Formula 1 calendar is capped at a maximum of 24 grands prix for now

The Formula 1 schedule now only allows for a maximum of 24 grand prix, according to Stefano Domenicali. There were many worn-out expressions in the Abu Dhabi paddock at the conclusion of the lengthy 22-race season, but Las Vegas will host an eagerly awaited race in 2019, and China is now scheduled to make its F1 comeback in April. Even though the 24-grand prix schedule for 2023 is the longest in history, the sport, which is controlled by Liberty Media, may want to add more events in order to capitalize on F1’s rising popularity.

“The sky is the limit,” F1 CEO Domenicali smiled to Marca sports newspaper.

“No, it’s a joke. The limit, I think, is next year with 24 grands prix. That is an optimal dimension, taking into account the growth that we have had all over the world.

“No more”, the Italian confirmed.

On a different topic, Domenicali talked about Fernando Alonso’s move to Aston Martin for 2023 and beyond. Alonso is 41 years old.

“This year he has shown that age is not a problem,” said Domenicali.

“He is super motivated, a very competitive driver, very strong in his head, very professional. So it doesn’t surprise me at all, because Fernando has Formula 1 in his blood and his motivation is constant.

“Even when he left F1, he already had it in his head to return. Now, obviously, he deserves the place he has and I want him to have a competitive car because with a competitive car, Fernando is ahead,” he added.

Since the first season in 1950, 111 different drivers have taken the chequered flag to win a Formula One grand prix.

Some of those drivers have been more successful than others in their careers, not only winning more races but also winning more world championships.

Game Defenders examines which driver has the most wins in F1 history, as well as who has the most pole positions and fastest laps at a grand prix during their career.

Which driver has the most victories in Formula One history?

Hamilton, Lewis (103)

Lewis Hamilton is the most successful F1 driver in history. The Stevenage native has won 103 Grands Prix in his career and hopes to add to that total with Mercedes in the coming seasons. No other driver has ever won three consecutive races.

Hamilton is also the joint-most decorated driver in terms of world championship titles, having won seven since his debut in 2008.

Schumacher, Michael (91)

Michael Schumacher of Germany is second on the list of most F1 race wins in history, with 91 victories. Along with Hamilton, Schumacher won seven world championships during his illustrious career, five of which came in a row between 2000 and 2004, when he dominated the sport with the help of his Ferrari team.

Vettel, Sebastian (53)

Sebastian Vettel, Schumacher’s compatriot who won the drivers championship four times in a row between 2010 and 2013, ranks third all-time in F1 race wins.

Vettel, who is still racing for Aston Martin in the 2022 season, has previously driven for some of the sport’s biggest teams, including Red Bull and Ferrari.

Prost, Alain (51)

Alain Prost, the most successful French driver in F1 history, won 51 races during his career, beginning with the 1981 French Grand Prix. Between 1997 and 2001, he also ran his own Formula One team, Prost Grand Prix.

Prost is still a regular sight on race days around the world as a non-executive director with Renault Sport — now Alpine — until January 2022.

Senna, Aryton (41)

Ayrton Senna ranks fifth all-time in F1 race wins, thanks to an illustrious career that spanned 1985 until his untimely death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Senna is regarded as one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history, having won three world championships in 1988, 1990, and 1991. He is also regarded as the best wet weather racer of all time, and many modern drivers look up to him.

Alonso, Fernando (32)

Fernando Alonso, a two-time world championship winner with Renault in 2005 and 2006, is the sixth most successful driver in F1 history, with 32 victories.

Alonso, who last won a race in 2013 at the Spanish Grand Prix, is still going strong in the sport at the age of 40, and he surprised everyone by qualifying second for Alpine at the recent Canadian Grand Prix, where he eventually finished ninth. This season, he also became the F1 driver with the longest active career, having made his debut in 2001.

Mansell, Nigel (31)

Nigel Mansell, nicknamed “The Lion” by Ferrari fans due to his committed and aggressive driving style, won 31 races in his F1 career between 1980 and 1995.

