Formula 1 sees crazy trend for first time since 1967
By Asher Fair
No Ferrari, McLaren or Williams drivers started the Turkish Grand Prix in the top 10. That had not happened in a Formula 1 race in more than a half-century.
Saturday’s qualifying session for the 2020 Formula 1 season’s 14th race, the Turkish Grand Prix at Intercity Istanbul Park, was unique in more ways than one.
The wet and chaotic session at the 14-turn, 3.317-mile (5.338-kilometer) road course in Tuzla, Turkey led to an unexpected pole position for Racing Point’s Lance Stroll.
This pole position snapped a 126-race streak of Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull taking pole positions, a streak which dated back to the 2014 season.
But something else happened that hadn’t happened in Formula 1 since 1967.
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The struggles of Ferrari this season have been well-documented, as they are on track for their worst result in the constructor standings since 1980 when they finished in 10th place, but even those struggles are nowhere near as bad as the struggles of Williams, which have scored just one point in the last 42 races, in recent years.
The 2020 season has, however, been kind to McLaren, as they are in a tight battle for third place in the constructor standings, a position which hasn’t been secured by a team other than Ferrari or Red Bull since 2015 when Williams took the position before their recent decline. The Woking-based team haven’t finished in the top three since 2012 when they finished in third.
For today’s Turkish Grand Prix, McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz Jr. qualified in 11th and 13th place, respectively, although both were hit with grid penalties.
Ferrari teammates Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc qualified in 12th and 14th, respectively. Williams teammates George Russell and rookie Nicholas Latifi qualified in 18th and 20th, respectively, although Russell was hit with a grid penalty.
As a result, none of these three historic teams, which all still rank in the top three on the all-time world constructor championships list, saw any of their drivers qualify in the top 10.
This hadn’t happened since the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami Circuit on Monday, January 2, 1967, a race in which none of those three teams competed. In fact, at this point, Williams had not yet made their Formula 1 debut.
Brabham Racing Organisation’s Jack Brabham started that race from the pole position en route to a sixth place finish, while Cooper Car Company’s Pedro Rodrigues won from fourth.
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A total of 880 races had been contested after that race prior to this weekend’s rare occurrence. A total of 1,032 races have been run all-time, meaning that this streak accounts for more than 85% of the sport’s history.