Pre-GP Stats Analysis: Europe

Eleven winners

The European Grand Prix will feature 11 race winners at the start. They are: Raikkonen, Massa, Kubica, Alonso, Coulthard, Trulli, Button, Barrichello, Fisichella, Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen, who won his maiden race in Hungary.

It's the first time in four years that such a high number of winners have entered a race weekend. The last time 11 winners were present at the start of a grand prix was in the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix: Michael and Ralf Schumacher, Coulthard, Jacques Villeneuve, Barrichello, Montoya, Raikkonen, Panis, Trulli, Fisichella and Alonso.

The highest number of winners at the start of a race is 15 and was reached twice in Formula One history: in the 1978 Belgian and Spanish Grand Prix. They were: Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Ronnie Peterson, Jacky Ickx, Jody Scheckter, Carlos Reutemann, Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni, Jacques Laffite, Alan Jones, John Watson, Vittorio Brambilla, Jochen Mass and Patrick Depailler.

Ferrari target 450 podiums

After the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari have made 769 race starts and can claim 449 podiums. At the European Grand Prix, they have their first shot at the 450 podiums milestone.

The first podium for the Italian team was scored at Monte Carlo in 1950 by Alberto Ascari. Behind Ferrari in the all-time chart are McLaren with 342 podiums and Williams with 227.

Heidfeld goes for top-three finishing sequence

Nick Heidfeld has been classified in the last 21 races and, with one more race finish, will become one of the three drivers with the longest sequence of unbroken race completions in Formula One.

                Races completed
Driver              in a row     From race     To race
M. Schumacher          24        Hungary 2001  Malaysia 2003
R. Barrichello         23        Spain 2005    Britain 2006
F. Alonso              22        France 2005   Germany 2006
N. Heidfeld            21        France 2007   ongoing

Europe personal scorecard

• Kimi Raikkonen has led the European Grand Prix four times (in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007) but was never able to win it. He retired while leading in 2003 with engine failure and in 2005 dropped out on the last lap because of suspension failure. His only podium place was when he came in third in 2002. From 2003 to 2005 he suffered three mechanical failures, and his bad luck resumed last year with a hydraulic problem. Raikkonen started from pole in 2003 (his maiden pole) and 2007;

• Felipe Massa was on the podium in third place in 2006 (his first podium) and in second last year, but has never started the race from the front row;

• Nick Heidfeld racked up his only a podium finish from seven starts with a second place in 2005. Aside from that second place, Nick has collected only four points in all the European Grand Prix he has raced so far. The German scored his only pole at the European GP in 2005, which is also the last one to date for the Williams team;

• Fernando Alonso won the race in 2005 and 2007, finishing second in 2006 after taking pole. Curiously, in his two race wins, the Spaniard led only for a few laps: five last year after overtaking Massa in the final stages and nine in 2005. In 2006 he led for 30 laps out of 60, but lost to Schumacher (22 laps led);

• David Coulthard was on the podium on his first three outings at the European Grand Prix from 1995 to 1997, but after that he climbed on the podium only twice from nine starts. Since 2001, he has alternated a retirement (even years) with a finish (odd years). He hasn't qualified inside the top 10 since 2003, when he was 9th;

• Mark Webber scored his first podium in the European Grand Prix last year at his sixth attempt - the last podium to date for the Australian. He has qualified inside the top 10 only twice, in 2003 (3rd) and last year (6th);

• Jarno Trulli has the opposite record to Webber, as he climbed onto the podium only on his first appearance at the European Grand Prix in 1999 (2nd) - scoring his first ever podium in the process. His last points-scoring race was in 2005 with an eighth place. In nine attempts, he has never qualified on the front row;

• In his eight European Grand Prix, Jenson Button has climbed onto the podium only once, in 2003, when he was third, thanks to a mistake by his team-mate Sato in the closing stages. This is also the last time he scored points in this race; in 2006 and 2007 he wasn't even able to reach the chequered flag;

• Rubens Barrichello won the European Grand Prix in 2002 and has been on the podium a total of five times despite never starting from the front row. His best qualifying result is the fourth place he obtained four times (from 2000 to 2002 and in 2006);

• From his 11 starts, the best result for Giancarlo Fisichella was a fifth place scored in 2000. The Italian finished sixth three straight times from 2004 to 2006, and last year he was outside the points in tenth. His best qualifying result was the sixth recorded in 1999;

• After eight straight top-three finishes since his debut, the 2007 European Grand Prix was the first time in Lewis Hamilton's career when he failed to finish on the podium and was outside the points. His qualifying position last year, tenth after an accident, is the worst for the Briton in his short career. He was 13th this year in France, but only after a 10-place penalty;

