Belgium played host to another incident-packed race on Sunday – and one with plenty of statistical significance, not least for Lewis Hamilton...
- Starting from the back row of the grid, Lewis Hamilton made up 17 positions to finish third – the third time in his career he’s started 20th or lower and finished on the podium. No other driver in history has done that - John Watson is the closest, having managed it twice in the 1980s.
- It was the sixth time in Hamilton’s career he has started 20th or lower, so that’s a 50 percent strike rate.
- It was Hamilton’s 10th podium of the season and 97th overall, moving him level with Fernando Alonso for third on the all-time list. The two drivers to have scored more? Alain Prost on 106 - and Michael Schumacher, still well ahead on 155.
- Lewis Hamilton collected fastest lap for the 31st time in his career to pull clear of Nigel Mansell in fourth place on the all-time list. Kimi Raikkonen, with 43, is the only active driver with more.
Nico Rosberg led every lap at Spa-Francorchamps from pole position. © Sutton Images
- Nico Rosberg’s victory in Belgium was his first ever at Spa, and his 20th overall. All of the German’s wins have come for Mercedes, making him only the 10th driver in history to take 20 wins for one team.
- Rosberg now has six wins this season – exactly the same number as Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes meanwhile have managed to string together eight consecutive victories for the third time in the last three years. The Silver Arrows' record stands at 10, achieved between Japan in 2015 and Russia earlier this year - which was just one shy of McLaren’s all-time record set in 1988.
- Rosberg led every lap in Spa – the seventh time in his career that he’s won that way. In fact, the last three of Rosberg’s victories have come in that manner.
Fernando Alonso rose from 21st to seventh in the race. © Sutton Images
- For the second race in a row, Daniel Ricciardo finished second – his fourth podium finish of the year. There were contrasting fortunes for team mate Max Verstappen though who finished outside the points for the first time in seven races.
- For just the second time in his career, Fernando Alonso converted a grid slot outside the top 20 into a points finish. The Spaniard, who finished seventh, has started outside the top 20 on nine occasions, so that’s a 22 percent strike rate.
- Alonso’s seventh place helped McLaren leapfrog Toro Rosso in the constructors’ standings. The Woking team weren’t the only team on the move either – Force India collected their second highest combined points tally of the season – 22 – to jump Williams for fourth in the standings. Remember, since Vijay Mallya assumed control of the team, Force India have never finished higher than fifth…
Nico Hulkenberg equalled his career-best finish. © Sutton Images
- For a while it looked like Nico Hulkenberg might end his podium drought, but in the end the German had to settle for fourth place, which represents his best finish of the season and equals his best finish of all time.
- Hulkenberg has now started 107 Grands Prix without scoring a rostrum - which puts him fourth in the all-time list. Adrian Sutil is ‘top’, having made 128 starts without ever breaking into the top three. Sutil only scored one fourth place though - Hulkenberg now has three, having also finished just off the podium in Belgium in 2012 and Korea one year later.
- Speaking of missing the podium, Ferrari have now gone four successive races (and five times this season) without getting one of their drivers on the rostrum. Will that streak end on home soil at Monza?