After winning the F1 world championship in 1992, Mansell decided to pursue a career in the CART IndyCar world series, which he won in 1993. He was the first debutant to win the championship and the first person to be the reigning F1 and American open-wheel National champion at the same time.

Stewart, Jackie (27)

Jackie Stewart was aptly nicknamed ‘The Flying Scot‘ due to his electric pace on the race track after winning three world driver’s championships.

Stewart won 27 races in Formula One and came close to winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1966. He was the team principal for the Stewart Grand Prix Racing Team from 1997 to 1999.

Verstappen, Max (26)

The most recent F1 race winner on this list, Dutch driver Max Verstappen, has won 26 races since his career began in 2015.

Verstappen, who drives for Red Bull each year, became the 2021 world champion in controversial fashion and looks set to repeat that success in 2022 due to his fantastic pace thus far.

Niki Lauda and Jim Clark (25)

The top ten list is completed by two motorsport legends. During their respective careers, Jim Clarke and Niki Lauda each won 25 races.

List of the most successful Formula One drivers in terms of race wins.

Driver	F1 race wins
Lewis Hamilton	103
Michael Schumacher	91
Sebastian Vettel	53
Alain Prost	51
Aryton Senna	41
Fernando Alonso	32
Nigel Mansell	31
Jackie Stewart	27
Max Verstappen	26
Jim Clarke & Niki Lauda	25

*In bold are current Formula One drivers.

Who has held the most pole positions in Formula One history?

Lewis Hamilton also holds the record for the most pole positions of any driver in F1 history. With 103 pole positions, he is comfortably ahead of former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher, who sat on pole 68 times during his illustrious career.

Who has the most fastest laps in Formula One history?

Driver	Fastest laps
Michael Schumacher	77
Lewis Hamilton	59
Kimi Raikkonen	46
Alain Prost	41
Sebastian Vettel	38
Nigel Mansell	30
Jim Clark	28
Mika Hakkinen	25
Niki Lauda	24
Juan Manuel Fangio, Nelson Piquet & Fernando Alonso	23

Michael Schumacher, not to be outdone by Lewis Hamilton at every turn, has the most fastest laps in F1 history. Given Mercedes‘ struggles so far in the 2022 season, his tally of 77 is unlikely to be surpassed by Hamilton, who currently sits on 59. Still, when it comes to the seven-time world champion, never say never!

Sebastian Vettel, the four-time Formula One world champion, has announced his retirement from the sport in 2022.

To the surprise of fans and media personalities alike, the German driver, who won the drivers’ title with Red Bull in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, made the announcement in the first post on his new official Instagram page.

Vettel gave a number of reasons on his social media page, which was set up in the early hours of July 28 and had attracted more than 950,000 followers by around 12 p.m. BST, why he believes now is the right time to retire from the sport that he “loves” and has been “central to [my] life since I can remember.”

Game Defenders investigates why Vettel has decided to retire from F1 this year, as well as his track record in the sport.

Why is Sebastian Vettel leaving Formula One?

Many in the F1 community would not have predicted Vettel’s retirement announcement, despite the fact that he is now 35 years old.

Under contract with Aston Martin until the end of the 2022 season, rumours of a move to another team in the near future circulated. Indeed, reports that a move to McLaren in the 2022 off-season were gaining traction just last week.

Vettel began the video on his Instagram page by confirming that he would retire “by the end of the 2022 season.”

He continued, saying: “This is my favourite sport. It has always played an important role in my life. But, just as there is life on track, there is also life off track. My sole identity has never been as a race car driver.

“I very much believe in identity by who we are and how we treat others rather than what we do.

“What exactly am I? I’m Sebastian, the father of three children and the husband of an amazing woman. People who are passionate or skilled pique my interest. I’m obsessed with being perfect. I am tolerant and believe that we all have the same right to live, regardless of how we look, where we come from, or who we love.

