After a record-breaking year led by Verstappen and Red Bull, 2024 looms with potential historic achievements. Key players like Alonso and Hamilton eye milestones in what promises to be a statistically significant season.
To find out, let’s take a closer look at these significant records and statistics that could be matched or surpassed during the next 24 Grand Prix races!
Fernando Alonso, the F1 veteran, could, with a stroke of luck at Aston Martin F1, break an incredible record: the longest interval between two consecutive victories. Currently, this record is held by Riccardo Patrese with a gap of six years and 210 days. If Alonso wins another race, he will significantly surpass this record, having waited more than ten years since his last victory.
Alonso is also set to cement his status as the most experienced driver in F1 history. The Mexico Grand Prix is expected to be his 400th participation, and the Qatar Grand Prix, his 400th start (he did not start in Belgium in 2001, the USA in 2005, and Russia in 2017).
Could Max Verstappen clinch a 4th consecutive title? So far, every other driver who has won a 3rd consecutive title, as Verstappen did with Red Bull, has gone on to win a fourth title the following year: Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957, Michael Schumacher in 2003, Sebastian Vettel in 2013, and Hamilton in 2020. If Verstappen doesn’t win the title this year, he will be the first driver not to extend a streak of three consecutive titles.
Max Verstappen, currently the third most victorious driver of all time, cannot move up in this ranking this year, even if he wins all the Grand Prix races. He currently has 54 victories, trailing Hamilton with 103 wins and Michael Schumacher with 91.
If Verstappen secures two more pole positions, he will move up to fifth place in the all-time list of pole positions, and two more podiums would bring him to a total of one hundred podiums. Additionally, with 41 consecutive points finishes, a streak ongoing since Imola in 2022, he could surpass Hamilton’s record streak (48 between Silverstone 2018 and Sakhir 2020), a streak only interrupted because the Mercedes F1 driver had to miss a race due to Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton, without having to wait as long as Fernando Alonso, is already over two years without a victory (45 Grand Prix have passed since his last win, whereas he had never before gone more than 10 races without a win). The Mercedes driver hopes to win again before joining an even more exclusive club, that of the winning drivers in their forties!
However, Hamilton is on the verge of reaching another milestone in the record for the number of podiums: he needs three more podiums to become the first driver to reach the 200 podiums mark. This seems realistic since Lewis achieved 9 podiums in 2022, and 6 last year.
Although the record for the most fastest laps is within Hamilton’s reach, it is unlikely that he will achieve it this year. He needs 12 more fastest laps to equal Schumacher’s record of 77 “fastest laps,” but it took him three seasons to record his last 12.
Hamilton has finished 1st with Verstappen in 2nd on 20 occasions in history, matching the record he already held for finishing ahead of his former teammate Nico Rosberg 20 times (when Rosberg finished 2nd in the same Grand Prix). Michael Schumacher also led Rubens Barrichello across the finish line in this manner 20 times. But this mark of 20 could be surpassed this year if Lewis Hamilton wins a Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen…
In the midfield: when will Lando Norris secure his first victory?
The near-total dominance has frustrated many drivers, notably Lando Norris, who has finished second behind him more often than any other driver (even Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Pérez).
As a result, the McLaren driver is on the verge of setting an unwelcome record: the most podiums without a win – if he does not secure a victory in his next podium appearance. Currently, Lando Norris has 13 podiums but no victories, putting him on par with Nick Heidfeld.
Yuki Tsunoda will begin his fourth season with Red Bull’s junior team, known last year as AlphaTauri, but entering 2024 under the “RB” identity (likely Racing Bulls). No driver has ever started four consecutive seasons with Red Bull’s junior team under its various identities since Red Bull took over in 2006.
Still with AlphaTauri, Yuki Tsunoda and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo have participated in 302 Grand Prix races between them, making them the most experienced driver lineup in the history of Red Bull’s junior team.
Last year, Zhou Guanyu set the fastest lap for the second time in his career, tying him with Nico Hulkenberg.
For his third season, Zhou is expected to finally make his debut in his home race for the first time. The Chinese Grand Prix has been cancelled every year since it hosted the 1000th round of the world championship in 2019.
Hulkenberg, as it’s known, holds the record for the most race starts without a podium. Unless a miracle occurs, he could reach 227 Grand Prix starts without stepping on the podium this year, 99 more than any other driver.
On the team side, Red Bull needs five more pole positions to reach its 100th, and Mercedes needs seven more podiums to hit 200.
A record number of GPs, and points up for grabs
This F1 season will feature a record-breaking calendar of 24 races. Including sprint races, F1 will hold a total of 30 races this year.
Despite this new dynamic for F1, no new circuits will be added to the calendar this season for the first time in five years.
With the extended calendar, more points will be available than ever before. Verstappen scored 575 points out of a possible 620 last year, but there will be 672 points up for grabs this season.
Red Bull could beat its score of 860 out of a possible 1,058 in 2023, as teams can earn up to 1,146 points.
F1 2024 Historic Records. F1 2024 Historic Records. Max verstappen F1 2024 Historic Records
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