Other notes on the European Grand Prix

• The European Grand Prix was held for the first time in 1983 at Brands Hatch, and this is its 18th running. Other venues have included Donington and Jerez, while the race was staged at the Nurburgring twelve times;

• The following drivers scored their maiden win at the European Grand Prix: Nigel Mansell (1985, Brands Hatch), Jacques Villeneuve (1996, Nurburgring) and Mika Hakkinen (1997, Jerez);

• Last year, Felipe Massa scored Ferrari's 200th fastest lap at the European Grand Prix;

• Valencia is the 65th track to be used in Formula 1 history. This year, Singapore will also host a race for the first time, becoming the 66th;

• The 2004 European Grand Prix was the only one to be led by a Japanese driver. Takuma Sato hit the front on the tenth and eleventh laps. In the 2007 race, Markus Winkelhock led for six laps in a Spyker - the only time a Spyker car led a Formula One race;

• BMW Sauber's best result in the European Grand Prix is a sixth place, scored last year by Heidfeld;

• Ferrari won the race five times from 2000 onwards, finishing on the podium in the other years. The last non-podium finish was in 1999 when Eddie Irvine finished seventh;

• McLaren have won the European Grand Prix only once in the last ten years, in 2007. They were not on the podium from 2003 to 2006, suffering a double engine failure in 2004. The last pole from McLaren at the European GP was back in 2003 (Raikkonen);

• The best result for Toyota is an eighth place in 2005 with Trulli;

Moments to remember in the European Grand Prix

Johnny Herbert, Sir Jackie Stewart, and Rubens Barrichello celebrate their victory in the 1999 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring © LAT

1999 - The show of the year

The 1999 European Grand Prix was one of the most unpredictable and spectacular of the season thanks to changing weather conditions. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was able to lead in his Jordan until an electrical problem forced him to retire; Coulthard then hit the front, but spun off, before the lead went to Ralf Schumacher, who suffered a punctured tyre.

It seemed that the leader of the race had a curse over his head when Fisichella followed suit, taking the lead and spinning off. The curse was lifted by Herbert, who took the lead for good and won the first (and only) race for the Stewart team.

The race will also be remembered for the title fight between Eddie Irvine and Mika Hakkinen: Eddie was the victim of a disastrous pit-stop by his team, which didn't get his tyres ready in time, and the Ferrari driver was left for several seconds on three wheels on his jacks until the missing tyre was found, losing several places. That episode unchained the conspiracy theorists, who believed the whole thing was staged because Ferrari wouldn't have allowed Irvine to win the championship in place of injured Michael Schumacher.

Irvine finished last in the race, behind the Minardi of Marc Gene, who won the first point for the Italian team in four years. Hakkinen ran a modest race in the middle of the pack, losing several places when the track was wet, but at the end of the day scored two valuable points with a fifth place.

2000 - A pass in the rain

Mika Hakkinen made a rocket start from third on the grid, taking the lead in front of Michael Schumacher. The couple ran nose to tail until the first drops of rain started to appear on the circuit. As soon as the track became slippery, Schumacher passed Hakkinen at the Veedol chicane and quickly built a lead of 10 seconds, a margin that he was able to hold until the end of the race.

2001 - The white line bureaucrats

The Williams of Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya seemed to be the only credible rivals to Michael Schumacher. Michael was right in front of his brother at the start but - as usually happened - Ralf didn't challenge him that hard.

After the first round of pit-stops, Ralf was still behind his brother, but he was penalised when Ferrari requested the application of a rule that states that a driver should not cross the white line that marks the end of the pitlane when returning to the race track. Until then, that rule had been overlooked, but from that point on, it would be a constant reminder from race engineers to their drivers over the radio. With his brother dutifully penalised, Michael won fairly easily.

2002 - Radio incident

The F2002 had an enormous margin over its rivals and the two Ferraris pulled away right after the start, Barrichello in front. The Italian team was still suffering from the controversies that arose after the Austrian Grand Prix, when the Brazilian gave way to Schumacher on the last lap. This time, though, Ferrari didn't switch positions, even if Schumacher was faster, and Barrichello won.

Conspiracy theorists suggested that the positions were - again - fixed because of an episode that happened right after the chequered flag: Ferrari opened up the radio channel to let everyone hear what Barrichello had to say after his win and, right after the Brazilian said, in Italian, the words: "thanks, thanks for letting me win..." the radio channel was abruptly closed by Ferrari itself.

