Some Formula One statistics ahead of Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix:
WINS
Felipe Massa's win in Turkey was Ferrari's fourth in a row this season and the Brazilian's third in succession at the Istanbul track.
The Italian team have now won 205 races (from 763 starts), McLaren 157 and Williams 113.
The last time Ferrari won five races in succession was in 2004 with Germany's Michael Schumacher and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello.
Schumacher was also the last driver before Massa to win the same Grand Prix three times or more in succession.
POINTS
Renault's Fernando Alonso needs one more point to become only the sixth driver to score 500 points in Formula One whereas Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen (currently on 491) needs to win in Monaco.
Schumacher holds the record of 1,369.
Raikkonen has finished his last 12 races in the points, making him the most consistent driver on the starting grid.
His predecessor Schumacher holds the record of 24 successive races in the points from 2001 to 2003.
QUALIFYING
BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, Renault's Fernando Alonso, Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella are the only drivers to have outqualified their team mates in every race so far.
Massa has outqualified Raikkonen 4-1 yet still trails the Finn by seven points.
SEQUENCE
Ferrari and McLaren have between them won every race since Renault's Alonso triumphed at the Japanese Grand Prix of October 2006, a run of 23 in a row.
MONACO
Ferrari have not triumphed in Monaco since Michael Schumacher in 2001. The team have won more recently than that at every other race on the current calendar.
McLaren have by far the best record of any team in the principality over the last 20 years. They have won 11 times to Ferrari's three.
Alonso can become the first driver since the late Brazilian Ayrton Senna to win three years in a row in Monaco.
Monaco is the shortest Grand Prix circuit on the calendar at 3.340km and shortest overall distance of 260.520km.
MILESTONES
Honda's Rubens Barrichello set a record for most race starts (257) in Turkey. The Brazilian has still not scored a point since 2006.
Italy's Giancarlo Fisichella, a race winner with Jordan and Renault and now with Force India, chalks up 200 starts on Sunday.
That places him ninth in the all-time list, one ahead of Frenchman Alain Prost and one behind France's Jean Alesi.
Williams founder Frank Williams will be marking his 600th Grand Prix as a Formula One entrant this weekend. Frank Williams Racing made its debut with Briton Piers Courage driving a Brabham BT26A at the 1969 Spanish Grand Prix.
© 2024 Rediff.com -