Statistics and record-breakers | 24th one-two for Red BUll
- GPblog.com
At the second Grand Prix of the 2023 F1 season, Red Bull Racing was again the team to beat. This weekend, it was Sergio Perez who led the race, followed by Max Verstappen. With that, the Mexican led a one-two for the first time. Here are the statistics and record-breakers after the Jeddah GP.
Once again, leading roles for Red Bull Racing's drivers and the team itself in the statistics charts. Red Bull's fearsome speed suggests the team could reach record heights this year. After the Jeddah GP, the team has at least climbed further up some interesting lists.
Can Red Bull beat 2014 Mercedes this year?
The podium in Saudi Arabia was Red Bull's 24th one-two. The team is still far away from Ferrari who leads the list with 85. Mercedes comes next with 59. McLaren and Williams are still between Red Bull and Mercedes. The one-two statistics show that Red Bull had its most dominant year in 2022. Of the total number of 24, five were achieved last year.
Of the seven one-twos achieved by Perez and Verstappen in total, this is the first time Perez has been on top. That two have already been achieved in 2023 is a starting shot of a possibly even more dominant season than last year. To improve on Mercedes' 2014 run, they need to score 10 more one-twos this season.
Podium percentages and Alonso's hundredth podium
A second interesting statistic to watch is Fernando Alonso's hundredth podium finish. His P3 in Saudi Arabia was not the most regular, but later in the evening after the race, his hundredth was cashed in anyway. With a hundred podiums behind his name, he is still on the same P6 in the rankings, but comes very close to Kimi Raikkonen on P5 and Alain Prost on P4.
Alonso's Aston Martin has already helped him to the podium twice in 2023. That he succeeds several more times this year is quite possible. With six more podiums, the Spaniard is tied with Prost at P4. Alonso is currently driving his 20th F1 season, making him the record holder. It also means that the percentage of podium finishes across all his races is relatively low. In a scant 28 per cent of his races, he managed to finish on the podium.
For Verstappen currently on 79 podiums, the percentage is a scant 48 per cent. For Lewis Hamilton on P1 with 191 podiums, it is a whopping 61.22 per cent. There are only two drivers in F1 history who have a 100 per cent score here. George Amick and Dorino Serafini both drove one race in the 1950s and also finished that race on the podium.