Sundaram Ramaswami
The inaugural Qatar Grand Prix threw quite a few surprises: Last-minute grid penalties, punctures without any warnings, and an old pro returning to the podium. But it wasn’t all that surprising at the front with Lewis Hamilton taking yet another dominant win under lights ahead of title rival Max Verstappen. It was an intense race that saw many a record being broken or extended.
Here are all the numbers from the 2021 Qatar GP –
GENERAL –
- For the first time since Russia, a team apart from Mercedes or Red Bull made it to the podium.
- Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso shared the rostrum for the very first time.
- They have a combined 336 podiums between them, the highest ever seen in Formula 1 between podium-finishers. The previous record was 331 when Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen stood on the podium at the 2018 Hungarian GP.
- The winning gap exceeded 20 seconds for the sixth time this year. Each of those races was won either by Verstappen or Hamilton.
- This season has seen 13 different drivers stand on the podium, same as 2020, 2012 and 2009.
- Before Alonso and Carlos Sainz this year, the last time two Spaniards took podiums in the same season was in 2006 (Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa).
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MERCEDES –
- Hamilton recorded his 102nd career victory and 60th win from pole position.
- He is the first driver to win on 30 different circuits. The only tracks he’s yet to conquer are Buddh (India), Magny Cours (France), Valencia (Spain), Yeongam (South Korea) and Zandvoort (Netherlands).
- He led from start to finish at the Qatar GP. The last time he led 100% of all laps in a race was in Belgium 2020.
- Hamilton won back-to-back races for the first time since Imola-Barcelona this year.
- The Brit has led 228 laps this year compared to Verstappen’s 620, yet is just eight points behind in the championship battle.
- Hamilton is the most successful driver under lights, with 15 victories in 34 races.
- Mercedes continued their streak of winning the first race at every new venue in the turbo-hybrid era.
- Valtteri Bottas had just six retirements in his previous four years with Mercedes (79 races between ’17 and ’21. He has four DNFs in 2021 alone, with two races to go.
RED BULL –
- Verstappen took his 58th podium finish, going past Nico Rosberg in the all-time list.
- Verstappen has finished in the top-2 in 16 of the 20 races this year. He’s had one P9 finish in Hungary and three other retirements.
- The Dutchman took his first fastest lap since Austria.
- Verstappen is currently on a career-best streak of six podiums, a feat he’s achieved three times earlier as well.
- Red Bull became the second team after Mercedes to score 100 podiums in the hybrid era. Interestingly, 21 of those have come in 2021 alone.
- Sergio Perez has finished in the top-4 in each of the last five races.
- Bottas’ unlucky puncture and subsequent retirement helped Red Bull in terms of Constructors’ points. They are just five points behind the Silver Arrows now.
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ALPINE –
- Fernando Alonso took his 98th career podium and first since the 2014 Hungarian GP, a long wait of 2,674 days.
- The Spaniard entered 105 races before registering another podium finish, the longest interval for any driver.
- Alonso is only the second driver over the age of 40 to take a podium in the 2000s, after Michael Schumacher (Europe 2012).
- Hamilton was a one-time world champion when he last shared the podium with Alonso in Hungary 2014. Since then, he has added six more titles to his name. Verstappen, meanwhile, was still racing in Formula 3.
- Esteban Ocon came fifth, his best race result since his maiden victory in Hungary.
- The French team have scored points in 18 of the 20 races this year.
- Alpine and AlphaTauri were tied on points after the last race, but the former now enjoys a 25 point lead in the Constructors’ table.
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FERRARI –
- Carlos Sainz scored points for the 13th successive race and has finished every race since last year’s Russian GP, a streak of 27 races.
- Leclerc finished behind his teammate for just the fifth time this year.
- Ferrari had a mega triple-header and collected 47 points over the three races.
McLAREN –
- McLaren managed to score just four points over the last three races, equalling Alfa Romeo’s tally in the same period.
- Since their dream double podium six races ago in Italy, Lando Norris has collected just 21 points while Daniel Ricciardo has taken 22.
- Ricciardo hasn’t scored for three straight races, the third time that’s happened since his switch to Renault in 2019.
ALPHATAURI –
- Despite starting P2 and P8, AlphaTauri fell backwards during the race to finish outside the points in 11th and 13th.
- After scoring points in each of the first 13 races of the year, they’ve failed to score points in three of the last seven races.
ASTON MARTIN –
- Lance Stroll ended the race in sixth after starting twelfth, his best race result since his podium at the 2020 Sakhir GP.
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