While Alonso can equal Raikkonen’s number of podiums, Verstappen can overtake Vettel’s number of Red Bull wins and this could be the 100th consecutive points-scoring race for British drivers. Here are the milestones and the records which could be broken at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix!
THE 2023 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX MILESTONES
The 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will be the 1,085th World Championship event in Formula 1 history.
The 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will be the 105th time that Formula 1 has raced in Italy. Italy is the only country to have hosted more than 100 rounds of the World Championship, with Imola having hosted the country’s 100th race back in 2020.
This will be the 31st Grand Prix held at Imola since F1 first visited the track for a round of the World Championship at the 1980 Italian Grand Prix. This will be the fourth Emilia Romagna Grand Prix since the event was first held in 2020.
This will be the 50th appearance for Alpine in Formula 1.
This will be the 401st race at which McLaren have raced with Mercedes engines. They overtake Renault as the team to have spent the second-most races being powered by the same engine manufacturer. Renault raced 400 times with, predictably, Renault engines.
Lando Norris makes his 88th start with McLaren this weekend, overtaking Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have made the eighth most starts with the team.
Sergio Perez makes his 50th start with Red Bull this weekend, becoming the sixth driver to make 50 starts with the team.
This weekend, Carlos Sainz becomes the 16th driver to have made 50 starts with Ferrari.
The 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix marks the Haas team’s 150th race appearance. If they fail to win this weekend, they will be only the fifth constructor to compete in 150 races without winning a Grand Prix. If neither driver finishes on the podium, they will become only the second constructor – after Minardi – to compete in 150 races without recording a top three result.
The 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will be the fourth round of the World Championship to be held on May 21. It’s the first race to be held on this date since the 2000 European Grand Prix.
THE FORMULA 1 RECORDS TO BREAK
A win for Max Verstappen would see him overtake Sebastian Vettel as the driver who has recorded the most victories with Red Bull. He’d also overtake Vettel as the driver to have won the third most races with a single team in Formula 1.
If Verstappen leads a single lap of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he would become the seventh driver to have led 2,000 laps in F1.
Max Verstappen has scored at all of the last 24 races. Another top ten finish at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will see him overtake the longest points scoring streak of Michael Schumacher’s career. It would put him third in the all-time list of F1’s longest points scoring streaks, behind only Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. Verstappen has scored in every race since the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
At the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, Max Verstappen joined a small group of drivers who’ve won a race from eight different grid positions. Verstappen is one grid position away from equalling Fernando Alonso as the driver to have won from the most different grid slots in F1. Verstappen will equal the record should he win from 5th, 6th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13th or any grid position further back than 14th.
Should Verstappen out-score Fernando Alonso by six points this weekend, he would overtake him as the driver to have scored the third most points in F1 history.
If Max Verstappen wins, car number 1 will become the first number to win 200 Grands Prix. Car number 5 is the only other car number to have won as many as 100 races.
Max Verstappen could equal Sebastian Vettel as the driver to have taken the fourth-most wins without starting from pole position. Verstappen has won 21 races so far in his career without having taken pole position for the Grand Prix.
Victory for Red Bull at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix would make this only the fourth Formula 1 season in which a single team has won all of the first six races of the season. Red Bull would be the third team to achieve the feat, after McLaren in 1988 and Mercedes in 2014 and 2019.
A British driver has scored in all of the last 99 races. If Lewis Hamilton, George Russell or Lando Norris score in the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, this will be the 100th consecutive race in which a British driver has scored. A nation has scored in 100 races consecutively only twice before. German drivers scored for 176 consecutive races between the 2008 British Grand Prix and the 2017 Italian Grand Prix, while British drivers scored in 113 races in a row between the 2009 and 2015 Italian Grands Prix.
Having already won the Saudi Arabian and Singapore Grands Prix, one more victory for Sergio Perez in 2023 would make this the first season in which he has won three Grands Prix in a single year.
Fernando Alonso could record his 103rd podium finish this weekend. That would see him equal Kimi Raikkonen for fifth on the list of most Formula 1 podium finishes.
If Fernando Alonso wins any race this season, he will become the oldest driver to win a Grand Prix since Jack Brabham at the 1970 South African Grand Prix. Brabham won that race at the age of 43 years, 11 months and 5 days.
A podium finish for either Ferrari driver will make the team the first to record 800 podium finishes in Formula 1.
If Lance Stroll scores 15 or more points this weekend, he’ll overtake Jacques Villeneuve as the Canadian driver to have scored the most points in Formula 1.
If Fernando Alonso lines up fifth on the grid, he will equal Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have lined up fifth on the grid on the most occasions in Formula 1. Raikkonen started fifth on 39 occasions during his career.
A fifth place finish for Fernando Alonso in the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix would see him equal Jenson Button for the most fifth place finishes in Formula 1. Button finished fifth on 27 occasions during his career.
If Logan Sargeant picks up two points this weekend, the United States would become the tenth nation to have scored 1,000 points in Formula 1. American drivers have been stuck on 998 points since the 1993 Italian Grand Prix, when Michael Andretti scored the last points of his career with a podium finish for McLaren.
A points finish for Valtteri Bottas at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix would see Finland overtake Italy as the nation to have scored in the fifth most F1 races. Both nations have scored points in 417 races to date.
A podium finish for Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri would make 2023 the 50th season in which a McLaren driver has finished on the podium.
If a British driver takes pole position at any race in 2023, it would be the 20th consecutive season in which a British driver has taken pole. It would be a new record for most consecutive seasons in which a nation has taken a pole position, overtaking Britain’s long-standing record of 19 seasons with a pole position between 1955 and 1973.
