The four Formula 1 races in May and June featured a total of four lead changes. However, none of those four lead changes were “real” lead changes.
There have not been any “real” lead changes in a Formula 1 race since Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton passed teammate Valtteri Bottas for the lead with three laps to go in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fourth race of the 21-race Formula 1 season, as a result of the fact that the right rear tire on Bottas’s Mercedes sustained a puncture from running over debris.
That race was held on Sunday, April 29. Fast forward through the four Formula 1 races that have been held since then May and June, and there have not been any “real” lead changes in a race since then.
What qualifies as a “real” lead change? First and foremost, on-track lead changes are “real” lead changes, as they involve the second place driver passing the first place driver for the lead of the race. None of these passes have happened since the aforementioned pass involving Hamilton and Bottas took place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in April.
Another kind of “real” lead change, albeit a debatable kind of “real” lead change, is when a driver is able to make up time via pit strategy to come out in front of the driver who was previously leading the race.
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None of these passes have happened since Bottas passed Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel earlier in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This lead change took place after Bottas waited longer than Vettel did to come into the pits and managed to stay in front of Vettel after making his pit stop.
The four races that took place in May and June were the Spanish Grand Prix, which took place on Sunday, May 13, the Monaco Grand Prix, which took place on Sunday, May 27, the Canadian Grand Prix, which took place on Sunday, June 10, and the French Grand Prix, which took place on Sunday, June 24.
Those four races featured two, zero, zero and two lead changes, respectively, but none of those lead changes were “real” lead changes.
Hamilton started from the pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix. He led all but eight of the race’s 66 laps, and he only failed to lead those eight laps because of the fact that Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen waited eight laps after Hamilton came into the pits to come into the pits himself. After Verstappen came into the pits, Hamilton reclaimed the lead before going on to win the race. Verstappen finished the race in third place.
In the Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo started from the pole position and led every lap of the race, and in the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel did the same.
Hamilton started from the pole position in the French Grand Prix. He led all but one of the race’s 53 laps, and he only failed to lead that one lap because of the fact that Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen waited one lap after Hamilton came into the pits come into the pits himself. After Raikkonen came into the pits, Hamilton reclaimed the lead before going on to win the race. Raikkonen finished the race in third place.
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When will the next “real” lead change occur in a Formula 1 race? Will it occur in today’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria? Tune in to ESPN2 at 9:10 a.m. ET to find out.