The 2018 Formula 1 German GP ended up being a dramatic race with unpredictability at its best especially due to the late rain.
Home hero Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led the way comfortably in the race, but the German crashed out on Lap 52 after a silliest of mistake of locking up in slippery conditions, which was enough to send him into the tyre barrier.
It was a gift to his title rival Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The British driver started from 14th and eventually took the win and the championship lead by 17 points over Vettel. Teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in third.
How did it look from a statistical point of view? Here’s a summary of some key stats:
- 2018 German GP’s win was Hamilton’s fourth of the 2018 season, his career’s 66th (125 podiums) and 45th for Mercedes (total 80 wins). It was also his first back-to-back win in Germany (no race in 2017) after winning the 2016 race as he equaled Michael Schumacher’s record of four German GP victories. Rudolf Caracciola holds the record of six wins but all came pre-1950.
- Hamilton’s victory from 14th – of the drivers on the grid currently, only Fernando Alonso (from 15th in 2008 Singapore GP) and Raikkonen (from 17th in 2005 Japanese GP) have won from further back. Hamilton joined Bob Sweikert (1955 Indy 500), Alan Jones (1977 Austrian GP), Olivier Panis (1996 Monaco GP), Johnny Herbet (1999 European GP) and Jenson Button (2006 Hungarian GP) to win from 14th as John Watson holds the record of winning from 22nd in the 1983 US GP West.
- Hamilton earned 2018 season’s first (career’s 39th) fastest lap award with a 1m15.545s laptime joining Vettel and Raikkonen with one each. Daniel Ricciardo and Bottas leads with three each while Max Verstappen has two to his name.
- With Vettel’s DNF, it means no driver has finished every race of the 2018 season. The German’s last DNF was in 2017 Japanese GP, 15 races ago.
- The constructors’ championship lead has changed for five times this season between Mercedes and Ferrari, while the drivers’ championship lead has also changed for five times between Hamilton and Vettel.
- The German GP saw Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Bottas all lead the race for at least one full lap. In the overall standings, Vettel sits on top with 283 laps led in seven of races in 2018, Hamilton is second with 176 laps from seven races as well.
- Raikkonen fifth third place finish in the 11th race of 2018 means he has already equaled his last year’s five third place finishes. The Finn currently holds the record of maximum third place finishes at 43. It was also his 98th career podium and he moved ahead of Fernando Alonso in the all-time list to be fifth.
- Two penalty points for Carlos Sainz meant he has 11 in total but only the two currently on the licence taking in the yearly basis.
- Brendon Hartley scored only his second point finish, another 10th place finish, which he earned after Sainz’s 10-second penalty for overtaking under the safety car.
- Nico Hulkenberg’s fifth place was his best result in his home grand prix with the previous best being seventh in 2014 and 2016 respectively.
- Force India’s 10 points equaled them on points with Haas on 59 but Sergio Perez’s Baku podium means the Silverstone-based team sits fifth ahead of the American team.
- Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin remains the only driver to have not scored in 2018. His DNF with Lance Stroll was the team’s first double DNF since the 2015 US GP when incidentally the result also had a Mercedes 1-2 with a Ferrari in third, Verstappen in fourth and Sainz receiving a time penalty.
- Between Lap 43 and 46 of the race, all the five compounds available to the drivers during the weekend were on track at the same time with Pierre Gasly on full wets, Charles leclerc and Alonso on intermediates while the others where on the slick medium, soft and ultrasoft compounds. The race also featured 40 pit stops.
- Three drivers have reached every Q3 session this season with Vettel, Raikkonen and Bottas. Hamilton did until his Q1 exit on Saturday in the German GP.
- Leclerc has eight consecutive Q2 appearances and incidentally more Q3 appearances than Alonso in 2018.
The stats were compiled by Darshan Chokhani and Jack Ekeller
