Kash's Stats and Memories: Best F1 Drivers from races I've seen live (16 before Singapore GP 2022)

 So you know I like to talk about some stats and also some past memories so I thought, why not mix them all up into one thing. And with the Singapore GP back after a 2 year hiatus this weekend, why not do a fun little thing about the races I've seen live in action and which drivers have done the best when I'm there!

#1 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2011

• Race Winner: #1 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull (Started 1st)
• Podium: #4 Jenson Button (McLaren) & #2 Mark Webber (Red Bull)
• Pole: Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - 1:44.381s
• Fastest Lap: Jenson Button - McLaren - 1:48.454s on lap 54
• My Viewing spot for the race: Turn 13 Viewing Platform
• Notes:
• The first race for me!
• Had Jenson Button not finished 2nd, Sebastian Vettel would have clinched his 2nd world championship in Singapore with 5 races still left to go
• Best result of the year for Paul di Resta (6th)
• This was Vettel's 19th win in F1

#2 F1 Australian Grand Prix 2012

• Race Winner: #3 Jenson Button - McLaren (Started 2nd)
• Podium: #1 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) & #4 Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 1:24.922
• Fastest Lap: Jenson Button (McLaren) - 1:29.187 on lap 56
• My Viewing spot for the race: Schumacher Stand at Turns 15 and 16
• Notes:
• F1 debut for Jean-Éric Vergne and Charles Pic
• First F1 race in 39 years not to feature an Italian driver
• First ever F1 race to feature 6 F1 world champions on the starting grid (Schumacher, Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Raikkonen)
• This was Button's 13th win in F1

#3 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2012

• Race Winner: #1 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull (Started 3rd)
• Podium: #3 Jenson Button (McLaren) & #5 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) - 1:46.362
• Fastest Lap: Nico Hülkenberg (Force India) - 1:51.033 on lap 52
• My Viewing spot for the race: Turn 8 Viewing Platform
• Notes:
• Vettel's win meant he had jumped two places in the standings to 2nd, cutting the gap to Alonso to 29 points with 5 races left go go
• Hamilton was leading the race before a gearbox failure
• First race to finish before the full amount of laps were completed due to reaching the 2 hour limit, the first time since 2008 Monaco GP
• Best ever F1 result for Paul di Resta (4th)
• This was Vettel's 23rd win in F1

#4 F1 Malaysian Grand Prix 2013

• Race Winner: #1 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull (Started 3rd)
• Podium: #2 Mark Webber (Red Bull) & #10 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
• Pole: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) - 1:49.674
• Fastest Lap: Sergio Pérez (McLaren) - 1:39.199 on lap 56
• My Viewing spot for the race: Grandstand F (Turns 5 to 8)
• Notes:
• This race was the one with the infamous multi 2-1 controversy. Vettel was told to stay behind team-mate Webber and not fight him for the win. He ignored team orders to take the win.
• Lewis Hamilton scores his first of (as of writing) 139 podiums for Mercedes
• This was Vettel's 27th win in F1

#5 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2013

• Race Winner: #1 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull (Started 1st)
• Podium: #3 Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) & #7 Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus)
• Pole: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) - 1:42.841
• Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) - 1:48.574 on lap 46
• My Viewing spot for the race: Viewing Platform at Turns 22 & 23
• Notes:
• Vettel scored only his 3rd Grand Slam (Pole, led all laps, fastest lap and win)
• First Singapore GP without the infamous Singapore Sling, now changed to a single corner
• Never thought my final picture of Mark Webber in F1 competition would be on a Ferrari haha! Alonso gave him a ride back after his car failed on him on the last lap
• This was Vettel's 33rd win in F1, and the 3rd of 9 straight wins, a record in F1!