2003 - Another Montoya-Schumacher clash

Kimi Raikkonen was in great shape and raced into the lead from pole. However, the reliability of his McLaren was not at its best, and after 25 laps his engine blew up, leaving Ralf Schumacher in front.

The German took a comfortable win, but what happened behind him made the headlines: his teammate Montoya was stuck in fourth behind Barrichello's Ferrari for the entire middle stint, with the Brazilian protecting Michael Schumacher's second position from behind.

After the second round of pit stops, Montoya emerged in front of Barrichello and quickly arrived on the back of Michael, who was struggling with his tyres. On the 43rd lap, Montoya attacked the German on the outside of the Dunlop hairpin and the two cars touched.

Schumacher spun off while Montoya was able to continue unscathed. Schumacher eventually came out of the sand trap thanks to the marshals, but finished only fifth, while Montoya completed the Williams 1-2 in front of Barrichello.

2004 - A very fast approach

Michael Schumacher took pole position by six tenths over Sato's BAR, and with his team-mate Barrichello in seventh, one second adrift. These gaps suggested a very light fuel load for the German, and a very complicated race if he had to come into traffic after his first stop.

Schumacher, however, got the best from his F2004, notched seven fastest laps in the first seven laps and then pulled into the pits, nearly coming out in the lead, even though his rivals had yet to stop. With this kind of performance advantage, Schumacher had little competition in the race and he pulled away to a solitary win.

There was a question mark, however, over the outcome of the fight for second, with Barrichello on a two-stopper and Sato pitting three times. At the end of the stops, Barrichello was in front and the Japanese driver tried an optimistic pass at turn one, ramming the Brazilian. Rubens was able to continue and take second, while Sato was forced into the pits (he eventually broke the engine towards the end), leaving third place to his team-mate Button.

2005 - Consequences of a flat-spotted tyre

This was the first race when the grid was decided by a single qualifying lap, after the cumulative-times fiasco that had generated long and boring qualifying sessions.

Heidfeld took his maiden pole, a quite unexpected result, clearly obtained with a very light fuel load. At the start, Nick was led by Raikkonen, but the German was eventually able to keep the Finn's pace. However, after a handful of laps, as predicted, he pulled in to the pits, leaving the McLaren alone.

Raikkonen was the man to beat: he had won the last two races and no one was able to stay close, even Alonso, the Championship leader, who was able to close the gap only when the pit-stops were over and Kimi was cruising. However, Raikkonen had flat-spotted his right-front tyre, causing heavy vibrations, and on the last lap the front suspension broke, sending him into the barriers at the first turn. Alonso had then only to run a few metres to take an unexpected win.

Fernando Alonso leads Michael Schumacher during the 2006 European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring © LAT

2006 - All in four laps

The fight between Alonso and Schumacher was at its best: Michael with a slight performance advantage, and Fernando in pole and in the lead after the first laps. The two ran nose to tail for the first 35 laps, then the Spaniard pulled in for his second stop, while Schumacher ran four laps longer. In those four laps, Michael set four fastest race laps in succession, all that he needed to make his second stop and come out in the lead.

2007 - Felipe vs. Fernando

After the start of the season was marked by some predictable races, the European Grand Prix was the stage for the first great emotions of the year. In qualifying, Hamilton suffered a suspension failure that sent him at high speed into the barriers, nearly head-on. He escaped without injuries, but was only tenth in qualifying.

In the race, the major factor was the rain that, after a few laps, put the entire field into chaos. The rain was so intense that at the first turn a small river crossed the track, sending six drivers off at the same spot.

After one of them, Liuzzi, narrowly missed the crane that was moving the abandoned cars, the race was stopped. Hamilton was one of the victims of turn one, but when he went off track he didn't leave his car, kept the engine running and asked the marshals to be put on the track - very cool behaviour by the young Briton.

The downpour quickly disappeared and the race was restarted with a dry track. The emotions dried up, too, until the final laps, when the rain appeared again. Alonso then showed all his aggressiveness and quickly closed on Massa, who had led practically the whole race, and passed him, banging wheels, before going on to win.

After the race, Fernando got out of his car and pointed the cameras to the signs of the contacts made with Massa. Before reaching the podium, Felipe spoke his mind to the Spaniard about this episode and Fernando replied. A verbal fight in Italian ensued, with very strong words from both parties...

Anniversaries of the race weekend

22nd of August 1954 - At the Bremgarten track near Bern, the last race on Swiss soil was held. After the 1955 Le Mans tragedy, races would be banned from Switzerland. There was another Swiss Grand Prix, though, at the Dijon track in France, in 1982.