A tale of numbers in Formula 1 2020

Formula 1 never ceases to impress us. Be it the superb straight-line speeds or the daring wheel to wheel racing or even the crazy social media presence. But like every other sport, Formula 1 churns out some impressive numbers (and coincidence sometimes).

Let us see one such “Hell of A Coincidence” moment from Formula 1 2020 season:

After 10 rounds of races in the current season, the lead for the championship looks somewhat like this –

1. Lewis Hamilton – 205 points
2. Valtteri Bottas – 161 points
3. Max Verstappen – 128 points

Now, these are plain numbers on the first look & very much accepted given that these 3 have shared the podium 6 times in the 10 races so far.

But again, this is Formula 1!!!!

Let us have a closer look at the difference between the points:

• Hamilton leads Bottas by 44 points – 44 is Lewis Hamilton’s car number. No, No, it doesn’t stop here just yet.
• Bottas leads Verstappen by 33 points – 33 happens to be Verstappen’s car number!!!
• And as Maths would suggest, Hamilton leads Verstappen by 77 points. 77 – Uh, oh!! This happens to be Bottas’s car number!

Coincidence? Definitely so!!!

The top 3 in championship are separated by the number of points equaling their car numbers.  

Like every other season, an add up of numbers does bring in some interesting things to look out for. Let us see what the Formula 1 2020 season has brought out in terms of numbers till now:

1: A first race victory for Pierre Gasly at Monza, Italy! A difficult 2019 followed by the tag “Race Winner” – Never lose hope during difficult times!

2: Only the second time Alpha Tauri (previously Toro Rosso) managed to win a F1 race. Coincidentally, the first time was also at Monza and that race victory introduced us to one of the legends of the sport and four-time champion, Sebastian Vettel.

3: Three young Ferrari Academy drivers to make their Formula 1 weekend debut this year. Mick Schumacher is expected to drive the Alfa Romeo at the Eifel grand prix this weekend and similarly Callum Illot will be driving for Haas F1 in free practice 1. Robert Schwartzman will be driving the F1 car during the final Friday practice 1 of 2020 season at Abu Dhabi. All eyes will be on Mick Schumacher as he would driving at his home race track, a track which is just a few miles away from the birthplace of his father and Formula 1’s all time great, Michael Schumacher.

7: The highest number of driver’s championships won by a single driver, Michael Schumacher. What seemed to be impossible achievement, is set to be equaled by Lewis Hamilton if he manages to win the championship just one more time. Looks very likely, 2020 could be it! Brace yourselves, Michael Schumacher fans, you got to share the top spot tag now!

31: George Russell has now outqualified his teammate in every qualifying session till date, thereby leading the qualifying battle by 31-0 (21-0 to Robert Kubica and 10-0 to Nicolas Latifi)

91: The highest number of race wins by a driver, Michael Schumacher. Lewis Hamilton has currently 90 race wins under his belt. One more in the next 7 races to come this year and he will equal the great Michael Schumacher in terms of race wins. A few more, and one could say Lewis Hamilton is the most successful Formula 1 driver in terms of race wins!!!

96: The highest number of pole positions by Lewis Hamilton. With 7 races yet to come this year and future (maybe), he is all set to cross the 100 mark! The second highest number of pole positions is 68 by Michael Schumacher – which Hamilton has bettered as a Mercedes driver alone (69 pole positions as a Mercedes driver)

322: The highest number of race starts by a Formula 1 driver. It was held by Brazilian Rubens Barrichello till the Russian GP but has been equaled by the ICEMAN Kimi Raikkonen. Kimi is all set to own this record during the next race weekend at Nürburgring. But the question is for how long? Formula 1 veteran, Spaniard Fernando Alonso is coming back to racing with Renault in 2021. He currently has 311 race starts to his name. If Kimi decides to stop racing, Alonso is sure to own this record next year! But will Kimi hang up just yet? Coming days would tell!!