Ask The Statman – Your Questions Answered

You asked the questions and I answered them! Sixteen questions from thirteen people, some of which were very easy to answer and some incredibly hard. The questions are a bit of a mix of everything F1, from tarmac area and driver birthdays to the number of wins by turbo engines and the circuit with the most retirements.

Chris Wynn @slothster74

Which circuit has the largest area of tarmac? and how many F1 cars would it take to cover it?

Unfortunately I don’t actually know, as Spa-Francorchamps is the longest on the calendar I’d take a guess at that. Not sure of the exact track width but I do I know that it is between 10 and 14 metres wide so using 12 as an average there’s a track area of around 84,048m². Which means it would hold 9,339 Williams FW34s. I used the FW34 as each car has a slightly different length and width and they are one of few teams to give the dimensions, plus I am a Williams fan myself.

Len D @Lenstar995

How exactly do u collect all the stats? i find it very interesting how ur able to follow a race so well!

There’s quite a lot of data put onto the FIA website during the race weekend so I just use all of that to update my various spreadsheets. When I first started I was using a mix of Wikipedia and BBC Sport to get all the data I needed for past races as they weren’t available on the FIA website.

Puponator @imthehobbit

Vettels obvs won3 titles but many have 4+ titles

Three, Alain Prost, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher.

Bouncebackabilitrix @bouncebckbltrx

Which driver gained the most number of places out of all the 20 races of 2012?

That kind of depends how you count it, without removing any races for retirements then it’s Charles Pic with 59 gained, average of 2.95 places each GP, but most of those are from cars retiring. If you remove all driver retirements then the most gained is 71 from Sergio Pérez, average of 5.071 gained each race he finishes. If you were to remove every single time places were lost no matter what the reason then it would be Sergio Pérez again, this 81 gained.

Viktor Bognar @GeoCucc

You tweeted recently, that Chilton will be the 159th british driver in F1 next year. I want to ask, how and where did you get this number, because it’s a bit confusing, that different databases have different figures. For example, statsf1.com says Chilton will be the 140th british to start an F1 race, and the 164th (and if you click on the list, there are just 162 names) to participate on an F1 weekend. But Forix says, he will be the 142th starter (they added two drivers who only driven F2 cars in F1 races, when it was allowed) and the 156th participant. Well, in my statistics, I prefer to count only the race starts, so for me he will be the 140th. But I’m interested, how are you counting?

I’m counting every single Brit that’s entered an F1 Championship event minus Friday drivers, which includes many who have never qualified or started the race. Plus five (I think, only checked briefly) F2 only entrants are counted in that 159 and also one Brit I’m not completely sure should even be in there. I added him last year and then meant to double check but completely forgot, so thanks for reminding me!  As for the race starters Chilton would be the 143rd, or 140th after removing the three F2 entrants that have started a race.

Jack @jacko2255

How many F1 drivers were born on 25th December, 1st January and 29th February?

Two on Christmas, Giancarlo Baghetti, who won his first ever F1 race, and Wilson Fittipaldi. Seven drivers were born on the New Year, Marcel Balsa, Zsolt Baumgartner, Carlo “Gimax” Franchi, Jean-Marc Gounon, Jacky Ickx, Hap Sharp and finally Hans-Joachim Stuck. Only one driver has been born in the 29th of Feb and that is Masten Gregory.

Barry McManus @barrymcmanus51

How much in money has m.schumacher being fined over his total career?

That I don’t know, it’s virtually impossible to find the penalty data from back then, I can’t even find anything from 2010! However throughout 2011 and 2012 he was fined €22,500. Not quite what you asked for but it’s the best I can do.

Rory Bryce Muller @RoryBryce1121

Based entirely on the current scoring system, which driver would average the most points per race throughout F1 history?

That would be Dorino Serafini, only entered a single race and he came 2nd in it, so with the current points 18 per race. However Serafini shared the drive with Alberto Ascari, meaning that he was given half points. So by excluding him then it would be Juan Manuel Fangio with 16.48 per race.

Barry McManus @barrymcmanus51

How many times did the safety car come out this season n how many laps did it cover?

Not completely sure of this as I stupidly forgot to keep track of any safety car data throughout the season, but I think it came out 12 times. Absolutely no idea how many laps it covered though, couldn’t find out that data anywhere, will try and keep track of them for 2013.

Miles Hemmings @MrMilesHemmings

What’s the record for most gp wins before that individual became world champ..?

Very good question, the record is 29 wins before becoming the World Drivers’ Champion, set by Nigel Mansell. Joint second is Damon Hill and Alain Prost with 21 wins. On a similar note the least wins before winning a WDC is Keke Rosberg, he won just once before becoming the 1982 champion.

Detroital Remains @BigBallsDetroit

How many races have turbocharged f1 cars won?

Took me quite a while to figure out this one, not a stat I had before but I believe it to be 109. The first came at the 1979 French Grand Prix and the last at the 1988 Australian Grand Prix as the turbo engines were banned for 1989.

Michiel Steenhagen @steenhagen_m

Who has the most gp starts without scoring a single point?

Nice and easy question after a few tough ones, Luca Badoer, 58 races, 50 starts, 0 points. I believe he also holds the record for the longest time between races as before his brief return in 2009 his last race was all the way back in 1999.

Rachel @rachymacker

If a driver wins the WDC for the 1st time next year will it be the 1st time to happen beating 5 WDCs on the grid?

No, the first and currently only time it was done was by Jochen Rindt in 1970, beating Jackie Stewart, Denny Hulme, John Surtees, Graham Hill and Jack Brabham to the title.

Bouncebackabilitrix @bouncebckbltrx

What were 2012’s best and worst race weekends in terms of attendance?

I don’t have any attendance figures but the worst is almost definitely Bahrain. Best I’m not sure, I’d take a guess at either Silverstone, Monza or Interlagos. That really is a guess though, I have no idea.

Christopher Bruce @ChrisBruce1985

What F1 circuit has caused the most DNFs in its history?

Blimey that’s a tough question but I’m pretty sure that it is Monza, the most used circuit in history and a total of 612 retirements. I also checked the next two most used circuits just to make sure they didn’t have any more, Monaco has had 572 retirements and Silverstone 411.

Gus Erlandson @guserlandson

How many teams have won on their Debut?

Four, Alfa Romeo at the 1950 British GP (but it was the first F1 race so doesn’t really count), Mercedes at the 1954 French GP, Wolf at the 1977 Argentine GP and Brawn GP at the 2009 Australian GP.

That’s it for now, might do this again before the Australian GP, might not. But I will be a little quiet over Christmas, the next post (Lotus teammate comparison) should come before the New Year, might not though.