Pre-GP Stats Analysis: Belgium

Massa's First 100 GP starts

Felipe Massa celebrated his 100th race in Valencia, but his 100th race-start will take place at Spa, exactly one year after Alonso celebrated his. Since Massa is in the running for the world championship, he fits well in the following table, which shows drivers' achievements at their 100th grand prix start.

Driver          Wins  Poles  F. Laps  Podiums  Points  titles
M.Schumacher    27     17      28        54     440      2
A.Senna         23     46      15        47     348      1
A.Prost         23     16      18        44     330.5    1
D.Hill          22     20      19        42     353      1
F.Alonso        19     17      11        47     476      2
N.Lauda         17     24      16        39     288.5    2
E.Fittipaldi    14     6       6         33     258      2
J.Brabham       13     10      7         25     220      3
N.Piquet        12     17      12        27     215      2
M.Andretti      12     17      10        18     172      1
G.Hill          12     13      10        32     238      1
A.Jones         12     6       13        24     202      1
J.Villeneuve    11     13      9         23     209      1
N.Mansell       11     11      9         21     180      -
J.Scheckter     10     3       5         33     253      1
F.Massa         9      13      9         24     265      -
K.Raikkonen     9      11      19        36     338      -
D.Hulme         8      1       8         32     237      1
J.Surtees       6      8       10        24     177      1
K.Rosberg       5      4       3         16     141      1
M.Hakkinen      3      3       3         19     144      -

Jackie Stewart qualified fifth for his 100th GP - the 1973 US Grand Prix - but his Tyrrell team withdrew after teammate Francois Cevert was killed in qualifying.

Fangio, Ascari, Clark, Farina, Hawthorn, Phil Hill, Rindt and Hunt, despite winning at least one championship, started less than a hundred races.

The shape of 2008

Last year, at this point of the season we were witnessing clear patterns that had developed since the start of the year, and that characterised the championship up to that point. Before Belgium, these were the figures that summed up the trends:

• 10 times out of 13 the winner was the leader at the end of the first lap;

• 9 times out of 13 the pole-sitter was the winner;

• McLaren and Ferrari were the only winning cars, they monopolised the front row 12 times out of 13 and set all the poles and fastest laps;

• the hat trick was recorded five times.

The 2007 Belgian Grand Prix made no exception and Raikkonen won from pole, with his teammate Massa recording the fastest lap.

This year the situation changed as follows:

• Only six times out of twelve the winner was already leading at the end of the first lap;

• Only five times the pole-sitter won the race;

Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) and Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) during the 2008 German Grand Prix, Hockenheim © LAT

• The McLaren-Ferrari domination was only slightly dented as BMW Sauber were able to record one pole, one win and two fastest laps;

• The hat trick was recorded only twice.

Ferrari and BMW Sauber in record sequences

Ferrari and BMW Sauber are setting record sequences for consecutive races in the points. The Swiss-German team could set the fourth all-time sequence of at least 30 races in the points if they score in Belgium.

Team        Races  From             To
Ferrari      55    Malaysia 1999    Malaysia 2003
Ferrari      44    San Marino 2006  ongoing
Ferrari      33    San Marino 2003  Malaysia 2005
BMW Sauber   29    Australia 2007   ongoing

Heidfeld targets second finishing sequence

Nick Heidfeld was classified ninth in Valencia, matching Alonso's third all-time sequence of race classifications. With one more he will reach Barrichello at the second spot.

This is the top of the chart:

               Races
               completed
Driver         in a row   From race     To race
M.Schumacher      24      Hungary 2001  Malaysia 2003
R.Barrichello     23      Spain 2005    Great Britain 2006
F.Alonso          22      France 2005   Germany 2006
N.Heidfeld        22      France 2007   ongoing

Belgium personal scorecard

• Kimi Raikkonen won the last three Belgian Grands Prix, in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Only last year's win came from pole;

• The second place scored last year is the best result for Felipe Massa at Spa. Before that he was able to finish in the points only in 2004 (fourth) out of three starts;

• Nick Heidfeld scored his first points at Spa only last year with a fifth place, in his fifth Belgian Grand Prix;

• Fernando Alonso finished on the podium in his last two visits to Spa, while before he retired twice due to mechanical failures. He has never started from the front;

• David Coulthard last saw the chequered flag in 2004 in seventh, which is also the last year when he was qualified in the top ten. He was the winner here in 1999 and started from the front row both in 1998 and 1999;

• Mark Webber was in the points in his last two visits to Spa, while in his first two he retired;

• Jarno Trulli recorded his best result here at his second attempt, in 1998 (sixth). He has endured four retirements in nine races. His high point was the pole position he scored in 2004;

• The third place in 2005 is probably the only moment to remember for Jenson Button, that counts four retirements out of six starts;

• Rubens Barrichello recorded his first podium in Belgium in 2002 at his tenth attempt. The Brazilian has retired six times in his first eight races at Spa and then, from 2001 onwards, he was always classified. Last year he obtained his worst result here with a 13th place. Rubens recorded his first ever pole at Spa in 1994;

• Giancarlo Fisichella spun out of the race in his last two visits to this track and has retired five times in nine races. He was on the podium in 1997 at his first appearance and then again in 2001;

Damon Hill (Jordan 198 Mugen-Honda) 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, Spa-Francorchamps © LAT

Other notes on the Belgian Grand Prix

• Except for Damon Hill and Kimi Raikkonen, all the drivers that won at least three races in Spa also won at least two world championships. Michael Schumacher won here six times and conquered seven titles; Ayrton Senna won five times (three titles), Jim Clark won four (two titles) and finally Juan-Manuel Fangio climbed on the top step of the podium three times (five titles);

• In the last ten editions, only once there was a non-Ferrari/McLaren win. It happened in 1998, when Damon Hill found himself in the lead in his Jordan/Mugen after Michael Schumacher retired for his infamous collision with David Coulthard while leading;

• In the last ten editions the win came from pole only three times: in 2000 (Hakkinen), 2002 (M.Schumacher) and 2007 (Raikkonen);

• The rain is said to be a constant factor in Spa. In the 40 races held here the track was damp or the rain was present 13 times (32%). The figure becomes more significant if we look only at the races held here in August and September, when the rain appeared 8 times out of 19 (42%), the last time in 2005;

• Ferrari and McLaren count ten wins each at Spa and they are tied also as far as poles are concerned: 9-9. The Italian team leads 14-12 for wins and 13-9 for poles in the Belgian Grand Prix, that was held also in Nivelles and Zolder;

• Toyota recorded the only fastest lap of their history in Spa in 2005 with Ralf Schumacher;

How long since...

• In Spa, David Coulthard will see his winning drought rise to 100 races as he last won in the 2003 Australian Grand Prix. The 2007 Belgian Grand Prix was his last retirement, caused by a mechanical failure.

• The 1998 Belgian Grand Prix was the last time there was a French driver on the podium. Jean Alesi took third in his Sauber/Petronas; 170 races have passed since then.