Post-GP Statistical Analysis: Singapore

Welcome back, Fernando

The Singapore Grand Prix victory leads to some interesting facts about Fernando Alonso:

• This is his 20th F1 career win, taking him to the 11th all-time place alongside Mika Hakkinen.

• This is his 50th F1 career podium.

• This win put an end to a win-drought of 18 races, Alonso' longest since the interval that separated his first two wins: 22 races from the 2003 Italian Grand Prix to the 2005 Australian Grand Prix.

• Fernando was missing on the podium since the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix (third), for a total of fourteen races. This has been his longest podium drought since he climbed on to the rostrum for the first time in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. Since then, and before this 14-race drought, his longest interval between two podium finishes was eight races: in 2004, from Sepang to Indianapolis.

From so far behind

An uncharacteristic win for Alonso, who had to fight his way from the 15th place on the grid. In the history of Formula One, only seven times in 800 races was the win obtained from a lower grid position, and this is the first time it has been clinched from the 15th spot.

These are the races won from a lower grid position:

Year   Race               Winner               Car        Grid
1954   Indianapolis 500   Bill Vukovich        Deidt       19
1973   South Africa       Jackie Stewart       Tyrrell     16
1982   USA - Detroit      John Watson          McLaren     17
1983   USA West           John Watson          McLaren     22
1995   Belgium            Michael Schumacher   Benetton    16
2000   Germany            Rubens Barrichello   Ferrari     18
2005   Japan              Kimi Raikkonen       McLaren     17

Kimi retired but...

...matched the all-time season record of ten fastest laps scored in a single championship. This goal was achieved for the first time by Michael Schumacher in 2004 and then by Raikkonen in the following season.

Seven and fourteen

Fernando Alonso is the seventh winner of this season, making this the championship with the highest number of winners since 2003, when there were eight.

In 2008, there were also 14 different drivers on the podium and 14 that led in at least one race.

The leaders' value is the second highest of all time, as only in 1975 were there 15 race leaders (the years when the Indianapolis 500 was run are not considered), while for the podiums' value we have to go back to 1997 to find a higher number: that season, there were 15 different podium finishers.

The sequence is over

With Kimi Raikkonen retired and Felipe Massa only 13th, Ferrari saw their sequence of consecutive races in the points stop at 46. This string is second only to the one recorded by the Maranello squad from the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix to the same venue in 2003, for a total of 55 races.

The best qualifiers with the new format

The Singapore race marked the 50th Grand Prix since the three-part qualifying session was introduced, back at the start of the 2006 season.

These are the top ten drivers, according to their average starting position:

Rank  Driver              Av' grid pos   GPs   Poles
 1.   Lewis Hamilton          3.38       32     11
 2.   Kimi Raikkonen          4.72       50     8
 3.   Fernando Alonso         4.76       50     8
 4.   Felipe Massa            5.02       50     14
 5.   Michael Schumacher      5.39       18     4
 6.   Robert Kubica           6.41       37     1
 7.   Juan Pablo Montoya      7.10       10
 8.   Nick Heidfeld           7.94       50
 9.   Heikki Kovalainen       8.16       32     1
10.   Pedro de la Rosa        8.88       8

A couple of notes about the above chart: Lewis Hamilton's average starting position in his debut season was 2.59, and Fernando Alonso's value in the 2006-2007 seasons was 3.69; this year it's 7.68.

Qualifying notes

• 14th pole position for Felipe Massa, who matched Alberto Ascari, James Hunt and Ronnie Peterson at the 17th all-time place.

• The 0.664 seconds that separated Massa and Hamilton at the end of qualifying is the greatest gap between pole-sitter and second place of the 2008 season, beating the 0.612 seconds that put Hamilton on pole in Canada in front of Robert Kubica. To find a higher value, we have to go back to the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix, when Michael Schumacher was in front of Juan-Pablo Montoya by 0.897 seconds.

• Third place is Raikkonen's best qualifying result in the last six races.

• A fuel pressure problem left Fernando Alonso on the 15th spot of the grid, his worst qualifying result since the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, when the Spaniard was 16th. At that time the qualifying session was a one-lap shootout and the fastest drivers had to run under the rain, whereas the slowest took advantage of a dry track.

• Sebastian Vettel keeps on performing well. In the first eight races he was able to conquer only one top-10 qualifying spot, in Australia (9th). However, in the last seven races he entered the third qualifying session six times out of seven.

• First appearance in the third qualifying session for Kazuki Nakajima, who obtained his best result ever: a tenth place, which became ninth after Nick Heidfeld was handed a three-places penalty.

• For the first time since the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix the two Williamses were in the top-10. At that time, Mark Webber was second and Nico Rosberg eighth.

• For the fourth time this season Jarno Trulli was left outside the top-10 - after Canada, Great Britain and Belgium - and for the fourth time he was beaten by his teammate (after Canada, Great Britain and Hungary).

• Fourth time outside the top-10 in the current season for Mark Webber. Last time it happened was in another street circuit, Valencia. David Coulthard recorded exactly the opposite performances of his teammate so far, as he was able to enter Q3 only four times this year (Australia, Turkey, France and Germany).

Race notes

• Best career result and second podium finish for Nico Rosberg, who climbed on the rostrum for the first time this year in Australia.

• David Coulthard is back in the points after a drought that lasted seven races. The Scot this year, before Singapore, was in the points only in Canada.

• 50th consecutive race in the points for a Ferrari-powered car.

• Ninth place is Jenson Button's best result since the Spanish Grand Prix, when he was in the points in sixth.

• For the first time this season Robert Kubica finished a race outside the points.

• First retirement for Trulli after 13 straight classifications - the longest streak of his career.

• Sixth retirement due to a race accident for Nelsinho Piquet. The Brazilian leads the chart this season in front of Giancarlo Fisichella (5 accidents).