last five races. Should he win the Italian Grand Prix, he would become only the fifth driver in Formula 1 history to have won six consecutive races. It would be the first time a driver has won six races in a row since Nico Rosberg won all seven between the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix and the 2016 Russian 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 tenth race in a row at which he has led a lap. He would become only the ninth driver to have led ten 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.
A top ten finish for Carlos Sainz will see him become the 18th driver to have scored in 100 Grands Prix. He would equal Nelson Piquet for 17th in the all-time list of most points-scoring races.
Should Pierre Gasly finish in the top ten, he will become the 50th driver to have scored at 50 Grand Prix weekends.
If Charles Leclerc takes pole position, it would be his ninth pole of the season. It would be the 26th occasion on which a driver has taken pole nine times in a single season and Leclerc would become the 15th different driver to achieve the feat. Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher are the only other Ferrari drivers to have taken nine or more poles in a single season with the Scuderia.
If Lance Stroll is eliminated in Q1, he would equal 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.
A Q1 elimination for Nicholas Latifi would make him the seventh driver to have recorded 50 Q1 exits in his career.
If two Ferrari-powered cars finish on the podium, Ferrari would become the first engine manufacturer to have recorded 800 podium finishes in Formula 1.
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.
Should Lewis Hamilton, George Russell or Lando Norris score points this weekend, it would be the 900th Grand Prix in which a British driver has scored. Furthermore, it would be the 89th 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 become the third longest consecutive scoring streak for a nation in Formula 1.
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 overtake 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 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX RECORDS TO BREAK
If Lewis Hamilton wins this weekend, he will once again equal Sebastian Vettel’s record tally of Singapore Grand Prix wins. The pair were previously tied for most wins at the event, until Vettel took his fifth win at the track in 2019.
A win for any driver other than Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso would make them the fifth different driver to triumph at the Marina Bay Circuit.
Both Ferrari and Red Bull could equal Mercedes’ record tally of Singapore Grand Prix wins this weekend. Mercedes have won here four times, compared to Ferrari and Red Bull’s three wins each.
A pole position for Charles Leclerc would make him the first driver to have taken successive poles at the Singapore Grand Prix. Likewise, Ferrari can become the first team to take back-to-back poles at Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are currently tied for most pole positions at the Marina Bay Circuit. A pole for either driver would take the outright record to five.
If a driver other than Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc takes pole position, it would be the first time there have been five different polesitters for five races in a row at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari and Mercedes engines are currently tied on most poles at the track, having each powered five poles at the circuit. A pole for either would move the outright record for an engine manufacturer to six.
Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen are all currently tied for most fastest laps at the Singapore Grand Prix. A fastest lap this weekend for any of the first three in that list would see them set a new record of three fastest laps. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel will join the list of record setters if he takes the fastest lap.
Red Bull will be hoping for a podium finish this weekend. If they achieve it, this will be the eleventh consecutive Singapore Grand Prix that a Red Bull driver has finished in the top three!
Who will walk away from Singapore as the driver to have led the most laps at the Marina Bay Circuit? Sebastian Vettel currently leads the way, having been at the front for 252 laps at the track. But Lewis Hamilton is just three laps behind, on 249 laps led!
George Russell is one of four drivers, alongside Christian Klien, Narain Karthikeyan and Nelson Piquet Jr. who have failed to finish the Singapore Grand Prix on every appearance. He’ll be hoping to move out of that group this weekend.
HAMILTON STILL 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.
