A total of 80 different rally drivers have won a round of the World Rally Championship from 17 different nationalities. France is the most successful nation with 199 total wins, followed by Finland on 181. This means that between them, France and Finland have won 62.09% of all WRC rallies.  Rather remarkably, drivers called Sebastien have won 132 of those 612 rallies. That’s 21.56% of ALL rallies have been won by a driver with the same forename.

The numbers for co-drivers is slightly different, Finland coming out on top with 139 wins and France close behind with 118. A total of 21 different nationalities have won rallies in the co-driver seat. The United States, New Zealand, Ivory Coast and South Africa being the extra additions.

Twenty-two different manufacturers have won at least once in the WRC. So far only Citroen have broken the 100 wins barrier – 102 wins with five different models. From the WRC’s current crop of manufacturers, it’s Ford who lead the way with 91 wins. Toyota have 67 and Hyundai have won 19 times. The most successful car in the history of the WRC is the Volkswagen Polo R WRC. It won 43 rallies between 2012 and 2017. Three of the top five most successful cars are from Citroen – the C4 WRC (36), the Xsara WRC (32) and the DS3 WRC (26). The Peugeot 206 WRC rounds out the top five with 24 total wins.

French drivers called Sebastien have won 16 of the last 17 WRC titles. That’s a crazy 94.11%. Only Ott Tanak from Estonia has broken the run since 2004, he won the championship in 2019. Only 9 different nationalities have won the WRC title. France has the most for obvious reasons (16), followed by the Finns with 13. Countries with only one champion include Spain (Carlos Sainz x2), Estonia (Ott Tanak), Italy (Miki Biasion x2) and Norway (Petter Solberg).

The record for the youngest ever winner of a WRC round was broken in 2021 by Kalle Rovanpera when he won Rally Estonia at the age of 20 years, 9 months and 17 days. Previously the record had been held by Jari-Matti Latvala since 2008.

On the other hand the oldest winner of a WRC round has remained Bjorn Waldegard since 1990. Waldegard won that year’s Safari Rally at the age of 46 years, 5 months and 4 days. This still pales in comparison to the oldest co-driver to have won a WRC rally. This record belongs to John Kennard of New Zealand, who won the 2016 Rally Argentina at the age of 57 years, 2 months and 13 days. Kennard was a full 28 years older than his driver, Hayden Paddon.

Often in racing there are few things more thrilling than a close finish and not knowing who will win a race until the very last second. Here are some of the closest finishes from various disciplines across motorsport history.

IndyCar – 0.024s

It was a battle of the American ‘Jrs’ at Chicagoland in 2002 which produced the IndyCar Series closest ever finish.

Sam Hornish Jr of Penske was defending from IndyCar legend Al Unser Jr in the closing laps of the Delphi Indy 300 by the narrowest of margins. The pair were side-by-side, Hornish having a tiny power advantage on the straighaways which allowed him to cross the line just 0.024s ahead of Unser Jr. Even today the finish gives viewers goosebumps. Hornish Jr went on to win the IndyCar Series title the same year.

Indianapolis 500 – 0.043s

Often hailed as ‘the greatest spectacle in racing’, it would be foolish not to give the Indy 500 its own entry.

Once again Al Unser Jr was involved, only this time his rival was Scott Goodyear and Unser Jr came out the winner. Prior to this duos battle, it had been Michael Andretti who had dominated the race and was a lap ahead of the whole field with just 11 laps to go.

Cruelly a fuel pump failure robber Andretti the chance to emulate his Father Mario and win America’s most famous motor race. What had been a scrap for second, suddenly became a scrap to  win the Borg Warner trophy.

Goodyear tried to haul Unser Jr in and went for the overtake on the final lap. He would miss out on victory by just 0.043s. Unser Jr went on to add another Indy 500 win to his tally in 1994 while Goodyear, well, let’s not mention 1995 and THAT pace car incident.

Indy Lights – 0.0005s

The main IndyCar Series may have had its fair share of close finishes, however it is the feeder Indy Lights series which has the Guinness World Record for closest margin of victory in motorsport.

Sam Schmidt Motorsport pair Alex Lloyd and Logan Gomez were locked in combat in the 2007 Chicagoland Indy Pro, Gomez holding a small advantage going into the final lap. Lloyd then made his move around the outside, briefly banging wheels with Gomez. Perhaps this touch broke some of Lloyd’s momentum, for Gomez hung on to claim victory by 0.0005s. It was Gomez’s first win in Indy Lights.

NASCAR Cup Series – 0.002s

A photo finish in the NASCAR Cup Series isn’t exactly a rarity. Frequently fans are treated to a grandstand finish following a late yellow or a bump-draft spectacular. Therefore it seems appropriate that it’s not one, but two races which share the record for closest ever winning margin in the series history.

Ricky Craven would hunt down leader Kurt Busch in final laps of a race in 2003. Craven had started down in 31^st and with both drivers giving it their all, the pair ultimately crossed the line as one and it was impossible to tell with the naked eye who had the advantage. The timing screens would eventually announce Craven the winner by the smallest of margins.

It was another photo-finish at Talladega in 2011, with a battle of four two-car drafts commencing the final lap with Jeff Gordon in the lead.

Going into Turn 3 Jimmie Johnson attempted to make a move up the inside but initially could not make it through. Gordon then attempted to side-draft Clint Bowyer, leaving the opportunity there for team-mate and protégé Johnson to get past for the win.

Often in racing there are few things more thrilling than a close finish and not knowing who will win a race until the very last second. Here are some of the closest finishes from various disciplines across motorsport history.

F1 – 0.01s

Even today, the 1971 Italian Grand Prix remains unmatched for its close finish. It was before Monza had chicanes and it came in an era where slipstreaming was the word of the day.

With 10 laps to go Chris Amon was set for the win, Amon had made his way to the front of the field after cars ahead of him dropped out with mechanical failures and driver errors. The ever unlucky Amon too succumbed to a mechanical problem which left Swedish driver Ronnie Peterson in the lead.

Peterson was battling with Francois Cevert, Peter Gethin, Mike Hailwood and Howden Ganley in a slipstreaming masterclass. None of the drivers involved had ever won a grand prix before, so the determination was high and they all pushed their cars to the absolute limit.

On the final lap the quintet entered a straight drag race coming out of the famous Parabolica. They eventually crossed the line within 0.061s of one another, Gethin’s BRM coming out on top by just 0.01s from the March of Peterson with an average race speed of 242.615km/h. The race held this average speed record for a whopping 32 years until it was beaten by the 2003 Italian Grand Prix – won by the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.

MotoGP – 0.0s

Thanks to timekeeping only being able to classify riders to within a tenth of a second, the 1975 500cc Dutch TT at Assen remains the only premier class bike race to have finished in a dead heat for first place.

Then 7-time champion Giacomo Agostini finished alongside Barry Sheene who was riding his Suzuki to his first ever 500cc class victor. Agostini would go on to take his 8^th and final 500cc world title that same year.

WRC – 0.2s

It seems absolutely remarkable that a rally could have a winning margin as narrow as 0.2s given the amount of miles covered over the course of a number of days. That’s exactly what happened in the 2011 Jordan Rally though.

Initially the rally was due to be held across three days, however cargo docking issues in Syria left the teams running late and so the schedule was condensed down to just two days.

Over the course of day two, Sebastien Ogier had his 18.9 lead whittled down by Jari-Matti Latvala in a thrilling crescendo. Latvala eventually stole the lead by 0.5s as the pair prepared for the powerstage finale. However Ogier fought back to beat Latava by 0,7s on the powerstage and win the entire rally by 0.2s. It was a Hollywood ending for a rally which had begun in utter turmoil.

From a sea of orange, Formula 1 is set to be greeted by an ocean of red at its next venue - the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. A September regular, it’s time for the Italian Grand Prix at the land of the tifosi. 

The Italian Grand Prix is the only event, alongside the British Grand Prix, to be held every year since the inception of Formula 1 in 1950. The first-ever Italian Grand Prix took place a century ago in September 1921 at a circuit near Montichiari. The Monza circuit was constructed a year later and was the third purpose-built autodrome in the world after Brooklands in the United Kingdom and Indianapolis in the United States. The race was temporarily shifted to Imola for the 1980 season as Monza underwent a major renovation programme.

Historical circuits have a distinct characteristic about them. Monaco is tight and twisty with an average speed of about 170 kph. Monza, a complete contrast with its long straights and fast flowing corners is all about express pace. The venue is aptly termed the ‘Temple of Speed’ as 85% of the lap distance is run at full throttle, the highest of any Formula 1 track. Lewis Hamilton smashed the record for the fastest lap in Formula 1 during qualifying last year with a ripping average speed of 264.362 kph. He surprisingly did so without receiving a tow and without going fastest in two sectors.

The track is 5.793 km long and drivers reach speeds of around 360 kph before braking for the first turn. Over the course of a lap, drivers navigate through eleven corners, the second-lowest amongst all circuits this year after the Red Bull Ring. Monza is a multi-layout circuit and several configurations have been used for the 70 races held here. The infamous Pista di Alta Velocita banking corner that leads to the main straight was last used in 1961. Races in the hybrid era have witnessed an average of 35 overtakes and the effect of the tow is expected to be around 0.7 seconds. Hence, expect drivers to tuck in behind their rivals to gain an advantage, especially during qualifying.

Sprint qualifying returns this weekend and teams will expectedly be better prepared after the format was first tested at the British Grand Prix. Pole-sitters have won 35% of the races here, but that number shoots up to 71% since 2000. Only one driver has won the Italian Grand Prix after starting lower than tenth - Peter Gethin in 1971. That race also witnessed the closest finish in the sport’s history, a record that still stands 50 years later. Owing to its late spot on the calendar, eleven drivers’ champions have been crowned at Monza, the last of which was Jody Scheckter in 1979.

Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher are the most dominant drivers here with five wins apiece. Fittingly, Ferrari have taken more victories (19), poles (21), podiums (69) and fastest laps (19) at Monza than at any other circuit. The only time a Ferrari-powered car won a race for a different constructor other than the Scuderia was coincidentally also at Monza in 2008, when Sebastian Vettel took a shock victory driving a Toro Rosso.

Hamilton could also break the record for the fastest laps at a single circuit this weekend. He’s set the fastest lap at Monza on seven previous occasions and is currently tied with Michael Schumacher who set a similar number at Barcelona. The Brit also has 3999.5 career points to his name and is on the brink of becoming the first driver to breach the 4000-points club.

Mercedes have the upper hand here in the hybrid era. They have five wins, five poles and five double podiums at Monza in the last seven years. On the other hand, Red Bull haven’t won the Italian Grand Prix since 2013 and Max Verstappen hasn’t done better than fifth here. That said, Red Bull have been running rampant off lately and will want to take top honours at this circuit by rewriting the stats books. If the Dutch anthem plays on Sunday, Verstappen will have emerged victorious on three consecutive weekends. He’s already done it earlier at France and the Austrian double-headers.

Lastly, the tifosi have been longing to see an Italian winner at this prestigious circuit. The last Italian to win a home race was Riccardo Patrese when he won the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix driving a Williams Renault. Monza hasn’t seen a local winner since 1966. But all it takes is a small pinch of chaos to bring out a surprise winner, like in 2020. So, never say never.

- Sundaram Ramaswami
Twitter/Instagram - @f1statsguru

Always expect the unexpected in Formula One. From ill-timed leg breaks, positive COVID tests, cheques bouncing, and even being stuck in prison, the teams need to keep an eye on the drivers who are available to stand in for another driver at the last minute. Laura Leslie takes a look at some of the driver replacements who worked out and those who perhaps wish they just stayed at home.

Robert Kubica

After a string of fantastic free practice performances from Robert Kubica on Fridays throughout 2006, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Jacques Villeneuve at BMW-Sauber. The final straw for the team came after Villeneuve crashed out of the German Grand Prix. The official line was that Villeneuve was injured and unable to compete in the following race. The world knew BMW-Sauber finally had the excuse it needed to ship the former world champion out in favour of Kubica.