Thank you for the memories 🤩

Seb will leave the sport as a four-time world champion 🙌#F1 #ThankYouSeb pic.twitter.com/cJTIeyLgJA

— Formula 1 (@F1) July 28, 2022

“I love being outside and love nature and its wonders. I am stubborn and impatient. I can be really annoying. I like to make people laugh. I like chocolate and the smell of fresh bread. My favourite colour is blue.

“I believe in change and progress and that every little bit makes a difference. I am an optimist and I believe people are good.

“Next to racing, I have grown a family, and I love being around them. I have grown other interests outside Formula One. My passion for racing and Formula One comes with lots of time spent away from them and takes a lot of energy.

“Committing to my passion the way I did and the way I think it is right, does no longer go side by side with my wish to be a great father and husband. The energy it takes to become one with the car and the team, to chase perfection, takes focus and commitment. My goals have shifted from winning races and fighting for championships to seeing my children grow, passing on my values, helping them up when they fall, listening to them when they need me, not having to say goodbye, and most importantly, being able to learn from them and let them inspire me.

“Children are our future. Further, I feel there is so much to explore and learn, about life and about myself.”

“When I get out of the car, of course I’m thinking as well ‘Is this something that we should do, travel the world, wasting resources?” Vettel previously admitted.

He stated on Instagram that he had “learned to dislike” aspects of the sport that needed to be addressed.

“I feel we live in very decisive times, and how we all shape these next years will determine our lives,” he said.

“Talk is not enough and we cannot afford to wait. There is no alternative. The race is underway. My best race? Still to come. I believe in moving forwards and moving on. Time is a one-way street, and I want to go with the times. Looking back is only going to slow you down.

“We cannot afford to wait and cannot afford to talk. There is no other option. The race has begun. What was my best race? More to come. I believe in progress and moving on. Time is a one-way street, and I want to keep up. Looking back will only slow you down.

“I look forward to race [sic] down unknown tracks and I will be finding new challenges. The marks I left on track will stay until time and rain will wash them away. New ones will be put down. Tomorrow belongs to those shaping today. The next corner is in good hands as the new generation has already turned in.

“I believe there is still a race to win. Farewell, and thanks for letting me share the track with you. I loved every bit of it.”

Sebastian Vettel’s Formula One career: titles, victories, and records

Vettel is one of the greatest drivers in Formula One history, having won the world drivers’ championship four times.

Those victories came in a row, from 2010 to 2013, while racing for Red Bull Racing, which dominated the sport in the first decade of the last decade.

His four world championships tie him for fourth place with Alain Prost in F1 history for the most championships ever won by a driver. Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have seven titles each, while Juan Manuel Fangio won five in the 1950s.

Vettel also has the third-most podium appearances (122), trailing only Hamilton (187), and Michael Schumacher (155).

Vettel is the third most successful driver in F1 history, with 53 Grand Prix victories. His first race was for Scuderia Toro Rosso at the 2008 Italian GP.

If he finishes this year’s calendar, he will have started 299 Grands Prix, the seventh most in F1 history.

At the age of 23 years and 134 days, Vettel became the youngest driver in history to win the world championship in 2010. That broke Hamilton’s previous record, which he set when he won his first championship in 2008.

Seb, it’s been an honour to call you a competitor and an ever greater honour to call you my friend. Leaving this sport better than you found it is always the goal. I have no doubt that whatever comes next for you will be exciting, meaningful, and rewarding. Love you, man. pic.twitter.com/eHVmOpov2m

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) July 28, 2022

Vettel is also the youngest double world champion and triple world champion, thanks to his victories in 2011 and 2012.

The German also holds the record for most wins in a season (13, which he shares with compatriot Michael Schumacher) and the most podium appearances (17 in 2011).

Vettel won nine races in a row during his record-breaking 2013 season, setting another Formula One record, and he is still the sport’s youngest polesitter.