Spanish GP

2022, 22nd May

• This will be the 52º Spanish GP, the 32º in Catalunya Circuit. 28 of previous 31 winners started from the first grid, and only one recorded the victory out of the two first two grids: Fernando Alonso in 2013 (5^th).
• Last year Lewis Hamilton equalled Michael Schumacher as the driver to win most often in Spanish GP ever (6), including the last five season for Mercedes AMG F1 (2017 – 2021), the best winning streak in this GP ever (in drivers & teams both).
• Mercedes AMG F1 come to this contest after taking the last nine pole position in Spanish GP (Lewis Hamilton x6, Nico Rosberg x2 & Valtteri Bottas), the best streak for a team in a single circuit in F1 ever.
• In the Spanish GP Ferrari has won 12 races, took 13 pole positions, set 14 fastest laps, reached 38 podiums & earned 485 points, more than any other team ever in this GP.
• Thanks to Charles Leclerc’s wins in Australia & Bahrein in 2022 both, Ferrari are one win away from equalling in this opening five races the amount of victories in their three previous seasons combined (three, all of them in 2019).
• Ferrari come to this contest after recording one-two in the Miami GP’s Qualifying. They are one more away from equaling Mercedes GP as the team to have it the most in F1 ever (82).
• Only Monaco GP (332 points) Red Bull have collected more points than in Spanish GP (312) in their F1 career. In the last four races there, both Red Bull’s drives earned with one of them reaching the podium but failing to win.
• Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has won 10 races starting from 14 pole positions in his F1 career (71,4%), the best percentage for a driver ever, with +2 wins. The Dutch is the fifth F1 driver ever to have the highest positive difference between wins & pole positions (+9, 23-14), after Michael Schumacher (+23, 91-68), Alain Prost (+18, 51-33), Fernando Alonso (+10, 32-22) & Jackie Stewart (+10, 27-17).
• Max Verstappen won in 2016 Spanish GP his first F1 race in his first appearance for Red Bull. The Dutch has won the last two GPs & he could equal the best winning streak in his F1 career (three between France & Austria in 2021).
• Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez continues looking for surpassing Pedro Rodríguez as the Mexican driver to have recorded the most victories in F1 ever (both two). After two 2^nd & two 4^th in the last four races, the driver from Guadalajara could equal the best run in the Top4 in his F1 races (five between Turkey & Qatar last season).
• The four Charles Leclerc’s wins in F1 came from pole position. The Monegasque has taken 12 pole positions winning 33% of these races, the lowest Ferrari’s driver percentage becoming his pole positions in wins (tied with Giuseppe Farina, only one victory from three pole positions).
• Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has collected in each one of his seven Spanish GP appearences, all of them between the sixth & ninth places, being this the GP where the Madrilenian driver has earned the most in his F1 career (40 alongside Monaco).
• Only in Brazilian GP (8) Alpine’s Fernando Alonso has reached the podium most times than in Spanish GP (7) in his F1 career. With 124 points in Catalunya, the Asturian driver is one podium away from becoming the Spanish as GP where he has collected most points (Hungary 137). The Asturian is 18 points (1st or 2nd place) away from earning 2000 points to be the third driver to reach this milestone after Lewis Hamilton & Sebastian Vettel.
• Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton could surpass Michael Schumacher (15, 1992-2006) as the F1 driver ever to have recorded most consecutive seasons winning a race (it would 16 in a row since 2007). However, the Brit could record his longest run finishing out of the podium for the first time since 2009 (eight races).
• Only Juan Manuel Fangio enjoyed a better starting collecting (first seven GPs) than George Russell among the Mercedes’ drivers ever (six: 9^th in Sakhir 2020, 4^th in Bahrein 2022, 5^th in Saudí Arabian 2022, 3^rd in Australia 2022, 4^th in Emilia Romagna 2022 & 5^th Miami 2022).
• McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo has stopped ten times in the Pit this season, more than any other driver this season. The Australian driver could finish three GPs in a row without collecting for the first time since 2012.
• Valtteri Bottas is looking for equalling Rubens Barrichello as the non-World Champions to have reached the most podiums in F1 ever (68). The Finnish has earned 30 points in his five GPs for Alfa Romeo (six points per race), the best average for a driver in this Italian team ever.
• Alpha Tauri’s drivers have progressed 14 places in the first lap combined in the five opening GPs on aggregate (Pierre Gasly 7 & Yuki Tsunoda 7), more than any other team this calendar year.
• Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel is poleless in his 14 Grand Prixes in Spanish, more than any other GP without pole position in his F1 career. The German has failed to finish in three of his last five GPs, as many times as his previous 20 race for the German team.
• (Daily, Sunday) On this day 56 years ago, McLaren made his first maiden GP in a Monaco GP. This team has recorded 12 World Driver Championships (including three for Alain Prost, three for Ayrton Senna, & the last one for Lewis Hamilton in 2008), only Ferrari have more in F1 history (15).