Immediately, F1’s first Polish driver showed his star quality by finishing in the points in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Only an underweight car prevented him from keeping his seventh place in the final standings. Two races later Kubica would go on to stand on the podium with third place in the Italian Grand Prix. He was the first driver since Alex Wurz in 1997 to stand on the podium within his first three races.

Fast-forward 15 years and Kubica is once again playing the 'super-sub' and again at the same team, albeit with a different name. Kubica replaced Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo after the Finn had tested positive for COVID on the Saturday morning of the Dutch Grand Prix. Kubica will get a second go in the car for the Italian Grand Prix after Raikkonen was not declared clear to return.

Mika Salo

After a tough season with a struggling Arrows team, Mika Salo found himself sidelined at the beginning of the 1999 season. Pedro de la Rosa’s Repsol cash had ousted him from Arrows rather last minute, leaving Salo with no options left. His chance came when Ricardo Zonta slammed his BAR Supertec into an armco barrier in Brazil; he broke his foot and badly damaged tendons while he was at it. Salo replaced the Brazilian for three races, narrowly missing out on points on two of those occasions.

His performance was enough to thrust him into the watchful eye of the Ferrari team after Michael Schumacher broken his leg during the British Grand Prix. Salo was drafted in for the following race in Austria. A quiet ninth place finish perhaps cast some doubt over Salo’s potential, but he shut the doubters up in superb fashion during a German Grand Prix he very nearly won.

Only team-orders from Ferrari to allow Eddie Irvine through stopped Salo from taking a maiden win; he would finish second, although Irvine would later hand Salo the winner’s trophy in a rare moment of gallantry for F1.

One more podium in front of the Ferrari tifosi in Monza ensured Salo would be remembered as a ‘super-sub’ for years to come.

Gianni Morbidelli/Norberto Fontana

To say Sauber had a nightmare with their number seventeen car in 1997 would be an understatement. Nicola Larini began the season alongside Johnny Herbert at the request of Ferrari, what with him being their test driver and Sauber using Petronas badged Ferrari engines. The relationship between Sauber and Larini turned sour after just five races, and he was replaced by fellow Italian Gianni Morbidelli for the Spanish Grand Prix.

However an nasty shunt during testing at Mangy-Cours left Morbidelli with a badly broken arm. After just two races he himself had to be replaced with tiny Argentinian, Norberto Fontana. A terrible debut in France led to Peter Sauber looking for this third replacement driver of the season. Eventually Fontana was given a second chance, which saw him missing a weigh bridge check during British Grand Prix qualifying and demoted to the back of the grid. He would finish ninth in the race. Another ninth in Germany was enough for the team to bring Morbidelli back for Hungary.

Sadly the arm injury suffered earlier in the season would prove to be enough to end Morbidelli’s career in F1. Fontana was draughted back in for the season finale in Jerez.

During the race he ended up infamously blocking the Williams of Jacques Villeneuve in order to help Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. He would never drive a Sauber again.

 

Michael Schumacher

It's a peculiar coincidence that Michael Schumacher began his F1 career in a car carrying ‘7up’ as it’s primary sponsor. The young German was handed his big chance after Jordan driver Bertrand Gachot took aim at London cab driver with some pepper spray. Some jail time for Gachot and a little white lie from Schumacher’s manager Willi Weber about his upstart having driving experience of Spa-Francorchamps ensured him of the drive.

Schumacher took the F1 world by storm with some impressive times during practice and a very together performance for seventh place in qualifying. Unfortunately he burned out his clutch and it failed completely as he exited Eau Rouge for the first time on the first lap.

The talent he possessed was abundantly clear. His Jordan spell didn’t last long as he was poached by Benetton boss Flavio Briatore for the very next race in Italy, to replace Roberto Moreno. The rest is history.

Nigel Mansell

Following the tragic death of Ayrton Senna in 1994, Williams drafted their former champion Nigel Mansell back in to help settle the team. He competed in four races and even won the season finale in Adelaide. His form was so good, despite a year our to compete in IndyCar, that McLaren pounced on Mansell for 1995. With Mercedes-Benz engines also promised, it appeared that Mansell and McLaren were on the cusp of great things.

Alas it was not to be. It turned out in pre-season testing that Mansell could barely fit in the new MP4-10 chassis. His debut for the Woking squad was put on hold until they could make alterations to the car. Those finally came to fruition for the San Marino race where Mansell had a strong run in the race. He was lying fifth before a collision with Eddie Irvine late on dropped him to tenth.

It proved to be a false dawn for both Mansell and McLaren. In Spain Mansell’s pace was awful during the race; he blamed the handling of the car and retired it on lap eighteen of the sixty five lap race. McLaren found nothing wrong with the car, Mansell quit the team, and ultimately the sport.

Sebastian Vettel

It’s rather easy to forget that Sebastian Vettel didn’t make his grand prix debut while driving a Red Bull sponsored F1 car. Instead, he was attired in the blue and white of BMW-Sauber in place of the mildly injured Robert Kubica. He’d already had a decent amount of F1 experience for his young age, after taking part in several Friday practice sessions the previous year.

Just like his hero Michael Schumacher, Vettel went on to qualify in seventh place for his debut. A poor start saw him drop a few places off the line but a well-measured and intelligent drive allowed him to come home and collect a solitary point. He became the first teenager ever to score points in a world championship grand prix, and a star was well and truly born.

Formula One returned to the Netherlands after a 36 year absence and the ‘Oranje Army’ were out in force to cheer on home hero Max Verstappen. Laura Leslie takes you through some of the most interesting stats to come from Zandvoort.

Verstappen delighted his huge home crowd by taking his 7^th win of the season. Every driver who has ever scored 7 or more wins in a single season has eventually won a world title in their career, so the signs are looking great for Verstappen to take his 1^st title later this year. Verstappen also now has as many wins for Red Bull as Fernando Alonso managed during his years at Renault – 17.

Zandvoort is the 13^th different track Verstappen has won on in his F1 career. This matches the great Jim Clark, though Verstappen remains quite some way behind the record holder Lewis Hamilton – the 7-time champion having won on 29 different circuits during his career so far. It is the 14^th different Grand Prix Verstappen has won, matching Niki Lauda, Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill and Nelson Piquet.

Verstappen won the first triple header of the season and is now on the brink of doing the same for the second, a win in Monza the only barrier between him and the ‘double triple’. The Dutchman now has as many podiums for Red Bull as Hakkinen and David Coulthard did for McLaren - 51. He has now led 468 laps in 2021 or 60.77%. On course for the 6^th highest percentage in a season in F1 history.

Zandvoort marked the 400^th race in the points for Finnish drivers after Valtteri Bottas finished in 3^rd place. It was also the 50^th points finish for Monegasque drivers following Charles Leclerc’s run to a solid 5^th place for Ferrari. Hamilton is now just half a point away from becoming the first driver to break the 4000 points barrier – the Brit is currently on 3999.5 career points.

Antonio Giovinazzi equalled his best ever qualifying result with 7^th place. The Italian previously achieved the same result back in Austria in 2019. It wasn’t just Giovinazzi who starred in qualifying,  Pierre Gasly also equalled his best ever qualifying with 4^th. The Alpha Tauri driver previously did so twice with Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri and once at Red Bull.

Lando Norris missed out on Q3 for the 1st time in 2021. Norris fought back to scored 1 point and make it 11 points finishes from 13 races. Sergio Perez was knocked out in Q1 after setting a competitive time for the 1st time since the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix. It was the 1^st time a Red Bull driver missed Q2 since Alexander Albon had issues during Q1 for the 2019 Russian Grand Prix.

Meanwhile Robert Kubica made his 1^st appearance in qualifying and a race since the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Pole replaced Kimi Raikkonen after Raikkonen tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday morning. Kubica managed to finished ahead of the driver who replaced him at Williams, Nicholas Latifi, by 2s. It was the 1^st race Raikkonen had missed since the end of the 2013 season – 150 races ago.

 

 

The Formula 1 bandwagon heads to one of its oldest races this weekend, the Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort. Sundaram Ramaswami brings you all the stats and numbers to watch out for this weekend.

Circuit Zandvoort first featured on the F1 calendar in 1952 and has since hosted 30 Grands Prix. The last time it was held, in 1985, ‘Amazon.com’ was yet to be founded, Sir Alex Ferguson hadn’t joined Manchester United and our current seven-time champion, Lewis Hamilton, was just seven months old. 

The Netherlands returns to the sport after a lengthy hiatus of 36 years, the longest interval between two championship events for a host country. The circuit has undergone a major revamp since its last race and the new track layout will host a Grand Prix for the very first time. The track length at 4.259 km is the second-shortest of the 2021 calendar, after Monaco. However, all the previous Dutch Grands Prix were run on even shorter versions.

Rarely would you come across circuits that don’t feature the ‘Schumacher’ or ‘Hamilton’ names on their leaderboards, but Zandvoort is one such venue. Triple-world champion Jim Clark is the most successful driver here with four victories, while Ferrari have triumphed here on eight occasions. Ford Cosworth’s legendary engines that dominated the sport between the 60s and 80s have 10 wins here in 17 races. While Clark only has a single pole at this venue, his team Lotus have accumulated eight pole positions over the years. With the track being quite narrow especially for the new-age cars, qualifying higher up the grid usually provides a bonus on race day. Over 70% of the races have been won from the front row, but that didn’t seem to bother the likes of Niki Lauda who took his 25th and last F1 win, after starting 10th at the last Dutch Grand Prix. Pole-sitters will also hope to keep ill-luck at bay, as they’ve suffered 11 retirements in the 30 races here. 

The circuit is located near the North Sea but the highlight will be its own sea of orange for its local hero, Max Verstappen. For several years, the Belgian GP has been the de facto home for Verstappen, considering his half-Belgian roots. But with Zandvoort making a return this season, Verstappen will finally have the opportunity to drive in front of his home crowd. Barring Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen, every other driver on the 2021 grid has a home race in F1. Going by Red Bull’s current form, Verstappen is a prime candidate for victory on Sunday. If he does so, he’ll become only the third driver alongside Nico Rosberg (Hockenheim) and Lewis Hamilton (Silverstone) to win their home race in the hybrid era. In addition, Verstappen’s last race finish outside the points was 99 races ago, at the 2016 Belgian GP. He’s on course to reach the magical century mark this Sunday. 

With the return of Zandvoort also comes the return of banked-corners in F1, the last of which was seen at Indianapolis in 2007. The final corner at this track is banked at 18°, which is twice as steep as the final turn at Indianapolis. While many of the 2021 drivers have driven at this circuit in their junior careers, drivers will still have to rely on their simulators to get a feel of the new track before Friday’s practice sessions. That said, Mercedes seem unfazed by new or returning circuits. They’ve consistently won the first race at any new or returning circuit on the F1 calendar since 2014. To date, the Brackley-based team have participated in just one Dutch GP (1955) but still ended up taking pole and a one-two race finish. It would be interesting to see if Mercedes can take their first one-two finish of 2021 at Vertsappen’s home race. This weekend also presents Hamilton with the opportunity to register a win at a 30th different circuit. The defending champion has won at all the circuits he’s raced at except for Yeongam, Valencia, New Delhi and Magny-Cours.

The safety car has also never made an appearance at the Dutch Grand Prix, nor has any race here been red-flagged. But with rain forecast for this weekend, there’s a possibility we could see either or both of them.

 - Sundaram Ramaswami

 Twitter/Instagram - @f1statsguru

 

 

For a race which promised so much, yet delivered so little, you’d be forgiven for thinking there would be nothing to deduce from the weekend as a whole. Wrong. Laura Leslie takes you through the most interesting stats from a bizarre Belgian Grand Prix.

It’s hard not to start with the big one, the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix is officially the shortest Formula One race in history. It lasted just 1 lap and was only 3m 27s long. Technically the race didn’t complete a full lap of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit either – the opening lap of the race was always destined to be shorter than the rest thanks to the start and finish lines being in different places. As a result the only lap completed was 6.88km long rather than the full 7.004km.

Max Verstappen scored his 6^th win of 2021 after crossing the line behind the Safety Car while peeling back into the pits. Verstappen closed down the gap to Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship, though not by the number of points he would have liked to. Rather than leaving with a 2 point lead, Verstappen instead remains 3 points behind Hamilton in the title chase owed to the decision to award half points. The Dutchman has also now gone level with Stirling Moss on the all-time wins list – 16. Both drivers are the two who have won the most grands prix without winning a world championship title.

