Leclerc takes his first win from a grid slot other than pole, a Schumacher finishes in the top six for the first time in almost a decade and Alonso edges closer to the all-time laps raced record. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix!
LECLERC WINS IN AUSTRIA
Charles Leclerc took victory at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, recording his first victory since April’s Australian Grand Prix. This was his first podium finish since the Miami Grand Prix. This was Leclerc’s fifth victory in total, making him the 54th driver to win five Grands Prix during his Formula 1 career.
Leclerc recorded Ferrari’s first victory in Austria since Michael Schumacher’s win at the 2003 Austrian Grand Prix. This was Ferrari’s sixth win in total in Austria, equalling McLaren and Mercedes for most wins in the country.
This was the first time Leclerc has won a race at which he did not start from from pole position. He is one of only five drivers to have taken all of his first four wins from pole. The list also includes Niki Lauda, Felipe Massa, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Leclerc became the 24th different driver to win at Spielberg circuit and the 25th different driver to win in Austria in F1 history. He is the 52nd different driver to have won at five or more venues during his career.
Leclerc recorded his 18th podium finish, equalling the career tallies of Mike Hawthorn and Heinz-Harald Frentzen who sit 56th in the all-time list. Leclerc is the 14th driver to finish on the podium three times at the Spielberg venue.
The 2022 Austrian Grand Prix was the sixth consecutive race at the Red Bull Ring to be won from the front row of the grid.
VERSTAPPEN IS RUNNER-UP
Max Verstappen finished as runner-up for the first time since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. This was his 68th podium finish, equalling Rubens Barrichello for eighth on the all-time list. Verstappen equals Valtteri Bottas as the driver with the most podium appearances at the Red Bull Ring.
Setting the fastest lap for the third time in a race at the Red Bull Ring, Max Verstappen equalled David Coulthard and Lewis Hamilton as the driver to have set the most fastest laps at the Austrian venue.
HAMILTON THIRD AGAIN
Lewis Hamilton finished in third place for the third race in a row. This was the first time Hamilton has finished 3rd at three consecutive races since the 2012 Australian, Malaysian and Chinese Grands Prix. This was his sixth podium finish in Austria, but it’s the first time he has finished on the final step of the podium at the venue.
Hamilton became the first driver to finish on the podium having started eighth on the grid since Esteban Ocon won the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix from the same position.
With his tenth top ten finish in Austria, Hamilton overtook John Watson as the driver with the most top ten finishes in the country.
This was the first time that the driver starting second won, the polesitter finished second and the driver starting eighth finished third since the 2001 French Grand Prix. This was only the third time it has happened. Strangely, the time before the 2001 French Grand Prix was just two races before that, at the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix.
George Russell scored points at the Red Bull Ring for the first time in his career, coming home in fourth place. This was the fifth consecutive race at the Red Bull Ring in which both Mercedes drivers finished in the top four.
ENSTONE’S BEST AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
Esteban Ocon finished in fifth place, recording the Enstone-team’s best result in Austria since Alex Wurz finished fifth with Benetton in 1999. With Fernando Alonso tenth, this was the first time that the Enstone-based team scored with both cars at the Austrian Grand Prix since they were under their Benetton guise (and still based in Witney) in 1987. Teo Fabi and Thierry Boutsen finished fourth and fifth respectively on that day.
This was Ocon’s first top five finish of the season. His last top five result came at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, in which he finished fourth.
For the third consecutive race, the driver starting from 19th on the grid scored a point. Fernando Alonso finished in tenth, becoming the third driver to score from 19th in Austria. The others to do so are Marc Surer in 1984 and Carlos Sainz in 2019.
Having completed 70 laps of the Austrian Grand Prix, Alonso has now raced 18,619 Grand Prix laps during his F1 career. He’s just three laps away from overtaking Kimi Raikkonen at the top of the all-time list.
HAAS SECOND-BEST EVER SUNDAY
Mick Schumacher recorded points for the second weekend in a row, bettering his previous best result. With sixth place, this was the first race to feature a Schumacher in the top six since the 2012 Italian Grand Prix, in which Michael finished sixth with Mercedes.
With eighth place, Magnussen recorded his second-best result of the season to date. This was Haas’ second-best combined result to date in Formula 1. It is beaten only by the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, in which Romain Grosjean was fourth and Magnussen was fifth.
This was the first time that both Haas cars have finished in the top ten at consecutive races since the last two races of the 2018 season.
NORRIS FINISHES ROUND 11 FOR THE FIRST TIME
For the first time in his career, Lando Norris reached the chequered flag at Round 11 of the F1 season. He came home in seventh place, marking the first time he has finished a race at the Red Bull Ring in a position outside of the top six.
Norris remains in a group of only five drivers who’ve scored on every appearance at this circuit. The others are David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg, Pedro Rodriguez and Reine Wisell.
Finishing in ninth place, Daniel Ricciardo scored points for the third time this season. He last scored at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
ALFA ROMEO OUT OF THE POINTS
Valtteri Bottas just missed out on points at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. This is the second time this year he has finished a race in a position outside of the top ten. He also finished 11th at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was the first time Bottas has failed to score in Austria since his 2018 retirement.
Finishing in 14th place, Zhou Guanyu finished in a worse position than where he started for the first time in his career – not counting his four retirements.
NON-SCORE FOR ALPHATAURI
Pierre Gasly finished 15th in the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix, which is the Frenchman’s worst result in a race which he has finished since the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, where he also finished 15th.
With 16th place, Yuki Tsunoda recorded his worst result at the Red Bull Ring so far in his Formula 1 career.
This was the first time that the Red Bull junior team failed to score at the Red Bull Ring since the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix.
DEJA VU AT ASTON MARTIN
Lance Stroll lost a position from where he started in the Austrian Grand Prix. Of races he has finished, this is the first time Stroll has finished in a worse position than where he started since the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel finished in 17th place for the third time in his career. He also finished 17th in last year’s Austrian Grand Prix and the 2008 Turkish Grand Prix.
With Stroll 13th and Vettel 17th, Aston Martin recorded the exact same result at the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix as they did in 2021.
THE RETIREES
Sergio Perez was the first retirement from the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix. This was his third DNF of the season and his first retirement in Austria since 2016.
Before he retired from the race, Perez surpassed Jarno Trulli as the driver to have raced the tenth most laps in Formula 1 history.
Nicholas Latifi recorded his first retirement since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Carlos Sainz recorded his fourth retirement of the season. He became the first driver to retire having started third on the grid since Max Verstappen at the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This was the first retirement for the driver starting third in Austria since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003.
