Who completed the most overtakes in 2015? Which driver was the most penalised? Who had the biggest advantage over their team mate? And who were this year's record breakers? As the year draws to a close, we look back over some of the amazing facts and figures that helped define the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship...
THE RECORD BREAKERS...
Lewis Hamilton became only the second Briton in history to win three world championship crowns, following in the footsteps of Sir Jackie Stewart (champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973).
Hamilton also moved to 43 Grand Prix triumphs, surpassing the tally of his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna (41). It also carried him above Sebastian Vettel (42), meaning Hamilton has more wins - and pole positions for that matter - than any other current driver.
Max Verstappen became the youngest driver to contest a Grand Prix in Australia and, two weeks later, the youngest points scorer in F1 history - the latter feat coming at the age of 17 years, 5 months and 27 days.
Mercedes meanwhile matched their 2014 record of 16 victories in a single season, but went one better by claiming a record 12 one-two finishes over a single year (breaking the record of 11 they set last year).
That wasn't the only benchmark Mercedes set - their final total of 703 points is a new record in the constructors’ championship.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 262 DAYS
Number of races: 19 (in 19 different countries, across five different continents)
Total number of drivers who raced: 22 (of which five were rookies and five were world champions)
Average age of the grid: 27 years 11 months*
* taken at the mid-point of the season
Longest race: Singapore (2h 01m22.118s)
Shortest race: Italy (1h 18m00.688s)
Number of wins from pole: 12 from 19 races
Lowest winning grid position: Third (Sebastian Vettel in Hungary)
Biggest winning margin: 25.042s (Italy, Lewis Hamilton over Sebastian Vettel)
Smallest winning margin: 0.714s (China, Lewis Hamilton over Nico Rosberg)
Race with most overtakes: Malaysia, 60
QUALIFYING STATS
Most pole positions (driver): 11 - Lewis Hamilton*; 7 - Nico Rosberg; 1 - Sebastian Vettel
* this is a career-high for Hamilton, whose previous best was 7 poles, scored in 2008 and ’12 with McLaren, and 2014 with Mercedes
Most pole positions (team): 18 - Mercedes; 1 - Ferrari
Front-row starts: 18 - Lewis Hamilton; 15 - Nico Rosberg; 3 - Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo
Q3 appearances*: 18 - Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg; 17 - Valtteri Bottas; 16 - Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo; 15 - Felipe Massa; 14 - Kimi Raikkonen; 12 - Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat; 9 - Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg; 8 - Sergio Perez; 7 - Carlos Sainz; 4 - Pastor Maldonado; 3 - Marcus Ericsson; 2 - Felipe Nasr
* does not include Austin, where Q3 had to be abandoned
Biggest pole margin: 0.594s (Australia, Lewis Hamilton over Nico Rosberg)
Smallest pole margin: 0.042s (China, Lewis Hamilton over Nico Rosberg)
Best team mate head-to-head record: Romain Grosjean, Lotus - out-qualified Pastor Maldonado 17-2 over the season
RACE STATS
Most wins (driver): 10 - Lewis Hamilton; 6 - Nico Rosberg; 3 - Sebastian Vettel
Most wins (team): 16 - Mercedes; 3 - Ferrari
Most podiums (driver): 17 - Lewis Hamilton; 15 - Nico Rosberg; 13 - Sebastian Vettel; 3 - Kimi Raikkonen; 2 - Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas; 1 - Daniil Kvyat, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez
Most podiums (team): 32 - Mercedes; 16 - Ferrari; 4 - Williams; 3 - Red Bull; 1 - Lotus, Force India
Most points finishes: 18 - Lewis Hamilton
Most consecutive races in the points: 12 - Lewis Hamilton
Most fastest laps: 8 - Lewis Hamilton; 5 - Nico Rosberg; 3 - Daniel Ricciardo; 2 - Kimi Raikkonen; 1 - Sebastian Vettel
Most laps completed (driver): Sebastian Vettel, 1,127 (98.1 percent of the season)
Most laps completed (team): Mercedes, 2,220 (96.6 percent)
Fewest laps completed (driver)*: Pastor Maldonado, 778 (67.7 percent)
