Post-GP Stats Analysis: Brazil

Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton became the youngest of the thirty Formula One world champions in Interlagos at 23 years 9 months and 26 days, demoting Fernando Alonso, who won the 2005 title at 24 years 2 months and 17 days.

He is the thirteenth Champion for Great Britain and the sixth to win the title on a McLaren car after James Hunt (1976), Niki Lauda (1984), Alain Prost (1985, 1986, 1989), Ayrton Senna (1988, 1990, 1991) and Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999).

Hamilton won the title by only one point, the same amount for which he lost the title last year to Kimi Raikkonen, the second smallest margin in history after the 0.5 points that separated Niki Lauda (72) from Alain Prost (71.5) in 1984. The title was won by only one point also in 1958 (Mike Hawthorn Champion, Stirling Moss second), 1961 (Phil Hill over Wolfgang Von Trips), 1964 (John Surtees over Graham Hill), 1976 (James Hunt over Niki Lauda) 1981 (Nelson Piquet over Carlos Reutemann) and 1994 (Michael Schumacher over Damon Hill).

Ferrari

The Italian team claimed their 16th Constructors Championship, the eighth in the last ten years.

As per the drivers championship, the title was won with the lowest amount of points (172) since 2003, when Ferrari won with 153 points.

Everyone is at the front

Jarno Trulli is back on the front row after an absence of 62 races (the 2005 French Grand Prix). The wait was long also for Toyota, that took their last front row start at the 2005 Japanese Grand Prix, when Ralf Schumacher started from pole. This is the sixth presence in the front row for a Toyota car, that reached Honda at the 21st place in the all-time rankings. The last time a Honda qualified on the front row was at the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix with Jenson Button (2nd).

Toyota is the seventh team that conquers at least one front row spot this season after Ferrari (15 front row starts), McLaren (13), BMW Sauber (3), Renault (1), Red Bull (1) and Toro Rosso (1). This value wasn't recorded since 1981, when the seven teams that made it to the front row were Renault (11), Williams (9), Brabham (5), Ferrari (2), Arrows (1), Ligier (1) and McLaren (1).

By contrast last year the teams able to conquer a front row spot were only three: McLaren (21), Ferrari (12) and BMW Sauber, equalling the all-time low of the Formula 1 World Championship, recorded eleven times in history. the highest number of teams at the front row was set in 1970, when there were eight.

End of sequence...with record

After 34 straight races BMW saw their points-finishing sequence come to an end in Interlagos, where Heidfeld was only tenth and Kubica behind him.

That was the third all-time sequence for a team in the history of Formula 1, behind the two strings set by Ferrari with 55 from the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix to the same event four years later and 46 from the 2006 San Marino Grand Prix to the 2008 Italian Grand Prix.

BMW Sauber however equalled an all-time record in Interlagos: their cars retired only twice this season (Kubica for an accident in Australia and for a spin in Great Britain) out of 36 starts, matching the 2004 season by Ferrari, with Schumacher retired in Monaco after the infamous incident with Juan-Pablo Montoya behind the safety car and another accident that involved Barrichello and Coulthard in Japan.

This helped BMW Sauber to become the team which ran for the highest number of kilometers in the modern era of Grand Prix racing in a single season: 10773 after Interlagos. The all-time record belongs to Cooper, which ran for 20495 kilometers in 1960, but at the time more than two cars per manufacturer were entered. The most recent distance record was set by Ferrari in 2004 with 10745.

The saddest of records

Giancarlo Fisichella in Brazil was classified for the thirteenth time in his career in last position on the finishing order. This ties an all-time record held since 1989 by Jonathan Palmer. To Fisichella's credit the fact that he took part in 212 races, to Palmer's 82.

Giancarlo in Brazil saw also his pointless streak extending to twenty races.

Qualifying notes

• Fifteenth pole position for Felipe Massa, now only one pole shy of his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen in the all-time charts. Curiously Massa and Raikkonen qualified in the same spots than last year and Felipe is at his third straight pole in his home race;

• Jarno Trulli obtained his best result in Interlagos at his twelfth attempt;

• Fernando Alonso records the first clean sweep against a team-mate in qualifying in the last twelve years. The last one to record such a feat was Jos Verstappen in 1996 against Ricardo Rosset;

• For the first time since the British Grand Prix Nico Rosberg wasn't able to reach the second qualifying session. Nico qualified only three times outside the first fifteen places this season, the other being the French Grand Prix;

• Worst career performance for Robert Kubica, fourteenth, he started from a lower place only in the 2007 Belgian Grand Prix, when he was fourteenth after an engine change;

• For the fourth straight race Mark Webber missed the top-ten spots. The last time he recorded a similar sequence was in the last four races of the 2006 season;

• worst career showing in Interlagos for Fisichella, which in his previous eleven races run here recorded an eighteenth in 2001 as his worst result.

Race notes

• eleventh win for Felipe Massa, who catches Jacques Villeneuve at the 23rd all-time spot. The Brazilian also scored the fastest lap, recording his fourth hat-trick of the career and the second this season after the European Grand Prix. Massa is now the active driver with the highest number of hat-tricks in front of Fernando Alonso, who counts three, the last one scored in the 2007 Italian Grand Prix;

• with his eleventh fastest lap, Massa reached Alonso at the 25th all-time spot;

• according to the lap chart information, Felipe Massa was virtually world champion from the 12th to the 17th lap when he was leading and Hamilton was in seventh or sixth place and from the 69th to the 70th lap, when Hamilton fell behind Vettel, recovering the fifth position only at the Juncao corner on the last lap;

• the jinx over the car number two continues: the only driver able to win a title on the number two car remains Alain Prost, three times in 1985, 1989 and 1993;

• As in 2007 and for the 30th time in history, the driver who won the opening race imported the title at the end of the season. In the last twenty years this happened fifteen times and there is an active streak which began in 2006;

• the final value of fastest laps posted by Ferrari in 2008, thirteen, is second only to the absolute record set by the Maranello squad in 2004, with fourteen;

• for the first time since 2003 the drivers championship was won with less than 100 points scored by the leader;

• Kimi Raikkonen passed Rubens Barrichello in the all-time points chart: he now counts 531 points to Barrichello 530. Raikkonen is at the sixth all-time spot, just four points behind David Coulthard;

• Robert Kubica equalled his worst position at the end of the race of the season, matching the result he obtained in Singapore, eleventh;

• Nick Heidfeld was classified in all 18 races this season, equalling the 2005 championship of Tiago Monteiro. Nick fell short of recording the all time record of kilometers run in a season. Monteiro in 2005 ran for 5521 kilometers, Barrichello in the same season recorded 5489 and Heidfeld in 2008 ended with 5463;

• Nelsinho Piquet finishes the season recording his seventh retirement of the season for an accident or an off-track excursion. In the 2008 season he was the driver with the highest number of such fatalities in front of the Force India duo (five each);