Lewis Hamilton: The numbers behind the title wins
General
Lewis Hamilton has been crowned Formula 1 World Champion for a record-equalling, seventh time. From his dramatic final day win in 2008 to this year's romp, Hamilton has done it in all sorts of fashion, but what are the numbers behind his SEVEN world titles?
Points per race
Over the years Lewis Hamilton has racked up his fair share of points but not every title-winning campaign has used the same points system. Back in 2008 only ten points were awarded for a win compared to a potential, 25 this year. To make it fair, we've converted all of the seasons to use the current points format, excluding the point for fastest lap, which means 25 points for a win. And of course in the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix awarded double points which made his win all the more emphatic so that will also be adjusted.
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In 2008 Hamilton would have scored 243 points over the 18 races, which went down to the wire as he denied Felipe Massa the title. That gives '08 Hamilton a points per race (PPR) score of 13.5 which doesn't seem like much, but steady nonetheless. Compare this to his first title win with Mercedes, he would've scored 359 points, 25 less than his actual tally, due to the double points on offer in Abu Dhabi. His PPR for this season is therefore 18.89, over five points higher than his '08 title. Statistically, a far more dominant season, which was reflected by the fact they only failed to win the race on three occasions.
If 2014 was dominant, 2015 was even more so, even without the double points on offer at the last race of the season. The Brit scored 381 points, again over 19 races, giving him a PPR of 20.05. The Brit won the same number of races as he did the year before, but was far more consistent, only missing out on a podium on TWO occasions.
2017 was a step backward by Hamilton's standards as he had PPR of 18.15, and 2018 was still lower than what he set in 2015, with a PPR of 19.42 over the 21 races. However, the seven-time World Champion did score 408 points, his highest tally to date. In 2019, Hamilton actually scored 413 points but given we aren't including fastest lap points, we've deducted six for each fastest lap he scored, giving him a tally of 407 and a PPR of 19.38.
Hamilton has scored a whopping, 307 points after just 14 races in 2020. Takeaway the six fastest laps he has and he has an average PPR of 21.5. TWENTY. ONE POINT FIVE. His highest ever score in this department and he still has three races to improve, you'd be brave to bet against him doing so!
So if we went off points per race, Lewis Hamilton is on course to absolutely smash his PPR record, with the Brit on course for over 21 points per race. 2015 is in second place with 2018 completing the podium. '08 Hamilton brings up the rear with a measly looking 13.5 points per race.
2008 - 13.5
2014 - 18.89
2015 - 20.05
2017 - 18.15
2018 - 19.42
2019 - 19.38
2020 - 21.5*
Average finish position
Over the years Lewis Hamilton has got used to standing on top of the podium but what is his average finish position. Any DNFs will be scored as a last-place finish.
In 2008, Hamilton had an average finish of 5.38, way off the podium places, let alone the top step. However, this does include a DNF in Canada, without this he averaged 4.23, still not even on the podiums though.
2020 has been a standout season for many reasons for Lewis Hamilton, but the Brit can take his average finish position as another jewel in the crown. He's on course for it to be his best-ever season in this respect currently sitting on an average finish position of 1.92, helped largely due to his immense consistency, given the incredible points finish run he is on.
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2019 stands in second place with an average finish of 2.38, but this could yet still be number one, depending on how Hamilton ends the 2020 season. 2014's average finish position of 4.63 looks quite poor compared to his other title wins with Mercedes which all sit in between 1.9 and 2.8. However, when you take into consideration that Hamilton suffered three DNFs in his first title win with Mercedes, it makes for much better reading. In fact, it makes for brilliant reading, if you take those DNFs away he has an average finish position of 1.43 over almost 0.5 higher than what 2020 has to offer.
2008 - 5.38
2014 - 4.63
2015 - 2.68
2017 - 2.7
2018 - 2.8
2019 - 2.38
2020 - 1.85*
Pole positions
Lewis Hamilton has become a master of qualifying and holds the record for the most pole positions in history. This season alone the Brit has scored nine pole positions, on only five occasions has he been beaten in qualifying.
2008 was no different really, as he was the dominant figure on a Saturday. He topped qualifying on seven occasions, including the first of the '08 season in Australia. He matched that tally six years later, with another seven pole positions in 2014, but he was actually beaten in qualifying 10-7 by Nico Rosberg. However, he bounced back a year later with 11 pole positions.
His pole position tallies come in pair, as two years later he scored another 11 poles on his way to the 2017 title. Make that a trio, as he backed it up with another 11 in 2018 before having a quieter year last season with just the five pole positions, Charles Leclerc the standout in this category.
With three races to go in 2020, the seven-time World Champion, currently has nine pole positions so could potentially match or even beat his record number of poles in a single season.
Over his seven title-winning seasons, Hamilton has scored 61... YES. 61 pole positions. This gives him an average of 8.71 pole positions per season, we'll round it up to nine for good measure.
2008 - 7
2014 - 7
2015 - 11
2017 - 11
2018 - 11
2019 - 5
2020 - 9*
AVG - 8.71 (Poles per season)
The number that will always be mentioned will be how many World Championships he finishes with, but if you look past this figure, it is even more clear how truly remarkable the numbers are. Each title win has its own standout statistic, some bizarre, some incredible but each one creates a picture of the gravity of Lewis Hamilton's achievements!
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