* Fernando Alonso (770), Roberto Merhi (737) and Alexander Rossi (302) completed fewer, but none contested every race
Fewest laps completed (team): Lotus, 1,635 (71.1 percent)
Most laps led: 587 - Lewis Hamilton; 349 - Nico Rosberg; 176 - Sebastian Vettel; 19 - Felipe Massa; 10 - Kimi Raikkonen; 7 - Daniel Ricciardo; 1 - Valtteri Bottas
Most laps spent in 20th position: 71 - Roberto Merhi; 48 - Will Stevens; 39 - Felipe Massa; 12 - Max Verstappen; 7 - Jenson Button; 6 - Alexander Rossi; 2 - Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Carlos Sainz
Most fastest pit stops: 6 - Ferrari; 4 - Red Bull; 3 - Mercedes; 1 - Force India, McLaren, Lotus, Toro Rosso
Number of overtaking moves: 509
Driver with most overtakes: Max Verstappen (49)
Team with most overtakes: Toro Rosso (94)
Team with most retirements: Lotus (15)
Number of lead changes: 56 (based on official lap chart with lead changes taken at the end of each lap)
Best team mate head-to-head record: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - beat Kimi Raikkonen 14-4, with DNFs included
Most places gained from Saturday to Sunday: 42 - Fernando Alonso
Most penalty points: 8 - Max Verstappen (12 points within 12-month period leads to Super Licence being suspended for one race)
Total sets of tyres used (testing and Grand Prix weekends): 17,580
Average stops per Grand Prix: 37 (down from 44 in 2014)
Race with the most pit stops: Hungary, 60
Race with the fewest pit stops: Australia, 17
Highest top speed of the season: 366.4 km/h (Pastor Maldonado, Mexico)
AND FINALLY
This was the first time in his career that Fernando Alonso has been out-scored by a team mate. Jenson Button - also the only team mate to have out-scored Lewis Hamilton - finished the year on 16 points, five ahead of Alonso.
Alonso was also the most penalised driver of 2015. Including grid drops for engine changes, the Spaniard was handed 13 penalties over the season (Button and Carlos Sainz were next up with 10).
This was the first year since 2008 that Red Bull have failed to win a race.
THE RECORD BREAKERS...
Lewis Hamilton became only the second Briton in history to win three world championship crowns, following in the footsteps of Sir Jackie Stewart (champion in 1969, 1971 and 1973).
Hamilton also moved to 43 Grand Prix triumphs, surpassing the tally of his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna (41). It also carried him above Sebastian Vettel (42), meaning Hamilton has more wins - and pole positions for that matter - than any other current driver.
Max Verstappen became the youngest driver to contest a Grand Prix in Australia and, two weeks later, the youngest points scorer in F1 history - the latter feat coming at the age of 17 years, 5 months and 27 days.
Mercedes meanwhile matched their 2014 record of 16 victories in a single season, but went one better by claiming a record 12 one-two finishes over a single year (breaking the record of 11 they set last year).
That wasn't the only benchmark Mercedes set - their final total of 703 points is a new record in the constructors’ championship.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 262 DAYS
Number of races: 19 (in 19 different countries, across five different continents)
Total number of drivers who raced: 22 (of which five were rookies and five were world champions)
Average age of the grid: 27 years 11 months*
* taken at the mid-point of the season
Longest race: Singapore (2h 01m22.118s)
Shortest race: Italy (1h 18m00.688s)
Number of wins from pole: 12 from 19 races
Lowest winning grid position: Third (Sebastian Vettel in Hungary)
Biggest winning margin: 25.042s (Italy, Lewis Hamilton over Sebastian Vettel)
Smallest winning margin: 0.714s (China, Lewis Hamilton over Nico Rosberg)
Race with most overtakes: Malaysia, 60
QUALIFYING STATS
Most pole positions (driver): 11 - Lewis Hamilton*; 7 - Nico Rosberg; 1 - Sebastian Vettel
* this is a career-high for Hamilton, whose previous best was 7 poles, scored in 2008 and ’12 with McLaren, and 2014 with Mercedes
Most pole positions (team): 18 - Mercedes; 1 - Ferrari