This is the 6^th time in F1 history a race has awarded half points, the most recent occasion being Malaysia in 2009. It also means Red Bull only closed in on Mercedes in the constructors’ championship by 5 points rather than 10.

This race marked Honda’s 50^th grand prix as a power unit supplier for Red Bull. Just like it did when it hit this milestone with Alpha Tauri in last year’s Italian Grand Prix, it celebrated the occasion with a win. It was also the 50^th consecutive grand prix points finish for Honda power.

Half points meant Mercedes came away with its lowest points total from a race since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix when it scored 6 points. The team scored 7.5 points because of Hamilton’s 3^rd place finish in Spa. Valtteri Bottas finished a race outside of the points for the 4^th time as a Mercedes driver. All 4 of these races have come in the previous 2 seasons.

Mercedes were outscored by satellite team Williams for the first time since the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Williams came away from Spa with 10 points and its 1st podium finish since the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix a whopping 83 races ago. Second place was Williams’ best race finish since the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Strangely enough this was also the last time a race wasn’t given ‘normal’ points – Abu Dhabi 2014 was a double points race.

It was the 1st podium finish in F1 for George Russell and his 2^nd points finish of 2021. Russell’s podium also means that every British driver in the 2021 field has had a podium this season – the first time this has happened for the Brits since the 2010 season, when both Jenson Button and Hamilton finished on the podium on numerous occasions. Nicholas Latifi scored a solitary point for 9^th place and helped earn Williams it’s 2^nd successive double points finish – the first time it has done this since the 2016 Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.

Russell is the 25^th driver to take a podium finish for Williams and the 215^th driver in F1 history. A total of 11 different drivers have now stood on the podium in 2021, just 2 drivers shy of the 13 from 2020. Russell’s front-row start meant it was the first time since 2010 that all the British drivers in the current field had been on the front-row in that particular season since 2010. This was Williams first front-row since the 2017 Italian Grand Prix and first at Spa since 2001.

Daniel Ricciardo came away from Spa with his best weekend result for McLaren since joining the team at the start of 2021. Qualifying in 4^th was his best effort on a Saturday since last year’s Belgian Grand Prix. In the other McLaren it was a tough weekend, with Lando Norris suffering a huge crash during Q3 and the resulting damage left him with a gearbox penalty. Norris finished out of the points for just the 2^nd time in 2021 and the 2^nd race in succession.

Sebastian Vettel gave Aston Martin its best grid position for an F1 race since the 1959 British Grand Prix – Roy Salvadori qualified in 2^nd – with 5^th place. Of course this meant he also finished the race in 5^th, his 5^th on the road points finish of 2021, in car number 5

Alpha Tauri continued its fantastic run of points finishes following Pierre Gasly’s 6^th place. It’s the 15^th consecutive race the team have scored points and a run which is the 2^nd best of any team on the grid – Red Bull are currently on a run of 16. This is the team’s best points run in any of its previous guises. F1’s most recent new winner, Esteban Ocon, finished 7^th to take his own points scoring run to a 3^rd race and Alpine’s to 11.

Meanwhile Ferrari scored double points and a total of 1.5 thanks to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finishing in 8^th and 10^th respectively. Sainz becomes the first driver to score just half a point since Nico Rosberg did so in the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix. 

The scenic region of Stavelot will play host to the 66th running of the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend. Only three other events have held more races in the sport’s history - British GP (72), Italian GP (71) and Monaco GP (67). The Belgian Grand Prix has also been held at Zolder and Nivelles, but Spa has hosted the most races (53). The longest circuit on the calendar at 7.004km, Spa also boasts the biggest elevation change in the sport - 102.2m between the highest and lowest point. The elevation is almost twice as high as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Looking at history, Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver at this track with 6 wins. Amongst constructors, Ferrari have racked up most wins here (18). In qualifying, Lewis Hamilton leads the way with 6 poles. Ferrari and Mercedes-powered cars have been the most dominant around here with 14 pole positions apiece.

Michael Schumacher overtakes Jean Alesi into La Source during the 1997 Belgian Grand Prix. Image: Motorsport Images - Photographer: Rainer Schlegelmilch

Qualifying well is key as 64% of the races here have been won from the front row. That said, the track does provide numerous opportunities to overtake due to its extra-long straights. Driving for the Benetton team, Schumacher spectacularly took victory after starting 16th at the 1995 race, the furthest back from which the Belgian Grand Prix has been won. No driver has won back-to-back races at Spa since Kimi Räikkönen in 2005 and 2007 (Belgium didn’t feature on the calendar in 2006). The safety car has also made a regular appearance here since 2016.

Kimi Raikkonen leads for Ferrari in the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix. Image: Motorsport Images - Photographer: Gareth Bumstead

Esteban Ocon’s shock victory at the last race means the 2021 grid now has 11 different race winners, the most since the 2012 season. Hamilton currently holds a slender lead of 8 points over his title rival Max Verstappen. This is the smallest championship margin going into the Belgian Grand Prix since the 2010 season. The Belgian Grand Prix is also considered a home race of sorts for Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lance Stroll, owing to their Belgian roots.

This year’s Belgian Grand Prix is set to have milestones galore. Young Brits Lando Norris and George Russell will both mark their 50th race in Formula One. The Red Bull-Honda partnership that began in 2019 will also clock their 50th race together. Daniel Ricciardo is poised to become the 20th driver in history to enter the 200-Grands Prix club. He hasn’t missed a single race since his debut in mid-2011 and looks set to become only the third driver - after Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg - to start 200 consecutive races. Veteran Fernando Alonso, currently on 323 races, could surpass Rubens Barrichello to become the driver to start the second-most number of Formula One races.

Mercedes are front-runners when it comes to form at Spa. The Brackley-based team are on a streak of podiums since 2013 and have missed out on pole only once since then (2019). Hamilton has suffered more retirements at Spa (4) than at any other circuit in his career. That said, he has accumulated 9 podium finishes here and is currently tied with Michael Schumacher. Valtteri Bottas joined Mercedes in 2017 but has never been on pole or won a race here. He’s led just a solitary lap around Spa, which was back in 2014 during his Williams days.

Championship rivals Red Bull haven’t tasted victory at this venue since 2014, while Honda’s last win in Belgium was in 1991. Both parties will look to reset the counter on Sunday. Carlos Sainz Jr. has scored just one point in his six races at Spa, while fellow Spaniard Alonso’s last points finish here was back in 2016. Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi has never seen the chequered flag here after crashing out of the previous two Belgian Grands Prix. 

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The 2020/21 Formula E season is now over and it’s safe to safe it was a chaotic one! It was perhaps one of the most unpredictable and open world championships we’ve seen in modern times. Laura Leslie takes you through some of the big numbers below.

99 – That’s how many points new world champion Nyck de Vries finished the season on. In Formula E’s seven seasons so far that is the lowest winning total for a champion and marks the first time the champion has scored less than 100 points on the way to the title. De Vries won by just 7 points from Edoardo Mortara and only had a 10 point gap between himself and Robin Frijns in 5^th place.

11 – We saw 11 different drivers win a race and set a pole position in 2020/21. No driver would score more than 2 race victories – the 4 double winners being Jake Dennis, Lucas Di Grassi, De Vries and Sam Bird. Only 1 driver would secure a hat-trick of poles – Stoffel Vandoorne. 11 different winning drivers and pole sitters in a single season is a new record for Formula E.

20 – Of the 25 drivers who started a race in the 2020/21 season, an incredible 20 ended up with at least 1 podium finish by the end of the year. That’s a whopping 80% of the grid tasting champagne at some stage! Mitch Evans sipped the bubbles most frequently – 5 podium appearances and all in 3^rd place.

0 – Perhaps one of the most surprising statistics of the year was that 2015/16 champion Sebastian Buemi would fail not only to win a race, but also stand on the podium at all. Buemi endured a torrid season and only scored points in 3 races to finish a disappointing 21^st in the championship. Buemi’s best race finish was a 5^th place in the 1^st Rome ePrix.

2 – The number of points champion De Vries scored in a 6 race run mid-season. Only Sergio Sette Camara, Oliver Turvey and Tom Blomqvist endured worst streaks throughout the season and those drivers would finish in 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th in the championship respectively.

13 – The number of cars disqualified throughout the season, a new record for Formula E. In comparison Formula One has had just 11 disqualifications in the past 11 seasons. In 2020/21 Formula E was averaging a disqualification every 0.8 races. Nissan e.dams felt the wrath of the stewards most often with 5 total disqualifications, including 2 double DSQs in Puebla and London.

4 – The number of drivers who scored their maiden wins in 2020/21 - De Vries, Dennis, Alex Lynn and Norman Nato. For both Dennis and Nato this was their debut season in the series and indeed Dennis would go on to win 2 races and become the equal best performing rookie in the series history by the end of the season – 3^rd in the championship just like Felix Rosenqvist back in 2016/17.

Most starts in a single season:

• Bill Holland started a whopping 41 AAA sanctioned races during the 1946 calendar year. Holland had a best end of season finish of 2^nd in the 1947 AAA championship and he won a total of 3 races during his AAA Championship career. Holland even has an F1 podium finish to his name after coming 2^nd in the 1950 Indy 500, a Formula One World Championship event at the time.

Most 2^nd place finishes in a single season without a win:

• Tom Sneva managed to score 6 2^nd place finishes in the 1978 season, however a win would elude him. This didn’t stop the American driver from sealing the USAC National Championship, what would be his 2^nd title of an eventual 4 in his career. Danny Ongais would win the most number of races in the 1978 season, 5, however inconsistent results throughout the season meant he would only finish the year in 8^th

Most starts in a single season without recording a top 10 finish:

• Brazilian driver Luiz Garcia Jr started 19 races in the 2000 CART season, not once did he record a top 10 finish. Garcia Jr’s best finish was an 11^th place in Michigan and in 11 of his 19 starts he would finish outside the top 15. Garcia Jr would only start 2 more CART races in his career, neither of them saw him finish inside the top 25.

Most starts without a win:

• Raul Boesel was an ever-present figure on the American open-wheel racing circuit for nearly 2 decades. In total the Brazilian driver would start 199 races, however he would never stand on the top step of the podium in any of those races. Boesel scored a total of 5 2^nd place finishes, including 3 in 1993 alone.

Most starts without a top 5 finish:

• “King Hiro” was what Emerson Fittipaldi coined as a nickname for Japanese driver Hiro Matsushita. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant as a compliment as Matsushita often had a habit of getting in the way of the leaders as they came up to lap him, causing Fittipaldi to scream an obscenity over the radio which sounded “King Hero”. Matsushita did have one record to his name though, he started 117 races without scoring a single top 5 finish. The highlight of his career was a 6^th place finish in the 1995 Michigan 500.

A shock winner, controversies, clashes, comebacks and chaos. The Hungarian Grand Prix really did have it all. Laura Leslie guides you through the best stats to come from a wild weekend at the Hungaroring.

Esteban Ocon avoided all the opening lap smorgasbord of debris to emerge as Formula One’s newest race winner. Ocon becomes the 111^th driver to have won an F1 race and the 14^th different French driver to do so since 1950. It was France’s 81^st win and Ocon is the 2^nd French driver to win a race in the most recent 20 races. The win was also the 1^st for Alpine as a constructor. It was also the 1^st time in 38 years that a fully French line-up of driver, car and engine has won a race – Alain Prost last did this while driving for Renault in the 1983 Austrian Grand Prix.

It was a huge day for Ocon’s team-mate Fernando Alonso too. Alonso led a race for the 1st time since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix a whopping 7 years and 5 days ago, meaning Alonso now holds the record for the longest gap between two races led in a career. The disqualification of 2nd placed Sebastian Vettel promoted Alonso to 4th in the final results. This is Alonso’s best result since the 2014 Singapore Grand Prix where he also finished in 4^th place.

Vettel’s 2^nd place and 18 points were taken away from him after the race after the required 1lr fuel sample couldn't be taken from his car after the race. It would have been his 2^nd podium since joining the team at the beginning of 2021. Vettel came just 1.859s away from a potential 54^th victory in F1.