An eighth place finish for Nico Hulkenberg or Carlos Sainz would see them equal Jenson Button as the driver with the most eighth place finishes in Formula 1. Button recorded his 20th and final eighth place finish at the 2016 German Grand Prix.
If Nico Hulkenberg lines up seventh on the grid, he’ll equal Fernando Alonso for most seventh places on the grid. Alonso could extend the record to 27.
A 14th place finish for Lance Stroll would see him set a new record for the most 14th place finishes in Formula 1. He currently shares the record with Pastor Maldonado.
2023 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX: RECORDS TO BREAK
Watch highlights of the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Should he win the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Max Verstappen would become only the fourth driver to have won three F1 races at Imola. Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton could become the eighth driver to have taken multiple wins here, while a win for anyone else would make them the 17th driver to have taken victory at Imola.
If Max Verstappen wins the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he’ll equal Michael Schumacher’s record of most consecutive wins at Imola. Schumacher won three races in a row at the track between 2002 and 2004.
Williams and Ferrari are currently tied for most victories at Imola. A victory for either team at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix would see them set a new outright record of nine wins at the track.
Victory for either Red Bull driver would see the team equal the record for most consecutive wins for a team at Imola. Williams took three wins in a row here between 1995 and 1997, while Ferrari took three consecutive wins between 2002 and 2004.
Ferrari and Renault are tied as the most successful engine manufacturer at Imola, with eight wins apiece. Either manufacturer could set a new outright record at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
If anyone other than Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Valtteri Bottas or Sergio Perez finish on the podium, they would become the 40th driver to have taken a top three finish at Imola.
If he leads 49 laps of the race, Fernando Alonso will become the seventh driver to have led 100 laps at Imola. Lewis Hamilton can achieve the same feat if he leads 53 of Sunday’s 63 laps.
If Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lead 22 laps between them, McLaren will become the first team to have led 500 laps at Imola. Williams could beat them to it, if they lead 35 laps of the race.
Should Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz race 97 laps between them at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Ferrari will become the second team – after McLaren – to have raced 3,000 Grand Prix laps in total at Imola.
Germany could equal Britain as the nation to have recorded the most podium finishes at Imola – but only if Nico Hulkenberg finishes in the top three, with no British drivers joining him on the podium.
Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris currently share the record for most appearances at Imola without failing to score, having picked up points on all three of their appearances. They could set a new record this weekend, usurping Dider Pironi from the top spot.
If Carlos Sainz is out on Lap 1, he’ll become the first driver to record multiple first lap retirements at Imola.
2023 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX: QUALIFYING RECORDS
Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have the opportunity to become the sixth driver to take multiple pole positions at Imola at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. A pole for any other driver would make them the 16th driver to take pole at Imola.
McLaren could become the first team to record ten pole positions at Imola this weekend. It would be the 13th time that a team has taken ten poles at a single circuit – and the fifth time that McLaren have done so.
Should a driver other than Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen take pole position at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, they would become the seventh consecutive different polesitter at Imola.
Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas will be hoping to maintain their 100% Q3 appearance record at Imola. Should any of the quartet reach Q3 at the 2023 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, they’ll become the first to record four Q3 appearances at Imola.
George Russell holds the record for most Q2 exits at Imola, with three. He could extend the record this weekend, while Lance Stroll could equal the existing record.
If Yuki Tsunoda is eliminated in Q1, he will become the first driver to record three Q1 exits at Imola.
HAMILTON SEARCHES FOR FIRST VICTORY SINCE 2021
Victory for Lewis Hamilton would see car number 44 equal car number 2 as the car number to have taken the third most wins in Formula 1.
A victory for Lewis Hamilton at any race in 2023 would see him move into the top 20 of the oldest drivers to win a Grand Prix in Formula 1. He would overtake Damon Hill as the third-oldest British driver to have won a Grand Prix.
If Lewis Hamilton wins any race this year, he’ll overtake Kimi Raikkonen as the driver to have had the longest gap between his first and last Grand Prix victories. He’d also be the first driver to have won after the 300th race of his career. Fernando Alonso would break the record if he were to take victory.
A victory for Lewis Hamilton would make him the first driver to have won in 16 different Formula 1 seasons. 2022 is the only season during his career in which Hamilton has not taken a victory.
WILL MERCEDES BE BACK IN THE FIGHT?
A victory for Mercedes would make 2023 the 12th consecutive season in which the team has won a race. They would be only the third team to win in 12 consecutive seasons, after Ferrari (1994-2013) and McLaren (1981-1993).
Pole position for Mercedes would see them become only the second team, after Ferrari between 1994 and 2008, to have taken pole positions in 12 consecutive seasons.
Victory for a Mercedes-powered car would see them become only the third engine manufacturer to have won in 17 consecutive Formula 1 seasons. The only other manufacturers to have done so are Ferrari (20 seasons, between 1994-2013) and Ford Cosworth (17 seasons, between 1967-1983).
A fastest lap for a Mercedes-powered car would see them become the second engine manufacturer to have powered 200 fastest laps in Formula 1. Ferrari are the only other engine manufacturer to have reached the milestone, having done so at the 2007 European Grand Prix.
If three Mercedes-powered cars finish on the podium, Mercedes will equal Renault’s record tally of seventeen podium lockouts for an engine manufacturer.
My expectation is that Ferrari will do a better job and evolve for the better so it can compete more with Red Bull and Alfa, otherwise this season will be a boring monotony.