#6 F1 Australian Grand Prix 2014

• Race Winner: #6 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes (Started 3rd)
• Podium: #20 Kevin Magnussen (McLaren) and #22 Jenson Button (McLaren)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:44.231
• Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:32.478 on lap 19
• My Viewing spot for the race: Fangio Grandstand (Start/Finish straight)
• Notes:
• This was the first race of the new turbocharged V6 hybrid era of F1
• Also the first race with the new ruling of drivers running with a fixed number for the rest of their F1 careers and not having numbers based on team's previous finish
• F1 debuts for Kevin Magnussen, Daniil Kvyat and Marcus Ericsson. Magnussen and Kvyat both scored points on debut, with Magnussen scoring his best ever F1 result (2nd), podium on debut, the first since Lewis Hamilton back in 2007
• Jenson Button scored his final podium finish in F1 after Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification 
• This was Rosberg's 4th win in F1

#7 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2014

• Race Winner: #44 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes (Started 1st)
• Podium: #1 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) & #3 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1.45.681
• Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:50.417 on lap 39
• My Viewing spot for the race: Viewing Platform at Turns 22 & 23
• Notes:
• This was to be the last race Jules Bianchi would finish before his tragic accident at the next race in Suzuka, Japan. He succumbed to his injuries from that race 9 months later
• Best results of the season for Vettel (2nd) and Vergne (6th)
• This was Hamilton's 29th win in F1

#8 F1 Malaysian Grand Prix 2015

• Race Winner: #5 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari (Started 2nd)
• Podium: #44 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) & #6 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:49.834
• Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:42.062 on lap 43
• My Viewing spot for the race: K1 Grandstand (Main Straight, Turns 1 to 3)
• Notes:
• Vettel took his first of 14 wins for Ferrari in Malaysia
• Three drivers all scored their best F1 results at that point in this race, Bottas (5th), Verstappen (7th) and Sainz (8th)
• Max Verstappen became the youngest ever F1 point scorer with his 7th place finish at 17 years 180 days
• This was Vettel's 40th win in F1, his first since his 9 race win streak at the end of 2013

#9 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2015

• Race Winner: #5 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari (Started 1st)
• Podium: #3 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) & #7 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari)
• Pole: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - 1:43.885
• Fastest Lap: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) - 1:50.041 on lap 52
• My Viewing spot for the race: Bay Grandstand (Turn 18)
• Notes:
• Alexander Rossi made his F1 debut in Singapore in place of Roberto Mehri, the first American to race in F1 since Scott Speed back in 2006
• Ricciardo scored his best result of the season at this race (2nd)
• The only race all season that neither Mercedes were on the front row and the only non-Mercedes pole position in all of 2015
• A drunk man walked on track to bring out a safety car. Don't do that people.
• This was Vettel's 42nd win in F1, moving past the legendary Ayrton Senna's total of 41 to put him 3rd on his own on the all time wins list at that time

#10 F1 Japanese Grand Prix 2015

• Race Winner: #44 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes (Started 2nd)
• Podium: #6 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) & #5 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
• Pole: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:32.584
• Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:36.145 on lap 33
• My Viewing spot for the race: Grandstand I (Turns 10 & 11)
• Notes:
• My 10th race and the first that isn't in Singapore, Australia or Malaysia which I thought was pretty cool. Hoping to go back to Suzuka sometime in the near future
• Max Verstappen stopped his car in front of me during practice and Daniil Kvyat's Red Bull crashed and did a barrel roll in front of me at Turn 10 during qualifying as well
• The first race since the 2011 European Grand Prix where all cars that started the race finished the race
• This was the race featuring the famous "GP2 engine" radio comment by Fernando Alonso
• This was Hamilton's 41st win in F1, tying the number of his idol Ayrton Senna of 41 wins (at that time to be joint 4th most) as well at the track he won all 3 of his world championships

#11 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2016

• Race Winner: #6 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes (Started 1st)
• Podium: #3 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) & #44 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
• Pole: Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - 1:42.584
• Fastest Lap: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) - 1:47.187 on lap 49
• My Viewing spot for the race: Viewing Platform at Turns 22 & 23
• Notes:
• Fernando Alonso did a few laps in practice with the halo, one of the first times it was trailed in an actual F1 running before it's introduction in 2018
• In a weird case of luck, I stood at a place where usually I can see the 19th and 20th qualifiers on the starting grid and somehow Sebastian Vettel had a penalty that weekend which meant he was directly in front of me as the race started. Lucky break I guess.
• This was Rosberg's 22nd win in F1, which was also his 200th F1 start. It were to be his second to last win in F1 before retiring at the end of the season