Lewis Hamilton retook the drivers’ championship lead after finishing 3^rd, which becomes 2^nd following the Vettel disqualification A Mercedes driver has now led the championship going into the summer break in 7 of the last 8 years. Mercedes itself also snatched back the lead of the constructors’ championship from Red Bull. The German squad will have a 12 point lead ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix in 2 weeks’ time. This was despite Valtteri Bottas crashing himself into the 1st opening lap retirement of his career and being the catalyst for the lap 1 mayhem.

Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished 4th on the road, but was confirmed as the final podium finisher when the Aston Martin of Vettel was thrown out of the results. This will be Sainz's 4th podium finish in F1 and means he will have failed to actually appear on the podium in 50% of all his total top 3 results so far.

The final 2 places in the top 6 were filled by the Alpha Tauri pair of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda. This was Alpha Tauri’s 1^st ever double top 6 finish under its’ current name and the 1^st for the Faenza based team since the 2019 German Grand Prix. 6^th was Tsunoda’s career best result yet. Alpha Tauri are now the only team to have scored points in every single round of the 2021 season, its’ points scoring streak now stretching to 13 races since the tail end of the 2020 season.

It was a double points finish for Williams too, the team’s 1^st since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix. Williams go back to Grove with a haul of 10 points and the most it will have scored in a single race weekend since the 2017 Italian Grand Prix where it also picked up 10 points. Nicholas Latifi scored his 1^st ever career points and becomes the 1^st driver to score points using car number 6 since Nico Rosberg won the world title with that number by finishing 2^nd in the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. George Russell secured his 2nd points finish of his career so far and his 1st as a Williams driver. Russell becomes the 1st Brit to score points for Williams since Jenson Button finished the 2000 Malaysian Grand Prix in 5th place. 

Max Verstappen finished a race outside the top 2 for the 1^st time all year. The Dutchman is now 12 points behind Hamilton in the drivers' championship. Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez suffered the 4th opening lap retirement of his career after being involved with the chaos at turn 1. Red Bull have only scored 5 points in the previous 2 races, while Mercedes have scored 61.

It was despair for Lando Norris and McLaren too. Norris failed to finish and therefore score points for the 1^st time in 2021, ending his record breaking run of 15 consecutive points finishes as a McLaren driver. Daniel Ricciardo could only finish the race outside the points in 11th, ending McLaren’s points scoring streak of 17 straight races.

Damon Hill – 1993

3 times in his first 12 races Damon Hill could have been a Grand Prix winner. Instead the Briton had to wait until his 13^th race start to finally take a popular maiden win and seal a place in history alongside his champion father, Graham.

In Spain, Britain and Germany Hill had come agonizingly close to winning only to be denied by 2 engine failures and a blown tyre. He went into the Hungarian Grand Prix in a determined mood and qualified just 0.204s away from Williams-Renault team-leader and then 3-time champion Alain Prost.

Prost then stalled on the grid leaving Hill at the front of the grid alone to battle off a hungry Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. Schumacher fluffed his start and dropped down the order, while Senna put up a valiant fight in the first few corners before Hill managed to pull out a 1.7s gap at the end of lap 1. Hill would continue to pull away and his main rivals succumbed to DNFs.

Hill won by over a minute from the Benetton of Ricardo Patrese, becoming the 14^th Briton to win an F1 race and the 148^th victory for a British driver. Hill would win a further 19 races in his career and became world champion at the end of the 1996 season, meaning Damon and Graham were the 1^st ever father and son duo to be world champions in F1 history.

Fernando Alonso - 2003

Fernando Alonso had already made history in 2003 by becoming the youngest ever polesitter at that year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. By Hungary his star was shining more brightly than ever and he once again stuck his Renault on pole, but this time there was no doubt over his potential race pace.

Alonso won at an absolute canter and even lapped the reigning world champion, Michael Schumacher. Alonso beat fellow young hotshot Kimi Raikkonen by just over 16s and the pair were joined on the podium by Juan Pablo Montoya. All 3 drivers had made their debuts in 2001 and now they had made the youngest ever podium in F1 history with an average age of just 24 years, 7 months and 12 days. This record would stand for over 5 years.

Alonso was the 1^st driver from Spain to win a grand prix and the youngest ever winner of a race at , beating Bruce McLaren’s 44 year old record in the process. Alonso has since won another 31 races and won the world championship in 2005 and 2006.

Jenson Button - 2006

113 races. That’s how long Jenson Button had to wait before he scored his maiden F1 win. At the time only Jarno Trulli (117) and Rubens Barrichello (124) had done more races prior to winning for the 1^st time.

Button didn’t take his 1^st win the easy way either. A blown engine in free practice left his Honda team needing to change the entire unit before qualifying, this left Button down in 14^th on the grid after a penalty. Sunday brought rain and for the changeable conditions master Button, it was perfect.

Button made a great start and quickly made his way up into the top 10 before gradually working his way up the order to sit in 2^nd behind Fernando Alonso. A safety car helped Button close the gap to the Spaniard, but backmarkers meant he was still 9 seconds down even when the safety car came back into the pits. Button was quicker than Alonso at this stage of the race and was right on his tail the tail prior to Button making a pitstop. The British driver had chosen not to change his intermediate tyres and thus would have to stop again as the track continued to dry. Alonso chosen to stop later and put on dry tyres, meaning all he had to do was catch Button and wait for him to also pit for slicks.

Instead Alonso was out of the race by the time he could get to T3 on his outlap, a loose wheelnut causing his car to spin off into the barriers. Button was given a clear fun to the flag and took Honda’s 1^st win in over 39 years.

Heikki Kovalainen – 2008

For Heikki Kovalainen a contract with McLaren-Mercedes promised wins, possibly titles and a lot of trophies. As it was, Kovalainen only managed 1 win and 3 podiums in his 2 years with the Woking based squad. His win came at Hungary in 2008 and was only possible thanks to an enormous slice of luck as well as Kovalainen being in the right place at the right time.

It was a McLaren 1-2 on the grid and a McLaren 2-3 by T2 on lap 1. Felipe Massa got the jump on poleman Lewis Hamilton and Kovalainen to lead. The Ferrari driver built up a gap and took Hamilton with him, leaving Kovalainen in a distant 3^rd.

Later in the race Hamilton flat-spotted his front-left tyre in his desperation to keep up with Massa. This tyre eventually would deflate and dropped him out of contention to win the race. Kovalainen moved up to 2^nd, but was a long way behind leader Massa. Then just 3 laps left Massa’s engine blew up as he went down the start-finish straight. Suddenly Kovalainen was leading and had a 10+ second gap to the Toyota of Timo Glock in 2^nd.

Kovalainen thus became the 4^th Finnish driver to win a grand prix, after Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen. Kovalainen would only visit the podium once more in his career after his win, at the Italian Grand Prix the same year where he finished 2^nd. He was the 30^th driver in F1 history to remain a ‘one-win wonder and was actually the 100^th different driver to win an F1 championship race.

Formula E was its’ predictable bonkers self as it returned to London for the first time in 5 years. Laura Leslie runs through the most interesting stats to emerge from the weekend.

So far in 2020/21 we’ve had 13 races, 10 different winners, 10 different pole sitters and an unbelievable 19 different drivers on the podium. Championship leader Nyck de Vries has a 6 point advantage over Robin Frijns despite only having 6 top 10 finishes in the 13 races so far. De Vries left London with a brace of 2^nd place finishes, ending Mercedes-EQ’s 6 race podium drought, which thrust him from 10^th in the championship, to the lead as he took advantage of a double no-score for former leader Sam Bird.

Alex Lynn scored his 1^st win in the series in R2 in London and came away with 44 points, more than any other driver, to move from 17^th in the standings to 6^th and just 17 points off de Vries. Indeed the gap between 12^th placed Jean-Eric Vergne and de Vries is just 28 points. With 30 on offer from each race at the double header finale in Berlin, it means any one of 12 drivers could be leading the championship ahead of the final race. 18 drivers are still in with a mathematical shot of winning the championship.

A total of 3 cars were disqualified from each of the races across the weekend. Nissan suffered a double disqualification in R1 after overusing its’ energy allocation, the team’s 2^nd double disqualification of the year after suffering the same fate in R1 at Puebla. Lucas di Grassi was the other casualty of disqualification, after becoming the 1^st driver in series history to be shown the black flag thanks to Audi Sport’s safety car pitlane gamble.

Di Grassi’s disqualification meant Lynn won despite not leading a single lap of R2. This is the 5^th time such an incident has happened in the 7 years the series has run. A remarkable number when you compare it to Formula One which has only had 7 such incidents across 72 years.

In London R1 it was Jake Dennis who claimed victory, his 2^nd of the year and he became just the 3^rd driver to win more than 1 race in 2020/21. The win moved BMW i Andretti into title contention as it sits 5^th in the standings just 22 points behind leaders Envision Virgin Racing.

Envision Virgin finds itself in a peculiar position of leading the championship with 2 races to go despite not actually winning a race the entire year so far. The team has had 4 2^nd place finishes and 13 top 10 finishes so far this season.

Following Joel Eriksson’s 10^th place finish in London R2, all 25 drivers who have entered a Formula E race in 2020/21 have now scored at least a point. Eriksson’s point helped end Dragon / Penske Autosport’s 7 race drought and moved it further away from NIO 333 at the bottom of the standings. NIO have not scored a point since Oliver Turvey finished 8^th in R2 at Valencia 7 races ago.

France 2002 – Michael Schumacher

Rather unbelievably the stage was set for Michael Schumacher to secure a record-equalling 5^th world title on the 21^st of July 2002. What had been a long shot at the start of the weekend became something of a formality once Schumacher’s Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello had his car completely fail on his while on the grid. Barrichello was Schumacher’s only real threat for the title by this stage of the season, with him gone all Schumacher needed to do was win the race and for Juan Pablo Montoya to finish off the podium.

Montoya was on pole though and would hold off Schumacher at the start of the race. It was clear Schumacher had better pace though and he was expected to jump the Williams driver in the opening pitstop sequence. Schumacher duly did just that, however he had made a rare mistake while exiting the pits by crossing the white line. A drive through penalty was awarded to him and he slipped back behind McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, whom had himself jumped Montoya in the pits.

Schumacher was not ready to give up on a 5^th championship and a 61^st victory. He reeled Raikkonen in and put the young Finn under tremendous pressure in the closing laps. Eventually the McLaren driver was forced into an error, slipping wide on oil left behind by Allan McNish’s Toyota on the run down to the Adelaide hairpin.

Schumacher pounced at once and completed a smart comeback from an error you’d usually only attribute to a rookie. A 5^th title was his and a place in history was secured forever.

Germany 2009 – Mark Webber

Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello started alongside each other for the 2009 German Grand Prix and would remain that way most of the way down the main straight on lap 1. Webber swiped across the track and made contact with Barrichello at high speed, though both cars came away from the impact undamaged. Barrichello snatched the lead, Webber was given a drive through penalty for a dangerous move and it looked like his hopes of a maiden win were shattered.

Webber had other ideas though. After retaking the lead from Barrichello when the Brazilian stopped early, Webber set about going on a charge. Red Bull pulled Webber in for his 1^st stop and he quickly retook the lead before stopping again to take his penalty. This left Felipa Massa in the lead from Barrichello. Webber made his way back up to 2^nd place prior to the 2^nd and final stops, before leapfrogging Barrichello once again in the pit sequence to take a famous 1^st F1 victory.

Canada 2011 – Jenson Button

Jenson Button was down in 21^st place on lap 37 of the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix. By lap 70 he was 1^st. His journey there was filled with incidents, luck and pitstops. Button started the race in 7^th place and rose to 5^th at the start. He made an error mid-lap and dropped down to 7^th again behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. After getting by Hamilton when Hamilton made an error, Button defended robustly from his team-mate. This led to the pair having a race-ending collision for Hamilton down the main straight on lap 8.

Button, who had stopped for intermediate tyres prior to the safety car period to retrieve Hamilton’s stricken McLaren, was then given a drive through penalty for overspeed during the safety car period. Dropping to 15^th, his hopes of victory went from slim to zero. Or so we all thought.  Button methodically began to make his way back up the order to 8^th place before the rain intensified to a point that full wets were required. This dropped Button back down to 11^th as the race was halted for a 2 hour period due to the weather. When the race eventually restarted Button once again started to make his way back up the order.

