Hamilton to chalk up another remarkable record? - British GP stats and facts

Lewis Hamilton celebrating his victory after British GP — Photo: © LAT Images

British Grand Prix

Hamilton to chalk up another remarkable record? - British GP stats and facts

All the stats and facts you need ahead of the British Grand Prix

GPFans Staff & Sundaram Ramaswami

Friday 1 July 2022 10:30

F1 returns to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix this weekend with Max Verstappen in control of the drivers' championship.

The reigning world champion holds a 46-point lead over team-mate Sergio Perez, with Red Bull boasting a 76-point advantage over Ferrari.

Before the weekend gets underway, GPFans brings you all the stats and facts you need to know.

Hamilton targeting an unlikely accolade

No driver has taken more wins at this venue than home hero Hamilton - eight times. Another victory on Sunday would see him become the first to clinch nine race wins at a single circuit.

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If Hamiton fails to win, however, it will mark his longest winless spell in the sport at 11 races. The Mercedes driver failed to win in 10 races in 2013-2014.

Should the seven-time champion finish on the podium, he will claim the outright record for the most podiums at a single circuit with 13.

A good omen for Hamilton is that a Mercedes driver has stood on the podium in each of the last 10 races at this track, with the Briton himself finishing either first or second in every race at this venue since 2014.

Silverstone a part of F1's fabric

Along with the Italian GP, the British GP is the only other race to be held every year since F1’s inception in 1950.

The Silverstone circuit is the fourth-longest on the F1 calendar at 5.891 km. Only Spa-Francorchamps [7.004 km], the Jeddah Corniche Circuit [6.174 km] and Baku City Circuit [6.003 km] are longer.

Located on the site of a former airfield, Silverstone is the third-fastest track on the calendar, with cars running at around 251kph on average. Only Monza and Jeddah are faster.

F1 teams find home comfort

Six of the 10 teams are primarily based in the United Kingdom. The exceptions to that list are Ferrari [Italy], Alfa Romeo [Switzerland], AlphaTauri [Italy] and Haas [USA], the latter holding its race operations base in Oxfordshire.

Hamilton on Hamilton

Last year, Lewis Hamilton became the third driver [after Michael Schumacher at the Nurburgring and Ayrton Senna at Interlagos] to drive a section of track named after them.

The start-finish straight was renamed the Hamilton straight by the British Racing Drivers' Club after his seventh championship win.

Will someone join an elite club?

Only two drivers have won the British GP in the last eight years - Hamilton [seven] and Sebastian Vettel [one].

Max Verstappen did, however, also win at Silverstone when clinching the 70th Anniversary GP in 2020.

Ferrari hoping to change British fortunes

Ferrari has taken pole position just four times in the last 30 years at Silverstone.

On a positive note, though, Charles Leclerc has finished in the top four in each of his last four outings in the United Kingdom, despite Ferrari's lack of performance until this year.

Maylander faces busy weekend

The full safety car has made an appearance in each of the last nine British GPs, while the virtual safety car has been deployed just twice - in 2015 and 2016.

Action is to be expected

Silverstone sits in the middle amongst the current circuits when it comes to overtakes. There have been 25 overtakes on an average here since 2017.

Sprint restarts streak

Mercedes had a dream run of nine straight poles here between 2013 and 2020 but Max Verstappen put an end to that streak last year by taking pole position at the first-ever F1 sprint.

Pole may not be everything though, as the pole-sitter has won just 20 of the 56 races held at Silverstone [35.71%].

Ocon to extend impressive run?

Esteban Ocon has never finished outside the points at Silverstone, while Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen will be out to end their ducks after failing to score at the venue since 2018.

Sundaram Ramaswami -Twitter/Instagram - @f1statsguru