Front-row starts: 18 - Lewis Hamilton; 15 - Nico Rosberg; 3 - Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo
Q3 appearances*: 18 - Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg; 17 - Valtteri Bottas; 16 - Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo; 15 - Felipe Massa; 14 - Kimi Raikkonen; 12 - Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat; 9 - Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg; 8 - Sergio Perez; 7 - Carlos Sainz; 4 - Pastor Maldonado; 3 - Marcus Ericsson; 2 - Felipe Nasr
* does not include Austin, where Q3 had to be abandoned
Biggest pole margin: 0.594s (Australia, Lewis Hamilton over Nico Rosberg)
Smallest pole margin: 0.042s (China, Lewis Hamilton over Nico Rosberg)
Best team mate head-to-head record: Romain Grosjean, Lotus - out-qualified Pastor Maldonado 17-2 over the season
RACE STATS
Most wins (driver): 10 - Lewis Hamilton; 6 - Nico Rosberg; 3 - Sebastian Vettel
Most wins (team): 16 - Mercedes; 3 - Ferrari
Most podiums (driver): 17 - Lewis Hamilton; 15 - Nico Rosberg; 13 - Sebastian Vettel; 3 - Kimi Raikkonen; 2 - Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas; 1 - Daniil Kvyat, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez
Most podiums (team): 32 - Mercedes; 16 - Ferrari; 4 - Williams; 3 - Red Bull; 1 - Lotus, Force India
Most points finishes: 18 - Lewis Hamilton
Most consecutive races in the points: 12 - Lewis Hamilton
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| Lotus completed the fewest laps of any team - even though Marussia did not compete in the season opener |
Most fastest laps: 8 - Lewis Hamilton; 5 - Nico Rosberg; 3 - Daniel Ricciardo; 2 - Kimi Raikkonen; 1 - Sebastian Vettel
Most laps completed (driver): Sebastian Vettel, 1,127 (98.1 percent of the season)
Most laps completed (team): Mercedes, 2,220 (96.6 percent)
Fewest laps completed (driver)*: Pastor Maldonado, 778 (67.7 percent)
* Fernando Alonso (770), Roberto Merhi (737) and Alexander Rossi (302) completed fewer, but none contested every race
Fewest laps completed (team): Lotus, 1,635 (71.1 percent)
Most laps led: 587 - Lewis Hamilton; 349 - Nico Rosberg; 176 - Sebastian Vettel; 19 - Felipe Massa; 10 - Kimi Raikkonen; 7 - Daniel Ricciardo; 1 - Valtteri Bottas
Most laps spent in 20th position: 71 - Roberto Merhi; 48 - Will Stevens; 39 - Felipe Massa; 12 - Max Verstappen; 7 - Jenson Button; 6 - Alexander Rossi; 2 - Sebastian Vettel; 1 - Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Carlos Sainz
Most fastest pit stops: 6 - Ferrari; 4 - Red Bull; 3 - Mercedes; 1 - Force India, McLaren, Lotus, Toro Rosso
Number of overtaking moves: 509
Driver with most overtakes: Max Verstappen (49)
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| Verstappen accounted for 49 of the 509 overtakes - the most of any driver |
Team with most overtakes: Toro Rosso (94)
Team with most retirements: Lotus (15)
Number of lead changes: 56 (based on official lap chart with lead changes taken at the end of each lap)
Best team mate head-to-head record: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - beat Kimi Raikkonen 14-4, with DNFs included
Most places gained from Saturday to Sunday: 42 - Fernando Alonso
Most penalty points: 8 - Max Verstappen (12 points within 12-month period leads to Super Licence being suspended for one race)
Total sets of tyres used (testing and Grand Prix weekends): 17,580
Average stops per Grand Prix: 37 (down from 44 in 2014)
Race with the most pit stops: Hungary, 60
Race with the fewest pit stops: Australia, 17
Highest top speed of the season: 366.4 km/h (Pastor Maldonado, Mexico)
AND FINALLY
This was the first time in his career that Fernando Alonso has been out-scored by a team mate. Jenson Button - also the only team mate to have out-scored Lewis Hamilton - finished the year on 16 points, five ahead of Alonso.
Alonso was also the most penalised driver of 2015. Including grid drops for engine changes, the Spaniard was handed 13 penalties over the season (Button and Carlos Sainz were next up with 10).
This was the first year since 2008 that Red Bull have failed to win a race.
(source: f1.com)
