Piastri image – Red Bull Content Pool / Getty Images
If Oscar Piastri finishes the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix then he stands a chance of joining an elite group of legendary F1 drivers who have all acheived something special, and something very rare.
Piastri at McLaren
Oscar Piastri joined the McLaren Formula 1 team at the start of the 2023, but not without some turbulence along the way. He was initially set to join Alpine who publicly announced him as one of their drivers for the 2023 season in August 2022. But Piastri had other ideas.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Piastri had secretly inked a deal with McLaren instead. That’s when he decided to make that infamous post on Twitter stating that he will not be driving for Alpine.
It turned out to be the right decision. Alpine suffered a drop in form that has continued to this day, and McLaren have had a resurgence. They were in contention for the driver’s title for much of the season with Lando.
Oscar himself has had a fantastic sophomore year. He’s taken 2 Grand Prix victories and 8 podiums. He’s led 123 laps and so far scored 291 points, enough for 4th in the standings. Everyone’s expecting him to be a real contender in 2025.
McLaren lead the constructor’s championship by 21 points over Ferrari and are set to win a big chunk of $1.6bn if they can stay at the top of the standings after this weekend’s finale at Abu Dhabi.
Piastri can acheive a rare feat at Abu Dhabi
Claiming the constructor’s title will be the number one goal for Piastri and McLaren this weekend at Abu Dhabi. The team hasn’t won it since 1998, so it’s been a long time coming.
But there’s another feat that Piastri can achieve at Abu Dhabi. So far, he’s been the only driver to complete every single racing lap in the 2024 season. That’s 1386 laps completed. No crashes. No DNFs. No mechanical failures. And finishing on the lead lap in every Grand Prix.
If Oscar can finish on the lead lap at the 58 lap Abu Dhabi Grand Prix then he’ll have completed every single lap of the season. He’ll be the only driver to achieve that this year and it will be a testament to his consistency, speed and his car’s reliability. And he’ll join a very exclusive club.
Red Bull Content Pool / Getty Images
An elite club
If Oscar does manage to finish on the lead lap at Abu Dhabi, he’ll join an elite club. A very elite club, in fact, which has only seen this incredible feat achieved three times in Formula 1 history.
The first time it was achieved was by Michael Schumacher in 2002. Driving for Ferrari, Schuey completed every single one of the 1090 laps that season and went on to dominate the championship, finishing on the podium in every race.
Considering how unreliable F1 cars (and tyres) were back in the early 00s, this is fairly unbelievable achievement.
Michael Schumacher in 2002 😍😁
— F1 in the 2010's🏆🏁🚦 (@F1inthe2010s1) May 1, 2022
🏆11 wins
🎖️17/17 podiums
🏁Lowest finish: 3rd pic.twitter.com/WAmIKp1V4U
The second time it occurred was in 2019 when Lewis Hamilton took his 6th World Championship. He did so by completing every one of the 1262 laps that season in his Mercedes.
The third time this was achieved was in 2023 by Max Verstappen in his most dominant season yet. Max won his third title, taking 19 out of a possible 22 race victories along the way, all whilst completing each of the 1325 racing laps that year.
Max Verstappen 👉 2023 👉 A season in stats 🔢 pic.twitter.com/x8zQo2ECfz
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) January 5, 2024
The 2024 F1 calendar is the busiest the sport has ever seen, with 24 races in total. With one race left, Oscar has already completed more laps (1386) than Max managed in his 2023 season (1325).
So Oscar has broken the record for the most laps completed in a season, but he won’t join the elite Schumacher-Hamilton-Verstappen club unless he finishes every lap at Abu Dhabi.
It’s also worth noting that the three drivers above all went on to win the titles in the years listed. Remember that saying – to finish first, first you have to finish? Never has it been more true.
Oscar will be the exception, however, as he can’t finish any higher than 4th in the driver’s standings this year. That’s testament to how competitive the 2024 season has been.
Honourable mentions
Schuey, Lewis and Max are the only drivers to achieve this feat so far. But there have been a couple of others who’ve come close, and I think they deserve a mention.
In 2012, Kimi Raikkonen completed every lap except one. He was on course to get a clean sweep until the very last race of the year, Brazil.
At Interlagos Kimi went off the track and found an escape road behind the barriers which he thought would lead him back to the circuit. After following it for a little way he found a closed gate, so had to make a U-turn.
Sometimes, Kimi doesn't know what he's doing 🤣#BrazilGP 🇧🇷 #F1 pic.twitter.com/TmQv2DO37P
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 15, 2019
This cost him enough time to be lapped, meaning he was 1 lap short of a full house that year, finishing 1191 laps out of a possible 1192.
The second shout-out goes to Max Chilton in 2013. That season he was driving the Marussia which was painfully slow. His best result all year was 14th at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Chilton scored 0 points but he finished every single race that season. However, as the Marussia was so down on pace, he often finished off the lead-lap after being lapped by the quicker cars.
In total he finished 1103 laps out of a possible 1129. His Marussia’s lack of speed cost him 26 laps across the season, and a chance to join this club.
Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
