Stats: only Ascari left to topple

ANOTHER ROUND OF RECORDS FOR VETTEL

• Sebastian Vettel became the first driver to nail eight consecutive Formula 1 wins, but in the post-race chat with his Red Bull team, he was reminded that "only Ascari had more consecutive wins". That's because in 1952-53, Alberto Ascari effectively won nine consecutive grands prix, winning every F1 race he entered from Belgium 1952 to the same race the following year.

Technically that string was interrupted after win number seven as Ascari didn't take part in the Indianapolis 500, which in those days counted towards the F1 world championship. But it was only an F1 round on paper, as none of the series regulars attended and the likes of Bill Vukovich and Sam Hanks certainly weren't among Ascari's opposition at Zandvoort a week afterwards.

• This is the 20th different F1 track that Vettel has won at. That's the highest number among the current drivers, ahead of Fernando Alonso's 19. The absolute record is held by Michael Schumacher, who won at 23 different tracks.

Schumacher takes Montreal victory in 1994, which was then the seventh different F1 track he'd won at © LAT

• Vettel is the second driver to record at least 12 wins in a season. The other is Michael Schumacher, who won 13 times in 2004, so Vettel is in a position to equal his compatriot in Brazil.

• Sebastian also recorded his 10th straight podium. He's the only driver in history to have two sequences of at least 10 podiums, as he recorded one of 11 from the 2010 Brazilian GP to the 2011 British race. The only other two strings of at least 10 podium finishes were recorded by Michael Schumacher (19, from USA 2001 to Japan 2002) and by Alonso (Turkey 2005 to Canada 2006).

• This was Vettel's eighth hat-trick of pole, win and fastest lap. That's the same number as Alain Prost. Schumacher leads the tally on 22.

• In qualifying, Vettel scored his 44th pole, starting from the front row for the 10th straight time. Again, he is the only driver in history to boast two sequences of 10 consecutive front-row starts, having recorded one of 14 from Singapore 2010 to Britain 2011. The longest string of front-row starts belongs to Ayrton Senna, who managed 24 from the 1988 German GP to the 1989 Australian GP.

RACE STATS

• Romain Grosjean equalled his best career result in second, which he also achieved last year in Canada. This is the first time that Grosjean has managed five straight points finishes in F1.

Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve on the 1996 German GP podium, where they were joined by Jean Alesi for an all-Renault-powered rostrum © LAT

• The podium was filled by Renault engines for the fifth time this season. That equals the French manufacturer's previous best season for podium lockouts in 1996.

• Lewis Hamilton's fourth place was his best result since he was third in Belgium nearly three months ago.

• Alonso set some new negative records for his Ferrari career: this was his fifth straight race without a podium and the 13th without a win. These are his longest droughts since he joined the Maranello squad back in 2010. Austin remains the only track where Alonso has never finished in the top two. Austria's Spielberg is an anomaly for him as he retired from both races he started there.

• But Alonso did secure second in the championship with his fifth place at Austin. It's the third time he's come second in four years at Ferrari (he was fourth in 2011). Graham Hill and Nigel Mansell are the other men in history who have finished second in the standings three times. The absolute record for runner-up honours belongs to Stirling Moss (who, of course, never won the title) and Alain Prost, both both ended up there four times.

Kinnunen is now the only Finn who has started a GP without scoring © LAT

• Valtteri Bottas scored his maiden career points in eighth. That makes Leo Kinnunen the only Finnish driver who's started an F1 race but failed to score, as his Surtees-Ford's engine gave up on his sole grand prix appearance in Sweden in 1974. Fellow Finn Mikko Kozarowitzky attempted to qualify twice in 1977, but never made it to the grid.

• Charles Pic notched up his 38th consecutive start without points, the second all-time string. The absolute record belongs to Heikki Kovalainen, with 53 from Monaco 2010 to Brazil 2012. Kovalainen restarted his career in the US with another pointless finish.

QUALIFYING STATS

• Mark Webber started from the front row for the 37th time. That puts him 15th in the all-time rankings alongside Alonso, Moss and David Coulthard. Alonso's last front-row appearance was in Germany last year.

Webber notched up his 37th front-row start at Austin. Here's his second: Barcelona 2005 with Williams © XPB

• Grosjean was third on the grid for the fourth time this year. That's his best qualifying result in 2013.

• Renault engines secured a top-three grid sweep for the first time since the 2010 Japanese GP, when the line-up was Vettel, Webber and Robert Kubica. Last year Mercedes was able to achieve a similar feat in Malaysia.

• For the second straight time Nico Hulkenberg outqualified both Ferraris and for the fourth straight race he outqualified Alonso. This is the first time in his career he has started five straight races in the top 10.

• For the first time since Monza, Mercedes couldn't get a car on the front two rows of the grid.

• Returnee Kovalainen qualified in the top 10 for the first time since the 2009 Singapore GP (pictured below), when he was also eighth.

• Bottas qualified in the top 10 for the second time in his rookie year after his sensational third in Canada, but this time on a dry track.

• Twelfth spot was the worst starting position of the year for Nico Rosberg, beating his 11th in Germany. The same happened to Jenson Button, with his 15th worse than the previous lows of 14th in Canada and Spain.

• Felipe Massa's 13th place marked his first absence from the top 10 in qualifying since Silverstone, 10 races ago.