Button then had an incident with Alonso on lap 37, which left Alonso stranded on a kerb and brought out the safety car yet again. Button suffered a punctured tyre in the clash and the subsequent pitstop would drop him down to 21^st and last place. For a 3^rd time Button had to fight his way through the field.

With DRS being enabled on lap 46, this journey became easier for Button and he quickly rose to 10^th and back into the points. Following the field switching to dry tyres, Button was in 4^th and only had Schumacher, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel ahead of him. A 6^th safety car for an accident further down the field bunched the field up and made Button’s life just that bit easier. He quickly breezed by both Webber and Schumacher on the same lap and set off after leader Vettel.

On the final lap Vettel still led by 0.9s from Button, until the reigning champion ran wide through turn 6 and allowed Button to take the lead and win one the finest comebacks F1 had ever seen.

Brazil 1993 – Ayrton Senna

The 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix started off perfectly for Ayrton Senna. In front of his adoring home fans, he barged ahead of Damon Hill off the line to chase after leader Alain Prost. On lap 11 Senna was repassed by Hill and on lap 25 things went from bad to worse for the Brazilian. While overtaking a backmarker, Senna failed to notice the yellow flags being waved due to an incident. Senna was slapped with a stop/go penalty and dropped back behind 3^rd placed Michael Schumacher in the running order.

A rain shower changed things after Prost opted not to pit for wet tyres, unlike Hill, Schumacher and Senna before a safety car, its 1^st official appearance following trials at the French and British races the previous year, bunched up the field. Prost then spun on the main straight on lap 30 and crashed into the stricken Minardi of Christian Fittipaldi. Hill now led form Senna, who had jumped Schumacher during the pitstop phase.

Once the track began to dry later in the race Senna was in touching distance of Hill. When the change back to slick tyres occurred Senna would pass Hill for the lead and pulled away from the Brit with ease. Senna eventually won by 16.6s from Hill and claimed his 2^nd ever home win.

Germany 1993 – Alain Prost

Williams started from a predictable 1-2 for the German Grand Prix. Alain Prost ahead of Damon Hill, both other them well over half a second ahead of Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. Prost got a dreadful getaway and was passed by Hill, Schumacher and Senna at the start. On the way down to the 1^st chicane Prost repassed Senna, who would then spin and drop back to the rear of the field, then set off after Schumacher. Martin Brundle then had a spin which forced Prost to take evasive action across one of the chicanes. Prost eventually got by Schumacher on lap 6.

Prost was then handed a controversial stop/go penalty for cutting the chicane in the Brundle incident. After the race Prost would go on to call the decision “a scandal”. After dropping to 6^th in the aftermath of his penalty, Prost then began to make his way back through the field in a superior car.

Prost made his way back up to 2^nd behind team-mate Hill and in the closing laps reduced his lead to just 8s. On the penultimate lap disaster struck Hill and his left rear tyre suddenly deflated and he had to retire the car before making it back to the pits. This allowed Prost to slip by and take his 51^st and final win in F1.

Canada 1998 – Michael Schumacher

The 1998 Canadian Grand Prix started off in a wild manner and would continue to be a race of controversy and confusion. There was an abandoned start, 2 opening corner pile-ups and 5 cars out on the opening lap including polesitter Mika Hakkinen. This left Hakkinen’s McLaren team-mate David Coulthard in the lead ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher quickly found his way by Fisichella and inherited the lead on lap 19 when Coulthard retired with transmission issues. It looked like Schumacher would romp away with the win with no real competition left in the field. Then he pitted. On his way out from the pits he failed to notice the faster car of Heinz-Harald Frentzen on the outside of T1. Frentzen was pushed off into the gravel and out of the race.

After his 1^st stop, Schumacher came out in 3^rd behind Fisichella and home favourite Jacques Villenueve. Villenueve wasn’t a problem for long after trying, and failing, to overtake Fisichella after a safety car period. Schumacher was then given a stop/go penalty for forcing another car off the track and dropped back behind Damon Hill after taking it. A controversial weaving incident with his old rival later and Schumacher was back into 2^nd behind Fisichella. The Italian relinquished the lead to Schumacher after making his only pit stop, this left Schumacher with a window in which to build up a lead prior to his 2^nd and final stop.

The then double world champion succeeded in his mission, leaving the pits ahead of Fisichella and kept a 16s cushion over the Benetton driver until the end of the race.

Britain 1998 – Michael Schumacher

In dry conditions Michael Schumacher probably didn’t stand much of a chance of winning the 1998 British Grand Prix. The then double world champion had qualified on the front-row, but was nearly 0.5s away from rival Mika Hakkinen. Then it rained. A lot.

The start took place in mixed conditions, however it didn’t take long for the weather to turn back for the worse and drivers began to peel into the pits for wets in their droves. By lap 38 conditions were beyond treacherous and several spins, including David Coulthard, meant the stewards had no choice but to deploy the safety car. Schumacher had been sitting behind Alexander Wurz just before the safety car period and confusingly emerged ahead of him before it would end.

While the stewards deliberated over the unusual incident Hakkinen, who had led all race, had a spin at the front of the field and allowed Schumacher through into the lead on lap 52. Just 2 laps from the end of the race the stewards finally handed Schumacher a 10-second penalty for overtaking under the safety car.

Confusion reigned since Ferrari were sure the stewards had missed their 25 minute time window to hand Schumacher his penalty by 6 minutes. The team were also unsure over the handwritten note which had been handed to them and didn’t clearly state if the penalty was to be applied post-race or had to be taken in-race. In a compromise Ferrari brought Schumacher into the pits on the final lap of the race and seemingly handed the win to Hakkinen.

However Schumacher had actually already crossed the finish line on his way into the pits, thanks to the finish line being before the starting line. Schumacher had already won the race before he had taken his penalty. The stewards couldn’t apply the penalty post-race either because to do so said penalty had to have taken place in the last 12 laps of the race, which Schumacher’s hadn’t.

The penalty was eventually rescinded and the matter investigated by the FIA World Council who confirmed the trio of errors from the stewarding team. Schumacher was a 31 time grand prix winner, had taken his 3^rd win in a row in 1998 and had won 2 of the previous 3 races despite being handed mid-race penalties.

The 2021 British Grand Prix was full of drama, controversy and emotion. From home wins, to big shunts and heartbreak in Maranello, Laura Leslie takes you through the best stats from the weekend.

Home hero Lewis Hamilton won for the 99^th time in his career in style, but not without a decent spoonful of controversy first. The 7-time champion had to fight back from a 10 second penalty after causing a collision with title rival Max Verstappen on the opening lap. With just 3 laps left in the race Hamilton blasted by race leader Charles Leclerc and cut Verstappen’s championship lead down to just 8 points. Hamilton scored a total of 27 points across the weekend - 2 in sprint qualifying and 25 in the race. This is the most a driver has scored in one weekend since Hamilton scored 50 points in the 2014 double points finale at Abu Dhabi.

Mercedes also cut the lead Red Bull had over it in the constructors’ championship to just 4 points thank to both Hamilton’s points and Valtteri Bottas getting a ‘double podium’ of 3^rd in sprint qualifying and the race. Hamilton became the 1^st driver in history to win the same race 8 times in 2 different locations – Hungary and Great Britain. He also became the 1^st driver in history to score 8 consecutive podiums in the same race – 2014-2021.

For Red Bull the British Grand Prix turned into a nightmare weekend. While the team still leads both championships, it’s lead has been slashed in both by Mercedes. Neither car scored points in the grand prix itself – the first time the team has gone without points in a grand prix since the 2020 Emilia Romanga Grand Prix. Verstappen did score 3 points for winning the inaugural sprint qualifying session though. This win led to Verstappen scoring his 4^th pole position in a row – the first time Honda power has done this since the opening 4 rounds of 1991.

Red Bull’s loss was Ferrari’s gain however. The opening lap crash allowed Leclerc to sneak through into the lead and he came just 3 laps away from a shock victory. Instead Leclerc had to settle for 2^nd and his 1st podium since last year’s British Grand Prix. Leclerc has now led 50 laps in total this season, more than twice the amount of Bottas and 9 more than the Finn in the previous 15 races. Prior to Sunday Ferrari had only led 1 lap in the previous 27 races.

Despite the strong haul of points Ferrari still finds itself 15 points adrift of McLaren in the constructors’ championship. The papaya team had one of its strongest weekends of the year so far with both cars finishing in the top 5 for the first time in 2021. Lando Norris became the 1^st McLaren driver in the team’s history to score points in 15 consecutive races and remains the only driver to score in all 10 rounds of 2021 so far. The superfast Brit has hauled himself back up to 3^rd in the drivers’ standings ahead of the half-way point of the season.

Norris’ team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had by far his best weekend since joining the team. His 1^st top 5 finish of the year and a number of fine overtakes bode well for the remainder of the year. McLaren itself has scored points in 17 consecutive races now – its 4^th best ever run of this kind.

Alpine continued to close in on Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship after Fernando Alonso put in a fine performance to finish 7^th – 4 places up from his initial starting spot in sprint qualifying. This is Alonso’s 5^th points finish in a row. It wasn’t all bad for Aston though, the team is now just 1 point behind Alpha Tauri following Lance Stroll’s 8^th place.

It was hero-to-zero for George Russell and Williams. Russell had qualified in a superb 8^th for sprint qualifying, but unfortunately that was as good as it got. Russell has now gone 47 races at Williams without scoring a point – the worst run for a driver in the team’s history. Kimi Raikkonen became the 1^st F1 driver in history to race at the same track 20 times. While at the rear of the field Nikita Mazepin finished ahead of team-mate Mick Schumacher on merit for only the 2^nd time in 2021.

Seven lucky drivers have had the honour of grabbing their maiden Formula One win at the British Grand Prix. Laura Leslie takes you through them below.

Giuseppe ‘Nino’ Farina – 1950

It was the first race of a brand new championship and the start of a legacy which remains to this day. The 1950 British Grand Prix was the inaugural round of the Formula One world championship. Contested by 21 drivers from 9 different countries, the race was held at the old Silverstone airport over 70 laps. Italian Giuseppe Farina would start from pole alongside his Alfa-Romeo team-mate Luigi Fagioli and that’s how the pair would also finish the race. In 3^rd was Brit Reg Parnell in the 3^rd of 4 Alfa-Romeo cars.

Farina also bagged the fastest lap of the race, meaning he also become the 1st driver to grab a hat-trick of pole, win and fastest lap. Farina would go on to score a further 4 wins and 18 podiums, before leaving F1 at the end of 1955 after a nasty crash spooked him into withdrawing from what would have been his final grand prix.

Jose Frolian Gonzalez - 1951

Argentinian driver Jose Frolian Gonzalez had taken part in just 4 grand prix prior to his maiden win in the 1951 British Grand Prix. His 1^st 3 starts yielded nothing but non-finishes, so he switched to Ferrari part-way into the 1951 season in the hopes of a change of fortunes.

The move worked. In his first race for Ferrari he finished 2^nd before taking that maiden win at the next race at Silverstone. The win was also Ferrari’s 1^st in Formula One and Gonzalez would finish on the podium in every other race he started for the Scuderia that season. Gonzalez would score only 1 other win in his F1 career, 3 years later and again in Britain. Ferrari have since won 238 total races and taken 16 constructors’ championships.

Stirling Moss – 1955

1955 heralded the first trip away from Silverstone for the British Grand Prix since it’s pre-F1 days at Brooklands. Held at Aintree, which was indeed located within the famous horse-racing course near Liverpool, the race was won by a promising British talent by the name of Stirling Moss.

Moss led home a dominant Mercedes 1-2-3-4 and had to put up with a conspiracy that team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio had deliberately driven slower than he could have to allow Moss to win. Fangio denied all the rumours and insisted that Moss had simply ‘been the quicker driver’ throughout the race. Moss won a further 15 races in his career, becoming the driver with the most wins to have failed to become world champion. Mercedes withdrew from F1 at the end of 1955 and would not return for 65 years.

