Japanese Grand Prix: interesting statistics

Several interesting statistical selections based on the results of the Japanese Grand Prix…

Qualification

After winning qualifying in Suzuka, Max Verstappen won the 36th pole of his career, his fourth of the season and fifth in a row. For the seventh race in a row, he started from the front row of the starting field.

Sergio Perez qualified second and started from the front row for the first time in his career at Suzuka.

For the 27th time in history, the Red Bull Racing drivers occupied the entire first row of the starting field, but only the third with the Verstappen-Perez duo. Sergio started from the front row for the eleventh time in his career, equaling Tony Brooks, Jean-Pierre Jabil, Jacques Laffite, John Watson and Giancarlo Fisichella.

Lando Norris’s third place was a repeat of his best result of the season – he also started third in Australia.

Carlos Sainz qualified fourth for the third time this season.

Fernando Alonso’s fifth place is his best result in Suzuka in the past ten years.

Lewis Hamilton’s seventh place is his best result of the season. For the second year in a row he started seventh in Suzuka.

Charles Leclerc qualified eighth, his worst start at Suzuka in a Ferrari.

George Russell’s ninth place is his worst qualifying result this season.

Daniel Ricciardo’s eleventh place is his best qualifying result this season.

After qualifying 13th, Valtteri Bottas repeated his best result of the season.

After qualifying 15th and 17th, Alpine F1 drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly repeated their best result of the season.

Race

After winning the Japanese Grand Prix, Max Verstappen achieved the 57th victory of his career and the third of the season. Verstappen won his third race in a row at Suzuka, a feat previously achieved only by Michael Schumacher. This is the thirtieth victory of his career from pole position.

Verstappen has led 3,000 laps, behind only Sebastian Vettel (3,501 laps), Michael Schumacher (5,111 laps) and Lewis Hamilton (5,455 laps).

Sergio Perez finished second, reaching the podium for the 38th time in his career and regaining second place in the individual competition. Next in this ranking is Felipe Massa (41 podiums).

Red Bull Racing achieved its 31st victory double in history, the fourth in Suzuka and the second in the last three Japanese Grand Prix. The team ranks fifth in terms of the number of winning doubles. The next team on this ranking is Williams (33 winning doubles).

No Formula 1 season has ever started with four consecutive winning doubles for different constructors (three for Red Bull and one for Ferrari).

Carlos Sainz finished third and was on the podium for the fourth time in the past four Grands Prix this season. This is the 21st podium finish of the Spaniard’s career. Next in this ranking are Rene Arnoux (22 podiums) and Jacques Villeneuve (23 podiums). It is the 150th Grand Prix in which Carlos Sainz has finished.

Charles Leclerc finished fourth for the second time this season. This year the Monegasque did not finish lower than fourth place in any race. This is his second consecutive fourth place in Japan.

Lando Norris finished the race fifth, finishing 10 seconds further behind Verstappen than last year when he took the second step of the podium.

Fernando Alonso’s sixth place is his best result at Suzuka since 2013.

George Russell finished seventh in Suzuka for the second year in a row. This is the 90th Grand Prix in which Russell has finished.

His teammate Lewis Hamilton finished outside the top five at Suzuka for the first time since the switch to hybrid turbo engines.

Yuki Tsunoda finished 10th, becoming the first Japanese driver to score points at his home circuit since Kamui Kobayashi, who finished third in 2012.

By finishing fourteenth, Valtteri Bottas equaled Sauber’s best result this season.