Webber and Red Bull close on Brabham win tallies

2012 British Grand Prix stats and facts

Posted on

| Written by

Mark Webber scored his ninth career victory in the British Grand Prix. It was the 30th win for Red Bull, all of which have been scored by him and Sebastian Vettel.

Five more wins for Webber would put him level with compatriot Jack Brabham on victories, and five more for Red Bull would equal the Brabham team’s tally of 35.

Fernando Alonso scored his and Ferrari’s first pole position since the 2010 Singapore Grand Prix. It was the 21st pole position of his career. From those 21 poles he’s finished on the podium on every occasion with the exception of the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, when he retired with a technical problem.

He has now led the most laps of any driver this year with 152, over a quarter of the laps raced in 2012. Vettel is next on 119, followed by Webber on 66.

Alonso extended his run of races in the points to 21 and is three away from the record (see the last Stats and Facts for more).

On the flipside of that Heikki Kovalainen has now gone 50 races without scoring a point. His last was seventh in the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix for McLaren. Timo Glock scored his last points in the same race but has only appeared 48 times since then (missing two Grands Prix due to injury).

This was the 206th pole position for Ferrari, but only their third in the 64 races since the end of 2008.

Fourth for Felipe Massa was his best finish since his podium at the 2010 Korean Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel finished third which meant the British Grand Prix had the same three drivers on the podium for the second year in a row, albeit in a different order. It was also Webber’s fourth consecutive podium appearance at Silverstone.

Kimi Raikkonen added to his tally of fastest laps with the 37th of his career. He is third in the all-time list, four behind Alain Prost. Lotus now have three fastest laps this year, more than any other team.

Fifteenth place was Nico Rosberg’s worst finish since coming home 16th for Williams in the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.

Speaking of the number 15, the driver of the car bearing that number qualified in 15th place for the third race in a row: Sergio Perez.

Jenson Button failed to reach Q2 for the first time since his last race for Honda at the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. He reached Q2 but did not participate in it at Malaysia in 2010 after spinning in the wet first session.

Nico Rosberg failed to reach Q3 for the first time this year. The only drivers to have reached Q3 in every race are Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean – though the latter did not participate in Q3 at Silverstone, having done what Button did in Malaysia two years ago.

Every team has now had at least one grid, drive-through or post-race time penalty so far this year. Nine drivers have escaped penalties in the first nine races, including Alonso, Webber, Button and Rosberg.

The number of pit stops per race is falling as teams get used to the tyres. There have only been three instances of drivers making more than two pit stops in the last four races.

Review the year so far in statistics here:

Spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the British Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

2012 British Grand Prix

Browse all 2012 British Grand Prix articles

Image © Red Bull/Getty images

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

58 comments on “Webber and Red Bull close on Brabham win tallies”

  1. *Mistake*
    Fourth for Felipe Massa was his best finish since his podium at the 2010 Korean Grand Prix.

    1. Changed it, thanks.

    2. Drop Valencia!
      9th July 2012, 11:34

      not sure what the kimi record is either, othewise thanks for a fantastic summary!

      1. Drop Valencia!
        9th July 2012, 11:35

        fastest laps, got it.

        1. Setting fastest lap is a bit of a poison chalice this year, as the lap by lap gain from fuel use is more than compensated for by the lap by lap loss of tyre grip. How many winners have also set fastest lap ?

  2. Re the last sentence, could it have been a three-stop race for some drivers, if they’d had to start on tyres they used in qualifying? (I’m not complaining, it’s a stupid rule!)

    1. Given the top ten would have all qualified on the softs, and how long Grosjean was able to make the hards last, I’d say no.

      And you’re right, it’s a stupid rule, a fact everyone bar the FIA seems to have cottoned on to.

      1. well if that rule wasnt there we might have witnessed a very boring race at silverstone. everyone would have chosen the hards and done 1 stop.

        1. @sato113 I don’t see why you assume everyone would have one-stopped: McLaren clearly weren’t capable of doing that.

          Nor that it automatically would have made the race “boring” – indeed, with some teams unable to one stop but some able to it might have added more variety.

          1. @keithcollantine

            McLaren clearly weren’t capable of doing that

            i think they were. Hamilton only did 7 laps on his options. so add 5 more laps to his 1st stint and 2 to his second and then add in some careful driving and he’d have a one stop.
            yes, he;d have to driver slower but overall it’d probably be faster than doing an extra stop.

          2. @sato113 I think we’re talking at cross-purposes here: you seem to be under the impression that we’re talking about the ‘use both tyre compounds’ rule, we were discussing the ‘Q3 drivers start on the tyres they qualified on’ rule.

          3. @keithcollantine ah ok, sorry. yes i was talking about the ‘use both compounds’ rule. in the specific case of sundays race. i believe had the rule not existed on sunday, all drivers would have started on the hards, looked after them and only stop once for another set of hards (even HAM could have done this- as per my last post) jst my opinon tho ;)

  3. This is the second time in his career that Paul di Resta failed to finish the race, first time in over a year. At both his retirements the same three drivers have been on the podium.

