Formula One racing enjoyed another record-breaking year in 2013, thanks in no small part to the extraordinary exploits of Sebastian Vettel and the Red Bull Racing team. As the year draws to a close, we look back over some of the amazing facts and figures that helped make it such a fascinating season…
• If you’re reviewing the 2013 season statistically, there’s no better place to start than with F1 racing’s current king of stats, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Already a prodigious record breaker, 2013 will be remembered as the year in which the German went into overdrive. Vettel won 13 races to tie Michael Schumacher’s 2004 record, two of which (in Singapore and Korea) were ‘grand slams’ (pole, fastest lap, victory, led every lap). He also eclipsed Schumacher’s mark of seven consecutive Grand Prix victories in a single season by winning all nine races from Belgium in September to Brazil in November. In total, Vettel led 684 laps in 2013. To put that in perspective, the rest of the field combined led a total of 447 laps.
• Red Bull won their fourth consecutive constructors’ championship in 2013, tying McLaren’s run from 1988 to 1991. Only Ferrari have won more constructors’ crowns consecutively (six from 1999 to 2004). Additionally, Red Bull’s total of 596 points is second only to their total of 650 from 2011.
• 13 drivers led at least one lap in 2013 - Vettel (684), Rosberg (104), Alonso (89), Webber (69), Lewis Hamilton (66), Kimi Raikkonen (41), Romain Grosjean (36), Adrian Sutil (11), Felipe Massa (10), Jenson Button (8), Nico Hulkenberg (8), Paul di Resta (2) and Esteban Gutierrez (2).
• In Japan, Fernando Alonso surpassed Michael Schumacher as the leading points scorer in Formula One history. He finished the season on 1,606 career points. The Spaniard also made his 200th Grand Prix start in 2013, ending the year on 215 starts (tied with Mark Webber for the eighth most in history).
• The 2013 season saw Kimi Raikkonen set a new record for scoring points in consecutive races. The Finn’s record run began in Bahrain in 2012 and ended an astonishing 27 races later with a DNF in Belgium. He surpassed Michael Schumacher’s previous record of 24 consecutive points-scoring races by finishing fifth in Britain in July.
• Speaking of long runs, old rivals McLaren and Ferrari fought over the longest points-scoring streak for a manufacturer in 2013. McLaren’s record-setting 64-race run ended in Canada in June, at which point Ferrari were on 55 races in the points. The Scuderia continued their run until the very last race of the season meaning they’ve gone 67 consecutive races with at least one car in the top ten. Will the streak continue in Australia in March?
• Not only did McLaren lose the consecutive points record to Ferrari, they also finished the 2013 season without a podium. You have to go back 33 years to 1980 for the last time they failed to register a rostrum finish. On the plus side, the Woking team did celebrate their 50th season by becoming the first team in Formula One history to have both its cars classified in every Grand Prix during the season. McLaren also completed 99.17% of the season’s total possible race distance - 11,488km out of a possible 11,584km. That was not only better than any other team managed during the season, it was also a new record, beating the previous mark of 98.30% set by BMW-Sauber in 2008.
• As well as contributing to McLaren’s records, Jenson Button set one of his own in 2013 as he surpassed David Coulthard to become Great Britain’s most experienced racer in Formula One history. The Brazilian Grand Prix marked Button’s 247th Grand Prix - one more than Coulthard managed.
• Button’s countryman Max Chilton set a record of his own in 2013. The Marussia driver became the first rookie to complete every Grand Prix in his maiden F1 season.
• Mark Webber bowed out of Formula one having amassed 1,047.5 career points (the sixth highest of all-time), 215 starts (tied for eighth of all-time), nine wins (33rd of all-time) and 42 podiums (tied for 18th of all-time).
• India became the 20th country in Formula One history to have seen a world champion crowned. The others (in order) are: Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Morocco, USA, Portugal, South African, Mexico, Austria, Japan, Canada, Australia, Hungary, France, Belgium, Brazil, and Abu Dhabi.
• With Vettel’s victory in Brazil, Renault ensured they won the final race of the 2.4-litre V8 era. The French engine manufacturer also won the final race of the 3.0-litre V10 era in 2005 and the 3.5-litre era in 1994.
• Valtteri Bottas became the seventh Finn to score points in F1 racing; Esteban Gutierrez became the fifth Mexican.
• A number of race milestones were reached in 2013: Force India clocked up 100 races under that moniker in Canada, Williams participated in their 600th race in Germany, whilst Adrian Sutil notched up his 100th start in Hungary.
• In 2013 there were 951 pit stops. That’s an average of 50.05 per race and 2.3 per driver.
• And finally, the total number of Pirelli slick tyres used in 2013 was 23,300 and the total number of rain tyres used was 2,400. All of them will be recycled.
(source: f1.com)