Tony Brooks – 1957

Once again held at Aintree, the 1957 British Grand Prix was to be a very rare thing in F1 history. A shared victory. Tony Brooks would drive his car for the first 38 laps of the race before handing over driving duties to Stirling Moss for the remainder of the race. Moss would cross the line in 1^st place and both he and Brooks were attributed as the winners.

This was the 3^rd and final time that two drivers would share a win in F1 history. The victory was also the first for manufacturer Vanwall, the team winning the brand new constructors’ championship the following season. Brooks won 5 more times in his career, 3 of those being for Vanwall.

Jo Siffert – 1968

It would be 13 years before F1 saw another maiden winner at the British Grand Prix. This time held at Brands Hatch, Swiss driver Jo Siffert became the 1^st driver from the country to win in F1. Siffert drive for Rob Walker entered Lotus cars alongside Brits Jackie Oliver and Graham Hill. Siffert had been considered an outsider for the win prior to the race.

Both Hill and Oliver would end up retiring from the race with mechanical failures, Siffert taking up the Lotus mantle well and crossing the line 4.4s ahead of Ferrari’s Chris Amon. It would be Rob Walker’s 9^th and final win as a privateer outfit. Siffert won once more in his career, at the 1971 Austrian Grand Prix.

Peter Revson – 1973

The 1973 British Grand Prix is primarily famous for a 13 car pile-up on lap 1 which would cause 11 cars to retire from the race. Peter Revson, heir to the Revlon cosmetics house, was one of the lucky ones to avoid the carnage. Driving for McLaren, the American had qualified a strong 3^rd on the grid. In the race Revson took advantage of a collision between leaders Jackie Stewart and Ronnie Peterson and would end up crossing the finish line 2.8s ahead of Peterson’s Lotus.

The win was the first for McLaren in the country where it would eventually settle in and call home. The team has won the British Grand Prix a total of 14 times, most recently in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton. Revson won once more in his career, the 1973 Canadian Grand Prix. He would unfortunately have his career cut short the following year when a testing accident claimed his life prior to the 1974 South African Grand Prix.

Johnny Herbert – 1995

It could, and probably should, have been David Coulthard who made this list. The Scot was leading his home race in 1995 when he was slapped with a stop/go penalty for speeding in the pits. This misdemeanour left the race lead in the hands of Johnny Herbert.

The plucky Brit drove his Benetton home ahead of Jean Alesi, giving the team some cheer in the aftermath of it’s champion Michael Schumacher being taken out of the lead by Damon Hill earlier in the race. Herbert would go on to win again later in the season at Monza and helped the team to it’s 1^st constructors’ championship at the end of the year. Herbert would win his 3^rd and final race 4 years later at the 1999 European Grand Prix.

Formula One returns to ‘motorsport valley’ this weekend for the British Grand Prix. Laura Leslie guides you through the best stats and facts ahead of what promises to be an action packed weekend.

The British Grand Prix has been held a total of 71 times since 1950. The race has been located at 3 different race tracks – Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch. Silverstone has played host to the race every year since 1987 after previously alternating years with Brand Hatch from 1963 to 1986. Aintree hosted the race on 5 occasions between 1955 and 1962.

A total of 39 different drivers from 15 different countries have won the British Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton has won more British races and been on pole more than any other driver – 7. The 7-time world champion has won 6 of the previous 7 British Grand Prix and has been on the podium in every turbo hybrid era race so far. Hamilton has also led the most laps of the current crop – leading 40.81% of all race laps held since 2014.

It's Ferrari who lead the way in total number of constructor wins – 17. The Italian marquee sits 3 wins ahead of McLaren and 7 ahead of Williams. 11 other manufacturers have won the British Grand Prix – including 2021 title rivals Mercedes (8) and Red Bull (3). 15 different teams have taken at least one pole position in the British Grand Prix. Like wins, Ferrari has the most poles from any manufacturer – 15. Perhaps the most surprising team on the list is the Shadow team which took pole in 1975 with Welsh driver Tom Pryce.

The most recent occasion on which a team outside the ‘big four’ of Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari won the British Grand Prix was 2006. Fernando Alonso won for Renault extending his winning streak that year to an impressive 4 races. Alonso would go on to start his 300^th Formula One race 12 years later at the 2018 British Grand Prix.

The driver who wins the British Grand Prix has gone on to win the title that season on 11 occasions in the past 25 years. The winning constructor has done likewise in 15 of those 25 years. A total of 12 different British drivers have won their home race on 27 occasions – a win rate of 38.02%.

The fastest ever British Grand Prix was won by Nigel Mansell in 1987. Driving for Williams, the Brit won with an average speed of 146.208 mph in just 1 hour, 19 minutes and 11 seconds. In recent years the average race time has been around the 1 hour 30 minute mark.

Interestingly, prior to 2014 the reigning world champion had only won the British Grand Prix in 4 of the previous 25 races. Only one Ferrari driver has ever won back-to-back British Grand Prix while driving for the Scuderia – Alberto Ascari in 1952 and 1953. In addition Ferrari won 6 of the first 11 British Grand Prix to be held – however the Italian team has only won 11 times in the last 60 years.

The 2021 WRC season is half-way and now the Safari dust has settled, it's time to take a look who are in the Top 5 of the standings and are adding up the numbers 'on the crest' and who's 'cutting short' of numbers.

1. Seven time World Champion Sébastien Ogier wasn't going to be fulltime in the WRC in 2021 when he was planning before Covid but after a shortened 2020 season his hunger for more rally success wasn't satisfied yet. From the first 6 rallies this year Ogier has won four of them in his Toyota Yaris WRC: Monaco, Croatia, Italy and the Safari. Ogier lost the lead of the championship briefly after round 2 (Arctic Rally) when Ott Tänak won but since then he has steadily increased his championship lead. The Arctic Rally in Finland was also the only rally of the 6 were Ogier needed to use Super Rally rules to continue the next day. The Frenchman who lives in Switzerland has also won the most stages so for this year, 30 (an average of 5 stage wins/rally) his closest competitor is Ott Tanak (Hyundai) with 24 stage wins.
2. Elfyn Evans (Toyota) who almost defeated Ogier in last year's championship, has won 1 rally of the 6 (Portugal) and has scored 2 more points than in 6 of the 7 rounds in 2020. A lowly 10th place in the Safari Rally, when he had to use Super Rally on the second day, has hurt Evans title hopes. Evans' hope of close battle with his team-leader towards the end of the season isn't over, as he was very consistent in the first half with 19 stage wins in total and led in 3 rallies (Portugal, Monte Carlo and Croatia).
3. Currently 3rd in the championship is Hyundai driver Thierry Neuville who had to find a new co-driver just before the start of the season. The Belgian was a bit of a surprise in the early stage of the championship with 3 consecutive podium finishes. An optimistic pace note in SS7 of the Portuguese rally, leading to Neuville having to drive with broken suspension as a consequence, halted that run when he finished only 36th. He finished 3rd again in Italy, but it was a painful weekend in the Safari Rally when he retired from the lead of due to yet more broken suspension.
4. Another Hyundai driver with reliability issues on his car in the first half is Ott Tänak, in 2 of the 6 rallies he had to use Super Rally due to suspension problems, finishing 21st (Portugal) and 24th (Italy) to score only 9 points. This was a shame for the Estonian, as he won the Arctic Rally in Finland where he won 5 of the 10 stages and led from start to finish.
5. It's been 27 years since we've seen a Japanese driver on the podium in the WRC. In this year's Safari Rally, Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota) ended that Japanese drought, which began when Kenjiro Shinozuka finished second in the Safari Rally with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo I. Katsuta has been improving throught the 1st half of the year as in the 1st 3 rounds he finished 6th, in Portugal and Italy he finished 4th and the Safari he achieved his maiden podium with a 2nd place. He also was in the lead for the 1st time (2 stages in the Safari Rally) and has won 3 stages in total this year, which is a career best.

RoKit Venturi Racing

Like many other teams on the grid, Venturi has struggled to find consistent form – particularly with it’s second car. 4 no-score races have left the team down in 6^th place in the teams’ championship. Peculiarly it leads the drivers’ championship with Edoardo Mortara. The Swiss driver has had 3 podiums – one of those including a win at the most recent round in Puebla. It was the team’s 2nd win since it joined Formula E and 1/3^rd of it’s total podiums have come in 2020-21 alone.

The other car - driven by Normal Nato - has struggled to find form for much of the season and languishes down in 23^rd place in the drivers’ championship. Nato has had one stand-out moment - a strong 5^th place finish in the second Valencia round. With the team just 30 points behind championship leader’s Mercedes-EQ, it is imperative that Nato finds some form in New York and London.

BMW i Andretti Motorsport

After a shaky start to the season where it only managed 12 points in the first 4 weekends, BMW i Andretti have scored 66 points in the most recent 4 weekends. This turnaround in form has seen the team rise from last in the championship to 7^thand only 1 point behind Venturi. This is something of an achievement in light of Maximilian Gunter’s double DNF in the season opener.

Jake Dennis provided the team with a win in round 2 at Valencia and the British driver sits in 8^th place in the drivers’ championship equal on points with Stoffel Vandoorne. A 4^th and 5^th placed finish for the team in Puebla race 1 hints at the kind of form it is capable of. It’s also worth remembering that on the last visit to New York in 2019, BMW i Andretti secured 2 podiums and 2 double points finishes – scoring more points that weekend than any other team.

Mahindra Racing

Mahindra ended a 24 race podium-less streak when Alexander Sims secured 2^nd place in the 2^nd race in Rome. Another quickly followed in race 2 in Valencia thanks to the other car driven by Alex Lynn. Those two results have been the highlight in a rather disappointing year for Mahindra however – just 34 points scored in the other 7 races.

A double DNF for Lynn in the opening round at Diriyah included a huge accident from which he was lucky to escape unhurt. Without that Mahindra could easily have been in the middle of Venturi and BMW i Andretti’s fight for 6^th in the championship. As it stands the team is 2 points ahead of Porsche and 4 ahead of Nissan e.Dams and will be aiming for the podium once more in New York and London.

TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team

Make no bones about it, Porsche should be leading both championships. Instead it finds itself down in 9^th place with just 68 points and almost no hope of winning either title. A double disqualification for the team at race 1 in Puebla – a race which Pascal Wehrlein had won – thanks to inputting the wrong codes for their tyres has to be the low point though. Wehrlein was also given a post-race penalty which dropped him off the podium in Puebla race 2.

The team lost a total of 36 points in Puebla thanks to the dramas. Porsche also suffered a double DNF in the 1^st Valencia race and has dropped points in various other races thanks to incidents and bad luck. It hasn’t been helped by a barren year for Andre Lotterer outside a 2^nd place finish in race 2 at Valencia.

Nissan e.Dams

For a team which has had 17 wins, 38 podiums and 21 pole positions a total of a solitary podium in 2020-21 is simply unacceptable. Oliver Rowland was promoted to 2^nd place after Wehrlein’s penalty in Puebla race 2 – outside that result it’s been a season to forget.

2015-16 champion Sebastien Buemi has struggled severely to be on the pace all year long and has only scored 11 points from 9 races. Buemi hasn’t scored anything at all for 5 consecutive races. The Swiss driver will be happy to be returning to New York – a location in which he bagged himself a 1^st and a 3^rd on the series last visit there in 2019. The return to London will also evoke happy memories for Buemi since it was there he clinched the title in 2016.

DRAGON / PENSKE AUTOSPORT

Dragon Racing sort of sits in no-mans-land in the championship. The team is 22 points behind Nissan e.Dams and 24 ahead of NIO 333 following a predominantly torrid season of 6 non-scoring finishes.

There has been one podium though, from Nico Muller in race 1 at Valencia and on many occasions Dragon Racing has looked to have plenty of raw pace. It just hasn’t translated into points. The team hasn’t scored points in any of the last 4 races and also has lost Muller to the DTM series for the remainder of the season. Instead Joel Eriksson – who already replaced Muller in Monaco and Puebla - will join Sergio Sette Camara.

NIO 333 Formula E Team

Despite scoring points in 5 of the 9 races so far, NIO 333 finds itself rooted to the bottom of the teams’ championship and remains the only team so far in 2020-21 to fail in scoring podium finish.