#12 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2017

• Race Winner: #44 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes (Started 5th)
• Podium: #3 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) & #77 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
• Pole: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - 1:39.491
• Fastest Lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:45.008 on lap 55
• My Viewing spot for the race: Esplanade Waterfront Grandstand (Turns 16, 17 & 18)
• Notes:
• You know this race. One of my favourite moments in all of F1. The two Ferrari cars starting at the front actually crashing into each other at the start! I loved it, since I'm not a fan of that lot.
• This was the first ever wet night race in F1 history, rain hit the track 20 minutes before race started and caused all sorts of chaos in the race
• Best F1 finishes for 3 drivers in this race, Carlos Sainz (4th), Joylon Palmer (6th) and Stoffel Vandoorne (7th). It would turn out to be the best F1 finish for both Palmer and Vandoorne in their short F1 careers.
• This was Hamilton's 60th win in F1

#13 F1 Malaysian Grand Prix 2017

• Race Winner: #33 Max Verstappen - Red Bull (Started 3rd)
• Podium: #44 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) & #3 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:30.076
• Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - 1:34.080 on lap 41
• My Viewing spot for the race: K1 Grandstand (Main Straight, Turns 1 to 3)
• Notes:
• This was to be the last Malaysian Grand Prix for F1
• Pierre Gasly made his F1 debut in place of Daniil Kvyat
• Kimi Räikkönen was due to start 2nd in the race but his car had a battery failure that ended his race even before the start
• This was Verstappen's 2nd F1 win, a day after his 20th birthday

#14 F1 Australian Grand Prix 2018

• Race Winner: #5 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari (Started 3rd)
• Podium: #44 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) & #7 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:21.164
• Fastest Lap: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) -1:25.945 on lap 54
• My Viewing spot for the race: Brabham Grandstand (Turns 1 & 2)
• Notes:
• Fun little not here but this was the first time I watched back to back F1 races with neither being the Singapore Grand Prix
• This was the first F1 race to feature the new halo system
• Charles Leclerc and Sergey Sirotkin made their F1 debuts
• Best result of the season for Alonso (5th)
• This was Vettel's 48th win in F1. Vettel also scored his 100th podium finish in F1 in this race.

#15 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2018

• Race Winner: #44 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes (Started 1st)
• Podium: #33 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) & #5 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
• Pole: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1:36.015
• Fastest Lap: Kevin Magnussen (Haas) - 1:41.905 on lap 50
• My Viewing spot for the race: Stamford Grandstand (Turns 7 & 8)
• Notes:
• First fastest lap recorded by Kevin Magnussen, which was also the first fastest lap for his team Haas
• Liam Gallagher had a concert here! He's my favourite singer so that was awesome to catch
• This was Hamilton's 69th win in F1 (nice)

#16 F1 Singapore Grand Prix 2019

• Race Winner: #5 Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari (Started 3rd)
• Podium: #16 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) & #33 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
• Pole: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 1:36.217
• Fastest Lap: Kevin Magnussen (Haas) - 1:42.301 on lap 58
• My Viewing spot for the race: Stamford Grandstand (Turns 7 & 8)
• Notes:
• For only the second time ever, Kevin Magnussen and Haas both got a fastest lap to their names, both happening in Singapore in back to back years
• Antonio Giovinazzi briefly lead the race, making him the first driver not driving a Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull to lead a race since Bottas did for Williams at the 2015 British Grand Prix. Also the first time Alfa Romeo lead an F1 race since 1983
• This was sadly my last time using my favourite Nikon camera which I used to take all the pictures you see on this entry. My camera was damaged months after this race by renovation workers
• This was Vettel's 53rd win in F1, and likely his last F1 race win having announced his retirement at the end of this year. He sits 3rd in the all time winner's list, behind Michael Schumacher (91) and Lewis Hamilton (103).

I'm excited to get back to Marina Bay street circuit to catch my 17th Formula One race live this weekend. And I wonder which race will be the 18th. I have applied tickets for a familiar place I've not been to in a while (not true, I was there for reasons not named F1 last time out, it was for Pokemon). And then after that, where's the next new races I might go to? 

