Writing the book on F1. Literally

David Hayhoe is a motorsport enthusiast since the early 1980s, having researched heavily into the sport’s history and statistics and compiled his own database. This materialised in the publication of his first Grand Prix Data Book in 1989. David has progressively made the database more comprehensive and further editions of the book have been favourably received around the world by the media and enthusiasts.

This year he presents his book Formula 1 The Knowledge, and we decided to ask him to pick some of his favourite stats and facts from this amazing compilation.

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Formula 1 The Knowledge is definitely the most comprehensive register of records and trivia on Formula 1 racing, with 434 pages containing over 1,000 sections on drivers, the cars, the engines and the circuits, performance records of every driver, every constructor and every engine make to have taken part.

434 pages containing over 1,000 sections on drivers, the cars, the engines and the circuits.

The book is a detailed insight into the variety of qualifying procedures throughout the years, it also has a summary of regulation changes since 1950 and a quick reference guide to every Grand Prix result, not to mention photographs depicting the glorious history of Formula 1.

So these are just some of David’s personal picks from the book:

• 1966 Italian Grand Prix: four drivers were leading within the first four laps.
• 1981 British Grand Prix: the top 14 finishing positions were all 14 different constructors.
• 1989 Canadian Grand Prix: this race still holds the record for the most different constructors starting a race – 18.
• 2011 Singapore Grand Prix: the top 10 on the starting grid were in pairs – 2 Red Bull, 2 McLaren, 2 Ferrari, 2 Mercedes, 2 Force India.
• Chris Amon heads the table of most constructors driven for during his career, 13 different ones.
• Claudio Langes: he was a racing driver who failed to qualify 14 times, and never started a Grand Prix in his career.
• There was only one race in 66 seasons where cars 1, 2, 3 and 4 finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
• There were 14 different winners of the German Grand Prix in the 14 years between 1972 and 1985.
• There was a Grand Prix when no World Champions were on the grid.
• There was a season when 7 different drivers won the first 7 races of the year.
• Two drivers achieved no pole positions in the year of becoming World Champion.
• The book tells an amusing story behind a famous driver who drove two makes of car in a single race.