Formula 1: Will Mercedes tie the record with 11 consecutive victories?

Mercedes have a chance to tie the all-time Formula 1 record for consecutive victories with their 11th in the Austrian Grand Prix. Will they pull it off?

The 2019 Formula 1 season might as well be titled the 2019 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Invitational, as even when Scuderia Ferrari, the only other team to even remotely challenge the Silver Arrows so far this year, appear to have a chance to knock off the Brackley-based team, they fail to capitalize and Mercedes pull through.

In these scenarios, it is typically Lewis Hamilton who picks up the pieces ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton has been responsible for eight of the team’s 10 consecutive victories, including six of their eight to start off this season, going back to last season while Bottas has been responsible for the other two.

Bottas is the only driver who Hamilton has finished behind in any of the last 10 races, as the 34-year-old Briton has finished in second place in the two of them that the 29-year-old Finn has won. Bottas, meanwhile, has finished behind just two drivers not named Hamilton and in only three instances so far this season.

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He finished in third place behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second the Monaco Grand Prix, and he finished in fourth behind Vettel in second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third in the controversial Canadian Grand Prix that many fans truly believe Vettel, not Hamilton, won.

Only once in Formula 1 history have a team won 11 consecutive races, but Mercedes are a victory away from making it twice. This one instance took place at the start of the 1988 season when McLaren reeled off 11 consecutive victories to open up the year.

There is a case to be made for Ferrari reeling off 14 consecutive victories from the 1952 season to the 1953 season since they won 14 consecutive non-Indianapolis 500 races during this time and the full-time teams and drivers who competed for the Formula 1 championship did not compete in this race, but the Indy 500 was still technically considered a Formula 1 race at the time.

With all things considered, if either Hamilton or Bottas wins Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, Mercedes will be on what would be considered a winning streak that is tied for the all-time record in length at 11.

Will they pull it off?

There are pretty much four possible answers to this question.

• Yes
• Yes, but in bold font
• Yes, but in italics
• Yes, but in both bold font and italics

Entering last year’s 71-lap race around the the 10-turn, 2.683-mile (4.318-kilometer) Red Bull Ring road course in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, Mercedes had won the last four races at the track, and with a front row lockout, they appeared to be poised to make it five in a row.

However, an early hydraulics issues suffered by Bottas’s car forced him to retire from the race, and a poor pit strategy on the part of Hamilton’s team caused him to relinquish the lead to Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Late in the race, Hamilton was then forced to retire for the first time in almost two years with a fuel pressure issue, and it was the then 20-year-old Dutchman who took the checkered flag ahead of the Ferrari duo of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

The odds of the team being faced with two consecutive incident-riddled Austrian Grands Prix are small, and they are set to enter this Sunday’s race as the overwhelming favorites with a great chance to secure their 11th consecutive victory.

Will Mercedes tie the Formula 1 record with their 11th consecutive victory in this Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix? Tune in to ESPN2 at 9:10 a.m. ET for the live broadcast of the race from the Red Bull Ring to find out.