My cousin and I were talking about possibly going to Barcelona if I do decide to visit her in Edinburgh next year. And there's still races I have yet to visit like Montreal, A1-Ring, Silverstone, Spa, one of the 3 US races possibly, maybe a return to Suzuka. Most likely another go in Singapore. We'll see what the future holds.

And now for the fun stats:

Most wins by a driver at races I watched live

1. Sebastian Vettel - 8 wins
2. Lewis Hamilton - 4 wins
3. Nico Rosberg - 2 wins
4. Jenson Button - 1 win
5. Max Verstappen - 1 win

Yeah I've only seen 5 drivers win in the 16 races I've been to. If Max doesn't win this weekend which we all expect him to, there could be a 6th on the way if it's not Hamilton. Vettel has won the half the races I've been to which is kinda crazy. Sure the first half was him during his dominant Red Bull era but the other half were with Ferrari! Maybe it's also appropriate I got to see his last F1 win as well. I'm still happy I got to see a Jenson Button win live in person for only my 2nd ever race.

Most wins by a team at races I watched live

1. Mercedes - 6 wins
2. Red Bull - 5 wins
3. Ferrari - 4 wins
4. McLaren - 1 win

Not a surprise, Mercedes and Red Bull have been dominating the era where I got to go watch a few F1 races live. All 4 of Ferrari wins were thanks to the most winningest driver I've seen, Vettel. And hey at least I got to see my favourite team win once before, my first overseas race in Melbourne, which my favourite at that time, Jenson Button, won the damn thing!

Most podiums by a driver at races I watched live

1. Sebastian Vettel - 12 podiums
2. Lewis Hamilton - 10 podiums
3. Daniel Ricciardo - 5 podiums
4. Jenson Button - 4 podiums
5. Nico Rosberg - 4 podiums
6. Kimi Räikkönen - 3 podiums
7. Max Verstappen - 3 podiums
8. Fernando Alonso - 2 podiums
9. Valtteri Bottas - 1 podium
10. Charles Leclerc - 1 podium
11. Kevin Magnussen - 1 podium

Apart from Magnussen, no real surprise podiums here. Maybe the biggest would be Alonso with only 2 podiums since he was still doing well with Ferrari during that time. I got to see my guys Ricciardo and Button do well a few times so that was nice. And hey I was there to see Magnussen get his one and only F1 podium so far, on his F1 debut no less. But yeah it shows that apart from the 2014 Australian GP, I've not really seen that many crazy results live. Sad.

Most podiums by a team at races I watched live

1. Red Bull - 16 podiums
2. Mercedes - 14 podiums
3. Ferrari - 11 podiums
4. McLaren - 6 podiums
5. Lotus - 1 podium

Again, no real surprise results here. Red Bull and Mercedes have dominated the era I got to watch racing live.

Most poles by a driver at races I watched live

1. Lewis Hamilton - 8 poles
2. Sebastian Vettel - 5 poles
3. Nico Rosberg - 2 poles
4. Charles Leclerc - 1 pole

Most poles by a team at races I watched live

1. Mercedes - 8 poles
2. Red Bull - 3 poles
3. Ferrari - 3 poles
4. McLaren - 2 poles

This portion of the stats have been dominated by two guys, Hamilton and Vettel. It's usually them. That might change soon.

Most fastest lap by a driver at races I watched live

1. Daniel Ricciardo - 3 FLs
2. Lewis Hamilton - 3 FLs
3. Jenson Button - 2 FLs
4. Nico Rosberg - 2 FLs
5. Kevin Magnussen - 2 FLs
6. Nico Hülkenberg - 1 FL
7. Sergio Pérez - 1 FL

Most fastest lap by a team at races I watched live

1. Mercedes - 5 FLs
2. Red Bull - 4 FLs
3. McLaren - 3 FLs
4. Haas - 2 FLs
5. Force India - 1 FL
6. Ferrari - 1 FL

Ok the fastest lap ones are a bit funky. I mean, Magnussen and Haas only has ever had 2 FLs, both happened when I was there haha! Ricciardo was always quick so nice to see him pick up a number of these. Anyone could really get an FL these days.