    Webber’s started from the top 3 on the grid in the last 5 British GPs.

    The top 4 finished in the same order as in the 2010 Hungarian GP.

    Webber’s two wins are the only times he’s been on the podium this year. Both wins came at a classic track that also appeared on the 1950 calendar, and he’s won at those two tracks both in 2010 and 2012.

  4. Some things I noticed:

    – The 2012 British GP saw the same drivers on the podium as the 2011 edition (though not in the same order). The last time the same podium occurred two years in a row was at the Brazilian GP in 2007 and 2008: Massa, Alonso and Raikkonen took podium places in both races. Massa won in 2008, but Raikkonen won in 2007.

    – It’s the ninth time Alonso, Vettel and Webber were on the podium together. Both Alonso and Webber won twice, Vettel won the other five times! Also it’s the 22nd time Webber and Vettel were on the podium together (that’s 24%). Strangely it’s the first time this season that the RBR drivers have shared the podium.

    – Paul Di Resta ends his streak of 23 consecutive finishes: his streak ranks fifth in the all-time list. Nick Heidfeld finished 41 races in a row between 2007 and 2009 and thus holds the record. Fernando Alonso has finished in the last 21 races, making him the new ‘leader’.

    – Not only has Alonso finished in the last 21 races, he scored points in every single one of them. He is now just 3 races in the points away from Schumacher’s record of 24 races in a row between the 2001 Hungarian GP and the 2003 Malaysian GP.

    – Lewis Hamilton was the best British driver in eight. That’s the worst performance by the British drivers in their home GP since 2006: in that race Coulthard finished 12th when Button retired from the race.

    – Sad statistic: Felipe Massa finished in fourth, which was his best performance since the 2010 Korean GP, when he finished in third. In the 29 races between those GPs, his teammate Alonso scored fourth or higher on 19 occasions (66%).

    – Finally Alonso was on pole-position again. He had to wait 32 GPs since the 2010 Singapore GP, the 28th longest gap between consecutive pole positions. Mario Andretti and Gian-Carlo Fisichella had to wait longer: 108 GPs between consecutive pole positions for them. The interval between Alonso’s first and last pole now spans 168 GPs from the 2003 Malaysian GP onwards, which ranks him in 11th. Barrichello heads this record with 260 GPs (1994-2009).

    – Webber made his 99th start for RBR and Hamilton made his 99th start for McLaren.

    1. Felipe Massa finished in fourth, which was his best performance since the 2010 Korean GP, when he finished in third.

      I do believe that twenty-nine races without a podium is one of the longest (if not the longest) podium-less streaks for a Ferrari driver.

      1. @prisoner-monkeys You’re spot on! Massa’s 30 consecutive races not on the podium is the longest drought for a Ferrari driver ever. Villeneuve is second with 19 races between the 1979 USA GP and the 1981 Monaco GP.

        1. Really does make you wonder why Ferrai insist on keeping him around, doessn’t it? If it were anyone else, the team would have dropped him in a heartbeat. Maybe they still feel guilty abou Hungary 2009. His race at Silverstone was the kind of performance he has desperately needed for some time, but I can’t imagine it will be enough to keep his seat next year. Maybe it will save him from the ignomity of losing his seat in the middle of the season, but right now, leaving Ferrari with his dignity intact is probably the most he could hope for.

        2. On that note, Massa hasn’t won since that unforgettable Brazilian GP in 2008. That’s 56 races now, which moves him past Michele Alboreto’s 55 races not won for Ferrari between 1985 and 88.

          But he’d have to stay at Ferrari into next year to beat the longest Ferrari winless streak: Jean Alesi’s first 67 races for the team, US 1991 to Monaco 1995.

    2. @andae23 and Heidfeld’s streak was broken by a Force India(Adrian Sutil) in Singapore 2009

      1. Yeah that’s right, Sutil’s clumsy donut ended his streak

    3. @andae23 Did you read the article? Most of these are already mentioned

      1. @cornflakes No actually, I did not read the article when I wrote my comment (obviously). Did you read my post?

        Some things were already mentioned in the article yes (I wouldn’t say ‘most’), but on most occasions I included some extra information like telling who actually has the most whatevers in a row, just to make it a little more interesting to read.

        1. i ´ve enjoyed your post

      1. Heidfeld was classified 41 times in a row between France 07 et Italy 09.
        And he finished all races (he saw the checkered flag) 33 times in a row, between China 07 and Italy 09.

  5. Pastor maldonado is very close to breaking the record for most penalties in a season, and if you class a reprimand and fines as penalties, then he has broken that record with pretty much half the season left.

    1. maldonadododo!

    2. davidnotcoulthard
      9th July 2012, 14:32

      So please, don’t change Maldonado’s behaviour just yet. Do that ONLY after he has broken the record (Optionally after a few more penalties) for most penalties in a season !

    3. he broke wings, cars, gearboxes… it’s time now he breaks a record aswell :P.

  6. soundscape (@)
    9th July 2012, 11:56

    Fifteenth place was Nico Rosberg’s worst finish since coming home 16th for Williams in the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.