There have been flashes of promise in qualifying and the team often finds itself struggling with energy management in the races. If it can get on top of this then it could easily be an outside bet for a podium in the hands of Oliver Turvey in New York and London. Turvey is 2 points ahead of Buemi in the drivers’ championship and must be aiming to remain ahead in the final 4 races. Team-mate Tom Blomqvist will want to get a top 10 finish – the Swede has failed to score in each of the previous 5 races.

The 2020-21 Formula E season has been unpredictable to say the least. 8 winners in 9 races, 18 drivers on the podium, 10 separate disqualifications, 4 different championship leaders and any of a dozen drivers could come out on top at the ExCel London arena at the end of July.

Mercedes EQ

Mercedes-EQ head into the New York double-header with a 3 point lead over DS TECHEETAH in the championship. However, there is only a 24 point gap between the German squad and 5th placed Envision Virgin Racing. The team is one of two so far this season to have both its drivers, Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne, win a race and the only to have one of those drivers – de Vries – win more than once. Neither driver currently has a spot in the top 5 of the drivers’ championship though.

With 5 no-scores for de Vries and 4 for Vandoorne, inconsistency has cost the team dear when it’s clearly been one of, if not the, top package of the season. Both drivers will head into New York confident of a turnaround. No driver has led the drivers’ championship for more rounds than de Vries (4), but the Dutch driver is currently in 6th place and 13 points behind Edoardo Mortara in the standings. Vandoorne is 5 points further back in 7th.

DS TECHEETAH

Joining Mercedes-EQ as the other team to have both its drivers win a race in 2020-21, the reigning champions are in a decent position to make it 4 driver titles and 3 team titles in a row if it has a strong end to the season in New York and London. Sitting just 3 points off the championship lead, the recent double-header in Puebla resulting in just 12 points for the team could be costly – additionally this was on a weekend its nearest rival Mercedes-EQ also came away with a measly score of 8 points.

The pace is very much there, as demonstrated by the double podium finish in Monaco, the consistency is lacking though. Both drivers, Jean-Eric Vergne and Antonio Felix da Costa, have had 4 no-score races this year – one round resulting in a complete no score for the team at the 1st race in Diriyah. A disqualification for Da Costa in the 1st Valencia ePrix – he was one of 5 drivers to be disqualified from that race - can also be blamed.

Despite this, Da Costa still only sits 12 points behind championship leader Mortara. The reigning champion will head into New York confident of a good result, having been on the podium during the last double-header visit there in 2019.

Jaguar Racing

It has been a season of ups and downs for Jaguar. The team scored its only win of the season at the 2nd Diriyah round through new signing Sam Bird, however Bird has only scored 6 points in the last 6 rounds. This unfortunate slide in form has seen Bird drop from being the championship leader after the Rome ePrix weekend, to being outside the top 10 after the most recent race in Puebla. Bird is 24 points away from the championship lead, therefore wins in the final races are a must.

Team-mate Mitch Evans has not won a race in 2020-21, but he has finished on the podium 3 times, something only matched by Mortara. If Evans can get onto the top step, then that 12 point gap between him and Mortara will start to look very small indeed.

Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler

It’s been a rough year for an Audi Sport team who went winless last season for the 1st time in series history. In particular for Lucas Di Grassi, who despite winning the opening Puebla round, has failed to make an impact on the higher points positions all year. Before Puebla the 2017-17 champion has only scored 14 points and was down in an unfamiliar 18^th place in the standings. That Puebla win lifted him to 13^th – 35 points off the championship leader.

Di Grassi’s team-mate, Rene Rast, has seen slightly better results – although no wins. Rast finished behind Di Grassi in round 1 at Puebla to help take Audi Sport’s first 1-2 finish since the first 2017-18 New York City ePrix. Rast is 4th in the driver’s standings and like Jaguar’s Evans, is 12 points off the top spot.

Despite the mixed fortunes, Audi Sport finds itself in 4th place in the teams’ championship, on the same number of points as Envision Virgin Racing and 14 behind leaders Mercedes-EQ.

Envision Virgin Racing

Despite losing team stalwart Bird to Jaguar over the off-season, Envision Virgin have put together one of the most consistent campaigns out of all 12 teams. It hasn’t won a race, but it has scored double figure points on 5 occasions – equal to RoKit Venturi Racing and BMW i Andretti Motorsport.

Robin Frijns has scored a brace of 2nd place finishes to put him 2nd in the standings, 10 points behind Mortara. 5 no-score results have cost the Dutchman dear though, including a double no-score at the most recent round at Puebla.

Team-mate Nick Cassidy also has 5 no-scores. Cassidy has momentum on his side going into New York however, with a 2nd place in round two at Puebla saving his team from an awful weekend and keeping it in sight in the team’s championship – on 99 points and 14 off the top spot just like Audi Sport.

With a smorgasbord of winners, smattering of controversy and the rise of the young guns, 2021 has provided plenty of juice to the ongoing season narrative.

Chip Ganassi:

No team has won more races this season than Chip Ganassi. The team leads the driver’s championship with Alex Palou and has seen three of it’s four drivers win a race thus far. Palou won the opening round in Alabama, his maiden IndyCar victory, and the Spaniard added to this with another win at Road America. Palou is the second Spanish driver to win an IndyCar race; and became the first driver who isn’t Scott Dixon to win more than once in a season for Ganassi since Dario Franchitti in 2011. No driver has as many podiums in 2021 as Palou – 6.

Dixon himself won the opening round in Texas and has only finished outside the top ten once in 2021. This leaves the six-time champion in third place in the title race – 56 points behind Palou. This is not an insurmountable gap for Dixon with six races to go. Back in 2015 he managed to claw back a 47 points gap to Juan Pablo Montoya in the final race of the season.

Marcus Ericsson is Ganassi’s second first-time winner of 2021. He grabbed victory on the streets of Belle-Isle to make it the first time in its IndyCar history that Chip Ganassi has had three different winning drivers in one season.

Ganassi’s fourth driver is former NASCAR driver and four-time champion Jimmie Johnson. The American has struggled to get to grips with the intricacies of an IndyCar and so far has only finished in the top 20 once in his seven races. Johnson has been skipping the oval races.

Arrow McLaren

The biggest challenger to the Ganassi empire has been Arrow McLaren and it’s young hotshot Patricio O’Ward. The Mexican scored his maiden win in round two at Texas, before becoming the first repeat winner of 2021 with victory in the second Belle-Isle round. O’Ward is 39 points behind Palou in the championship and will be hoping to become both Arrow SP and McLaren’s first IndyCar champion.

What O’Ward doesn’t have which Palou does, is team-mate back-up. New Arrow McLaren recruit Felix Rosenqvist, ironically poached from Chip Ganassi, has struggled to make any impact in 2021. The Swede has yet to register a top ten finish and had to miss two rounds – replaced by Oliver Askew and Kevin Magnussen respectively -  thanks to a huge crash in the opening Belle-Isle round.

Dale Coyne

The forever fledgling Dale Coyne team threw a gamble at 2021 by hiring Formula One veteran Romain Grosjean. Many were skeptical of the move, however Grosjean has impressed everyone across the pond with some mature and fast drives. Grosjean qualified on pole for the IndyGP and would lead most of the race before eventually losing out to Rinus Veekay in the closing laps. Grosjean settled for second equaling the best result for a rookie in 2021. The Frenchman currently lies 16^th in the championship and has had four top ten results.

In the other full time Dale Coyne car there have been bursts of pace, but very little to show for them. Ed Jones has often flirted with the top ten in races only for misfortune to rob him of a great result. The Dubai born driver only has one top ten to show from 2021 so far and will be looking to remedy that in the closing six rounds.

Formula One returned to the Red Bull-Ring just seven days after its last visit, leaving with a familiar result and a very happy set of Dutch fans. It wasn’t all smiles for everyone though, with numerous time penalties being handed out during the race – including two drivers who received two each.

Max Verstappen dominated like he never had before, taking his first ever ‘grand slam’ – pole, win, fastest lap and led every lap. This was a Red Bull driver’s first ‘grand slam’ since Korea 2013 and only the fifth time the team has taken one – the previous four all came from Sebastian Vettel.

Verstappen scored his 50^th career podium, making him the youngest driver in history to reach this milestone – the previous record holder was Vettel after the 2013 Monaco Grand Prix. Verstappen now leads Lewis Hamilton by 32 points, with momentum very much on his side in the aftermath of his third win-in-a-row.

In the other Red Bull it was a mixed bag of fortunes. Sergio Perez started from third, but two five-second time penalties – both for causing a collision - in the race left him down in a distant sixth place. Perez remains in third in the championship – as a result Red Bull only extends its own championship lead over Mercedes by four points to 44.

It was a damage limitation weekend for Mercedes, which just didn’t have the pace in answer to Verstappen. Hamilton struggled with damage in the race and finished where he started, fourth. It now means Hamilton has won exactly one-third of the races so far in 2021, finished second in one-third and finished off the podium in the other one-third. Team-mate Valtteri Bottas secured his best result of 2021 so far with second, after jumping the McLaren of Lando Norris in the pits after Norris had to serve a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Perez.

Third place means Norris has now had three podiums in 2021 – each one of them being a third placed finish. Indeed, Norris only other podium of his career was also a third place in Austria last year – Norris has scored 24% of all his career points at the Red Bull-Ring. This was Norris 14^th consecutive points finish and preserves his record of being the only driver to score points in every 2021 round so far. The result means the Brit has now broken the 100 point barrier in the championship, keeping him ahead of Bottas and only three points behind Perez.

A strong sixth place from Daniel Ricciardo helped McLaren edge away from Ferrari in the constructor’s championship – the gap between the two long-standing rivals now 19 points. McLaren have now scored points for 16 consecutive races. Ferrari scored double points for the first time since Baku with fifth for Sainz and eighth for Leclerc. The Italian team has still only scored one podium in the previous 12 races.

The battle for fifth place in the constructor’s championship remains close and unpredictable, with Alpha Tauri now on 48 points compared to Aston Martin’s 44. Pierre Gasly added to Alpha Tauri’s total with a ninth place finish and two points – extending the team’s consecutive points run to an impressive 12 races. It could easily have been a double points finish, but for Yuki Tsunoda getting two separate five-second time penalties for crossing the white line at the entry to the pits .Aston Martin failed to score any points this weekend, the first time it has done so since Spain back in May.

The final point went to Alpine and Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard had lost all hope of scoring points after being held up by Vettel in qualifying. It was his sixth points finish of the year and Alpine’s eighth-in-a-row.

Alonso’s joy was George Russell’s heartbreak. The British driver scored his best ever qualifying result for Williams with ninth on Saturday – which became eighth on Sunday morning after a three-place penalty was applied to Vettel. In the end he only missed out on his first points for Williams by 5.632s. Williams haven’t scored points since the 2019 German Grand Prix (36 races ago), by far its longest drought in its history.

The NASCAR Cup season is just over half way and from the 36 planned races we have seen the chequered flag19 times, this it gives us a good moment to take a look at who's doing well and what stands out in the current season stats.

Out of the 19 races so far we've had 11 different  winners, if we compare that stat to last season's race winners (13 out 36 races) then it has been so far a season with more variety based on the drivers who have won. The driver with the most wins at the halfway point is Kyle Larson (Hendrick Motorsports - Chevrolet) who has won four races; more remarkable is that Larson won three races in a row (Charlotte, Sonoma & Nashville). He has also started four times from pole position and won two of those races. Not only has Larson the most wins (4) and started four times from pole position, he also has the most fastest lap times, also four.

So far 59 drivers have started this season in a Cup race, 36 drivers have a some stage led a race which is 61% of the drivers. It's another stat that shows how variable this season has been as last year over a full season of 36 races we had 43 different drivers that led at least one lap in a race. 

On the teams side is has been a slightly different story with only four teams able to win a race. The team having best chance of a win is Hendrick Motorsports, the team from Charlotte North Carolina which competes with Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE's and has won nine of the 19 races. All four drivers of the team have at least won one race (Alex Bowman (3), Chase Elliott (1), Kyle Larson (4) and William Byron (1)).