Most top 10 finishes by a driver at races I watched live

1. Sebastian Vettel - 14 finishes
2. Lewis Hamilton - 13 finishes
3. Kimi Räikkönen - 12 finishes
4. Sergio Pérez - 12 finishes
5. Daniel Ricciardo - 10 finishes
6. Nico Rosberg - 9 finishes
7. Fernando Alonso - 9 finishes
8. Valtteri Bottas - 9 finishes
9. Nico Hülkenberg - 8 finishes
10. Max Verstappen - 7 finishes

Ok this one is a bit skewed to those who have been around longer but hey, the Hulk is still up there. And even with just 8 races out of the 16 I've been to, Verstappen is already in the top 10.

Most top 10 finishes by a team at races I watched live

1. Ferrari - 27 finishes
2. Red Bull - 25 finishes
3. Mercedes - 25 finishes
4. McLaren - 18 finishes
5. Force India - 16 finishes
6. Lotus/Renault - 15 finishes
7. Toro Rosso - 15 finishes
8. Sauber/Alfa Romeo - 9 finishes
9. Williams - 9 finishes
10. Haas - 1 finish

Damn it, why is it always Ferrari in the points at any races I'm at. Force India/Aston Martin,  Lotus/Renault/Alpine and Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri have done better at the races I've been to.

Most DNFs finishes by a driver at races I watched live

1. Romain Grosjean - 5 DNFs
2. Pastor Maldonado - 4 DNFs
3. Fernando Alonso - 4 DNFs
4. Nico Hülkenberg - 4 DNFs
5. Jenson Button - 4 DNFs
6. Kimi Räikkönen - 3 DNFs
7. Lewis Hamilton - 3 DNFs
8. Felipe Massa - 3 DNFs
9. Sebastian Vettel - 2 DNFs
10. Adrian Sutil - 2 DNFs

Was hoping to prove a point here but it's not Maldonado on top. Damn it.

Most points by a driver at races I watched live

1. Sebastian Vettel - 288 points
2. Lewis Hamilton - 231 points
3. Nico Rosberg - 135 points
4. Kimi Räikkönen - 121 points
5. Daniel Ricciardo - 109 points
6. Fernando Alonso - 101 points
7. Valtteri Bottas - 91 points
8. Max Verstappen - 86 points
9. Jenson Button - 82 points
10. Sergio Pérez - 47 points

Most points by a team at races I watched live

1. Mercedes - 392 points
2. Red Bull - 378 points
3. Ferrari - 359 points
4. McLaren 174 points
5. Lotus/Renault - 82 points
6. Force India - 79 points
7. Williams - 68 points
8. Toro Rosso - 56 points
9. Sauber/Alfa Romeo - 24 points
10. Haas - 2 points

Well it's the same story, the ones who dominated leads the chart. For drivers it's the ones with more wins, Vettel, Hamilton and even Rosberg. For teams it's the big 3 lately, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari, and they were closely fought here.

Best average points per race by a driver at races I watched live (not counting those with 3 or less starts)

1. Sebastian Vettel - 18 pts/race
2. Lewis Hamilton - 14.44 pts/race
3. Nico Rosberg - 12.27 pts/race
4. Max Verstappen - 10.75 pts/race
5. Mark Webber - 9 pts/race
6. Kimi Räikkönen - 8.07 pts/race
7. Jenson Button - 7.45 pts/race
8. Valtteri Bottas - 7 pts/race
9. Daniel Ricciardo - 6.81 pts/race
10. Fernando Alonso - 6.73 pts/race

Had I included those with 3 or less races, Alex Albon would have been 7th on 8 points per race. But that's just from one race haha!

Best points conversion by a driver at races I watched live (not counting those with 3 or less starts)

1. Sebastian Vettel - 88%
2. Max Verstappen - 88%
3. Nico Rosberg - 82%
4. Lewis Hamilton - 81%
5. Kimi Räikkönen - 80%
6. Stoffel Vandoorne - 75%
7. Sergio Pérez - 75%
8. Valtteri Bottas - 69%
9. Carlos Sainz - 67%
10. Daniel Ricciardo - 63%

Same as above, had I included less than 3, the top 3 would have been Albon, Norris and Giovinazzi at 100% for their point scoring finish at the 2019 Singapore GP. Also Leclerc was at 67% but he's only done 3 races.

Thanks for reading and checking this out! Enjoy the race weekend!