British Grand Prix 2009

McLaren have failed to score point for four races - the first time that’s happened since 1981.

But it’s all good for Sebastian Vettel, who joins the ranks of F1 drivers to score a ‘hat-trick’ in a Grand Prix. Here are the stats and facts from the British Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel scored the third win of his career, giving him as many victories as Giancarlo Fisichella, 1958 world champion Mike Hawthorn and 1961 world champion Phil Hill, among others.

Vettel also scored his first ever fastest lap (which was also the first for a Red Bull) and fourth pole position. That gave him his first ever hat-trick of a win from pole position from fastest lap, something only 42 other F1 drivers have achieved. Of the current crop, six other drivers have done so: Felipe Massa (on four occasions), Fernando Alonso (three), Rubens Barrichello (two), Leiws Hamilton (two), Kimi Raikkonen (two) and Jenson Button (one).

Had he not lost the lead to Mark Webber for three laps, Vettel would have become only the 21st driver to have won a race from pole position, setting fastest lap and leading every lap. The reintroduction of refuelling in 1994 has made this ‘grand slam’ especially difficult to achieve, and no driver on the grid today ever has. Here are the 20 drivers who did, and how many times they achieved it:

Drivers with the most ‘grand slams’

1	Jim Clark	8
2	Alberto Ascari	5
3	Michael Schumacher	5
4	Jackie Stewart	4
5	Ayrton Senna	4
6	Nigel Mansell	4
7	Nelson Piquet	3
8	Juan Manuel Fangio	2
9	Jack Brabham	2
10	Mika Hakkinen	2
11	Mike Hawthorn	1
12	Stirling Moss	1
13	Jo Siffert	1
14	Jacky Ickx	1
15	Clay Regazzoni	1
16	Niki Lauda	1
17	Jacques Laffite	1
18	Gilles Villeneuve	1
19	Gerhard Berger	1
20	Damon Hill	1

Brawn GP passed the 100 point mark for this year, but Jenson Button failed to finish on the podium for the first time this season. That ends his streak of seven in a row.

Kazuki Nakajima scored the best qualifying position of his career with fifth, his previous best was tenth (twice).

McLaren: It just gets worse

McLaren failed to score for the fourth race in a row. You have to go back to the start of the 1981 season to find a comparable barren patch: the team ended 1980 failing to score at Watkins Glen in America, then started 1981 point-less in the first four rounds of 1981 at Long Beach (USA), Jacarepagua (Brazil) and Buenos Aires (Argentina).

To put that into perspective, neither Lewis Hamilton or Heikki Kovalainen had been born by then, and none of those four tracks have been on the F1 calendar for at least a decade. Their drivers during those events were Alain Prost (1980), John Watson (1980 and 1981) and Andrea de Cesaris (1981).

2009 F1 drivers' championship - top four (click to enlarge)

Was Silverstone a turning point for Red Bull? If Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber have now got faster cars than the Brawns, then the hunt is on to see if either of them can overhaul Jenson Button. Button is 25 points ahead of Vettel and 28.5 clear of Webber with nine rounds remaining.

The British Grand Prix Silverstone, Britain 60 laps; 308.355km

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1h22:49.328
2. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 15.188
3. Barrichello Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) + 41.175
4. Massa Ferrari (B) + 45.043
5. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 45.915
6. Button Brawn GP-Mercedes (B) + 46.285
7. Trulli Toyota (B) + 1:08.307
8. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 1:09.622
9. Glock Toyota (B) + 1:09.823
10. Fisichella Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1:11.522
11. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) + 1:14.023
12. Piquet Renault (B) + 1 lap
13. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 1 lap
14. Alonso Renault (B) + 1 lap
15. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 1 lap
16. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes (B) + 1 lap
18. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap

Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:20.735

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 25
Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 24

World Championship standings, round 8:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Button 64 1. Brawn GP-Mercedes 105
2. Barrichello 41 2. Red Bull-Renault 74.5
3. Vettel 39 3. Toyota 34.5
4. Webber 35.5 4. Ferrari 26
5. Trulli 21.5 5. Williams-Toyota 15.5
6. Massa 16 6. McLaren-Mercedes 13
7. Rosberg 15.5 7. Renault 11
8. Glock 13 8. BMW Sauber 8
9. Alonso 11 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 5
10. Raikkonen 10
11. Hamilton 9
12. Heidfeld 6
13. Kovalainen 4
14. Buemi 3
15. Kubica 2
16. Bourdais 2