Thirteen drivers have made their debut this season since the Daytona 500, the best of the Rookies has been Chase Briscoe (Stewart-Haas Racing / Ford). Briscoe (26 years from Mitchell, Indiana) had his best result in the 19 races as a 6th place at the Circuit Of The Americas (COTA) in the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix. His best oval result has been twice in 11th place at Talladega and Darlington.

Championship leads are not so relevant during the year as NASCAR works with a playoff system for the title towards the end of the year but consistency is always important! Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing - Toyota) hasn't won a race yet this season but has been able fo finish in the Top 5 ten times, thirteen times he finished in the Top 10 and has an average finish of 8.53 which is a career best at the moment. He has been in the lead of the championship since the second race at Daytona. Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing - Chevrolet) is the other driver who led after the Daytona 500.

From the active drivers Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch now have both 58 wins in NASCAR Cup, Harvick hasn't won a race since last year's second Bristol race,  while Kyle Busch has been setting a new milestone in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with 100 wins and has won twice in the Cup this year (Kansas and the second Pocono race).

At this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, Sergio Perez will become the 19^th Formula One driver to have started 200 races. On four of these occasions the driver went on to win that race. Laura Leslie takes you through them below.

Michael Schumacher – 2004 European Grand Prix

It was a season of crushing domination for Michael Schumacher, with 13 wins from 18 races and a record-breaking seventh title – his fifth championship in succession. The German started his 200^th grand prix from pole and never really looked to be in danger in front of his home support at the Nürburgring. He was helped by Kimi Raikkonen holding up the field in the opening nine laps – the McLaren struggling in 2004, but Raikkonen had made a super start to leap from fourth to second by the end of lap one. This allowed Schumacher to build a significant lead by the time of his first stop on lap 28. He would end up finishing 17s ahead of team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Jenson Button – 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix

2009 world champion Jenson Button was arguably having the season of his career in 2011. He was consistently beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton and would end up finishing the title race in second place, only behind a dominant Sebastian Vettel. At the Hungarian Grand Prix though, it was Button who would dominate following a mistake from Hamilton. Button took full advantage of Hamilton spinning while in the lead – and then re-joining the track in front of Paul Di Resta in an unsafe matter. The resulting penalty for Hamilton meant Button has a clear road to victory on a day when the weather couldn’t seem to make it’s mind up on rain or shine. Button held off Vettel by 3.5 seconds to take his 11^th career win and second of 2011.

Nico Rosberg – 2016 Singapore Grand Prix

On his way to his first and only world title, Nico Rosberg took perhaps his finest career win at his 200^th race start. After utterly destroying team-mate Lewis Hamilton by 0.647s in qualifying, Rosberg was only really ever threatened by the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian driver would make a late pit-stop to switch to some supersoft tyres and was bearing down on Rosberg in the closing laps. Rosberg held his nerve though and won by just 0.488s. It was to be the penultimate win of Rosberg’s career and his eighth of nine in 2016.

Lewis Hamilton – 2017 Belgian Grand Prix

For Lewis Hamilton his 200^th race start came in the Belgian Grand Prix fresh off the back of the summer break. Hamilton had a tough time in the previous race in Hungary and looked to be losing momentum to rival Sebastian Vettel in the championship chase. Hamilton led from pole and would only lose the lead to Vettel during the pitstop phase of the race. The Brit would come under attack from the German later in the race thanks to a safety car period, but Hamilton held Vettel off by 2.358s to win for the fifth time in 2017 and the 58^th time in his career.

 

It’s double bubble time for Formula One once again as it does back-to-back races at the same track for the third time in the past twelve months. It was the Styrian Grand Prix last weekend, it’ll be the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend. We take a look back at the former and a sneak peak ahead at the latter.  

Max Verstappen scored his 4^th win of 2021 – making it his most successful season yet – and the 14^th win of his career. This was also the first time the Dutchman has ever won back-to-back races. The win helped Red Bull to a 4^th win in-a-row, the first time the team has done this since the closing rounds of 2013. Verstappen has led a total of 332 laps in 2021 and has yet to complete a race lap outside the top four. Red Bull lead the constructor’s championship by 40 points, while Verstappen now leads the driver’s championship by 18.

Red Bull has five wins now in 2021, its best total since 2013. For power unit supplier Honda, it was the first time the company had taken four wins in-a-row since the beginning of the 1991 season.

For Mercedes it was an unsuccessfully successful weekend. Another double podium, it’s 4^th of 2021, did some major damage limitation on a weekend it seemed further away from Red Bull than ever. Lewis Hamilton remains one of two drivers who have completed very race lap of 2021 – 504 of them. For team-mate Valtteri Bottas, it was a return to the podium after a torrid few races during which his average finishing position fell from 6.75 to 8.125.

Mercedes finds itself with its biggest deficit in the constructor’s championship in the turbo hybrid era. The largest gap prior to this had been a 20 point deficit to Ferrari after the 2018 British Grand Prix.

McLaren stretched its points-scoring run to a brilliant 15 races thanks to Lando Norris. The British driver has finished in the points at every round in 2021, the only driver to do so, and has yet to finish lower than 8^th. Despite this, the team lost ground to Ferrari in it’s battle for 3^rd in the constructor’s championship – the gap down to 12 points.

Styria was welcome relief for Ferrari, just a week after it’s worst race result in over 40 years. After struggling in qualifying, both cars scored points for the 5^th time in 2021. Charles Leclerc having to put up one of his finest fightbacks after a first lap incident left him in near dead last.

It was heartbreak for Williams and George Russell after the Brit retired from 8^th place, having spent a solid 24 laps in that position. Williams have now gone 35 races without scoring a world championship point. Alpha Tauri experienced better fortunes by taking its 11^th straight points finish after Yuki Tsunoda scored for the 3^rd time in 2021. The Italian team remains ahead of Aston Martin in the standings, despite the latter outscoring it by three points in Styria.

After nineteen years, the World Rally Championship returned for the Safari Rally Kenya.

The big difference from the new version and the old version were the lengths of stages. For example the 2002 edition had 264 competitive kilometers over 12 stages, while this year's edition had only 49 competitive kilometers devided over 18 stages - it may be a lot shorter, but it wasn't less of a challenge for the participants.

Seven time champion and current series leader Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) started the rally strongly by winning the opening Super Special on Thursday, but it wouldn't be until SS16 that he went back into the lead. He would go on to win this challenging rally in his first and maybe his only participation. Ogier won the most amount of stages of the rally (7) and stayed out of trouble where his rivals couldn't. This is Ogier's 53rd win in his WRC career and his 89th podium.

A surprise this season is Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota). During SS7 Oserian 2 both he and Ogier set the fastest time of the stage. Just like his team-leader, Katsuta avoided any major drama during the event and made no errors. Katsuta finshed second, 21.8s behind Ogier - it's also the first podium finish for the 28 year old from Nagoya. 

Never really close to victory was Hyundai driver Ott Tänak. With only one stage win and the power stage win in the second half of the rally, this gave him his second podium of  the season. After two low scores in the previous rounds where he hit mechanical issues, a solid podium must give Tänak a confidence boost for the rest of the season.

The M-Sport Ford drivers finally had a good result; Gus Greensmith finished fourth which is his best career result in the WRC and teammate Adrien Fourmaux won for the first time a Special Stage, when he was 4.1s faster on SS16 than Ott Tänak. A fifth place for Fourmaux is a repeat of his best career result - he also finished fifth in Croatia this year.

Kalle Rovanperä was the only Finnish driver at the start of the rally. He had a good start with 2 stage wins (SS4 & SS5). Rovanperä was briefly in the lead at the end of SS5, but then he got stuck in sand at the beginning of SS7 and had to use Super Rally to start the third day. From SS8 onwards he could only make up on place to finish sixth in the rally.

Kenyan Onkar Rai made his debut in the WRC with a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. Rai impressively managed to finish in the points with a seventh place, as more of the top drivers hit troubles (Thierry Neuville, Elfyn Evans, Dani Sordo & Oliver Solberg). 

Biggest loser of the rally was Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). The Belgian won 4 stages and led 12 stages during the rally, but on SS15 Hell's Gate when he was in the lead the right rear suspension of his i20 Coupe WRC broke. It's the first time of the season Neuville had to retire and scores 0 points in the championship.  

One of the participants was Polish driver Sobiesław Zasada in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 of M-Sport Poland. Zasada is 91 years 'young' and is the oldest person ever to compete in a WRC rally. Zasada 2021 Safari rally adventure ended in the final stage on sunday with a broken suspension. It was his fourth Safari Rally under the WRC banner; in 1978 he finished sixth with a Mercedes 280E.

At the end of the rally we find 4 different makes in the top 10 - Toyota (4), Hyundai (1), Ford (3), Volkswagen (2).

Formula One makes it’s ninth visit to the Red Bull Ring since the track returned to the schedule in 2014. On seven of those occasions it has hosted the Austrian Grand Prix, while on the other two occasions – including this weekend’s race – it has been the Styrian Grand Prix.

Mercedes have been the dominant force at the Red Bull Ring since 2014, with six wins from the eight races held there in that time – or 75%. The other two races have been won by Red Bull and Max Verstappen. Each driver who has won at the Red Bull Ring since 2014 has done so twice. Nico Rosberg won in 2014 and 2016, Lewis Hamilton won in 2016 and in 2020 (Styria), Valtteri Bottas won in 2017 and 2020 (Austria) and Verstappen won in 2018 and 2019.

It’s Bottas who leads the way for most podiums though, with five since 2014. 2021 championship rivals Hamilton and Verstappen both have four podiums each. The Red Bull Ring has been a fairly happy hunting ground for Ferrari, it’s drivers have appeared on the podium on six occasions – Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Charles Leclerc twice each.

Four different drivers have won pole position at the Red Bull Ring, Bottas and Hamilton both currently on three poles each with Felipe Massa and Charles Leclerc taking one pole each. 26 different drivers have scored at least one point at the track since 2014, including 15 from the 2021 grid. Hamilton and Bottas are the only two drivers to have scored more than 100 points at the Red Bull Ring, Hamilton 120 and Bottas 110.

So far in the 2021 season, only three drivers have completed all 433 race laps – Hamilton, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz. Somewhat unsurprisingly after having had to retirements, it’s Bottas who has completed the fewest amount of race laps this year – 351. Of the teams it’s McLaren who have the most race mileage, with 864 laps out of 866 completed.

Verstappen has led 261 laps this year, more than double his title rival Hamilton – 122. Between them they have led 88.45% of the season so far. While he may not have led any laps in 2021, Lando Norris has finished higher than his grid position in every race so far and has scored points in each round. He is the only driver on the grid to do this.

Formula E returned after a month long absence with it’s predictably chaotic and controversial racing. The series was racing in Mexico for the sixth consecutive season, this time on a new track - Autódromo Internacional Miguel E. Abed near Puebla.

The 2020/21 Formula E season has now seen a whopping eight different winners in just nine races – Nyck de Vries is the only repeat winner with victories in Saudi Arabia and Valencia. The Puebla ePrix saw two new winners for the season in Lucas di Grassi (race one) and Edoardo Mortara (race two).

For 2016/17 champion Di Grassi it meant the end of a near two year barren spell without winning – his last win had come 21 races previously at the 2019 Berlin ePrix. The Brazilian inherited his 11^th career victory after Pascal Wehrlein was disqualified. It would have been Porsche’s first victory in the series. Di Grassi now sits in 13^th place in the title standings.

For Mortara the wait for a new win was even longer than Di Grassi’s by a few months – Hong Kong in 2019 was his most recent and maiden win, as well as Venturi Racing’s. The Swiss driver’s win in the second of the weekend’s races means he now leads the driver’s championship by 10 points from Robin Frijns. Former championship leader Frijns had a nightmare weekend in which he failed to score any points.

Audi’s Rene Rast scored his first podium of 2021 with second in race one. The German also bagged both fastest lap points to move himself up to fourth in the championship – equal on points with Mitch Evans and reigning champion Antonio Felix da Costa.

Further down the field, Sebastien Buemi endured another horrible weekend with a disqualification in race one and a disappointing 14^th place in race two. The 2015/16 champion has only had two points finishes all year an