    Um…? :P

    1. means finising the race

    2. I think Keith means that it’s his worst result since 2009 Italy in races where he eventually crossed the finish line. This way he excluded the 2010 Japanese GP, where he didn’t finish (retired 6 laps from the end) but was classified.

    3. @soundscape There’s nothing wrong with that sentence.

      1. soundscape (@)
        9th July 2012, 14:01

        Maybe its lost in slang, but my feeling is that he either came home, or came 16th.

        Anyway, carry on.

        1. Himmat Singh.
          9th July 2012, 20:23

          I don’t know if you’re trolling or what.

  7. Here’s an interesting one: remember the 2010 season, where the championship leader entering any given race never ended up winning it? It’s happening again in 2012 – 9 races in, and a race has not yet been won by the incumbent championship leader.

    1. @journeyer Though that’s the first time this year that someone was on the podium after winning.

    2. @journeyer Ah, well spotted!

  8. Webber has now surpassed Jack Brabham’s podium record (32).

  9. Lewis Hamilton’s most frequent finishing position this season is 8th, where he finished three times (he also finished third three times). His finishing record this season:

    3 3 3 8 8 5 1 DNF 8

    Jenson Button hasn’t finished higher than 8th since the Chinese Grand Prix:

    1 14 2 DNF 9 DNF 16 8 10

    If not for Hamilton’s victory in Canada, you might be forgiven for thinking that Lewis and Jenson have been racing for Toro Rosso since Bahrain.

    1. davidnotcoulthard
      9th July 2012, 14:38

      Make that “Bai Gong Niu” F1 Team. The chinese for “White Bull”-although I used a dictionary for that. (I’m on a keyboard that doesn’t support writing the notes-sorry about that)

    2. Lewis talent and Pirelli tyres gave Mclaren that win in Montreal. Lewis talent put Mclaren on the first row in Valencia and he was in third until Maldonado put him out. Even with this horrible car, when it was rainning he was the quickest on the track in Silverstone, and in the race put on a little show for british fans while fighting with Alonso. In this moment Lewis is carrying the team on his back.

  10. Massa has (officially) had 11 wins, 11 2nds and 11 3rds – and currently has 10 4th places.

    Silverstone 2011 – Webber on pole, Alonso wins
    Silverstone 2012 – Alonso on pole, Webber wins

    In fact this is the 3rd year in a row that Webber has managed either pole or win at Silverstone, without ever managing both.

    Both Alonso and Hamilton have managed both pole positions and wins in 2012, but neither has won a race from pole this year.

    1. If my count back is right, you are giving the Hockenheim of 2010 to Massa, right?
      But by that logic, you should also take away the Spa of 2008, right?

  11. Another fact: British GP was the first race, in which Mclaren pit crew didin’t make a mistake.

    1. @osvaldas31 this is probably the best fact here!

      although i seem to remeber australia and monaco were flawless?

      1. davidnotcoulthard
        9th July 2012, 14:43

        McLaren’s Pitstops were the fastest-But their MP4s (MP4-??, I forgot) this time looked more like MP3s. If this was a Caption Competition I’d say Vodaphone.

      2. I think more pertinent would be to a) split apart McLaren’s mistakes from equipment failures (the latter can happen to any team and can’t really be predicted) and b) point out that once again, McLaren have got the strategy so very VERY wrong on race day.

  12. At 1:25:11.288, this was the shortest race this season (in terms of time) and the shortest since Italy last year.

    In nine races, there have been seven different winners, seven different drivers in second and seven different drivers in third place.

    It is the first time since Japan 2009 that McLaren have been outside the top three in the WCC.

    After nine races, no team has more than six podiums. McLaren have six, Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus each have five.

    Red Bull’s 1-3 result matches the best team performance of the season set by McLaren in Australia. We are still yet to see a 1-2 result this year.

    This was the third race in a row where the polesitter did not win. Before that, there were three in a row where the polesitter did win.

  13. Another fact: The stats and facts article is always my favorite read after a GP weekend :)

    1. +1
      yeah me too!

  14. davidnotcoulthard
    9th July 2012, 14:56

    For the first time in the Pirelli era drivers were given freewill of tyre choice for a dry race start (and for a completely dry race)-The race turned out to be good, and if the FIA drop the “both tyre-types in a dry race” rule we’ll see more of drivers catching the leader in the closing stages of a race with the chasing driver(s) the only one(s) with the better tyre set, which is how I think Mark won the race.

  15. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    9th July 2012, 15:03

    Five more wins for Webber would but him level with compatriot Jack Brabham on victories, and five more for Red Bull would equal the Brabham team’s tally of 35.

    I guess it is “WOULD PUT HIM”

    1. That, or Keith missed a ‘t’

  16. Still no Alonso-Vettel-Hamilton podium. Ever.

    1. I never knew that. That’s incredible considering how they’re widely considered the three best drivers on the grid! Good spotting that!

  17. Its always amazing to read the statistics people dig up!

Comments are closed.