Some not so known facts about the F1 World which might surprise you, given the vast history of the car racing sport we all love.

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1. Most driver entries by country (top 5)

Since the first race held in 1950 at the British Grand Prix, there have been 841 different drivers from 39 nations have entered at least a single formula one race in their career. The most recent country to have been represented was Russia when Vitaly Petrov made his debut in 2010. So here are the top 5 countries from which the most drivers have entered into a Formula One race.

United Kingdom (160 Drivers entered)
Some famous drivers: Damon Hill, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart

Current drivers in 2015 Season: Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Will Stevens

United States ( 157 Drivers Entered)

Some famous drivers: Phil Hill, Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney

Italy (98 Drivers Entered)

Some famous drivers: Nino Farina, Alberto Ascari

France (70 Drivers Entered)

Some famous drivers: Alain Prost, René Arnoux
Current Driver in the 2015 Season: Romain Grosjean

Germany (51 Entered)

Some famous drivers: Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld
Current drivers in the 2015 season: Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg,

2. Most wins by Country

Since the inception of the sport, there have been 926 races till date. So here are the list of breakdown of the most wins by the nationality of the driver. The drivers mentioned are the top 3 in wins achieved per nation. Figures in bracket indicate number of wins.

United Kingdom (243 wins overall)

Most wins: Lewis Hamilton (38), Nigel Mansell (31), Jackie Stewart (27)

Germany (155 wins overall)
Most wins: Michael Schumacher (91), Sebastian Vettel (41), Nico Rosberg (11)

Brazil (101 wins overall)

Most wins: Ayrton Senna (41), Nelson Piquet Sr (23) , Emerson Fittipaldi (14)

France (79 overall)

Most wins: Alain Prost (51), René Arnoux (7), Jacques Laffite (6)

Finland (46 overall)

Most wins: Mika Häkkinen, Kimi Räikkönen (20 each), Keke Rosberg (5)

3. Most World Championships

In 65 years, here is the breakup of the Driver’s world Championship awarded based on nationality of the driver.

United Kingdom (15 Championships)

Last Championship won: Lewis Hamilton in 2014

Germany (11 Championships)
Last Championship won: Sebastian Vettel in 2013

Brazil (8 Championships)
Last Championship won: Ayrton Senna in 1991

Argentina (5 Championships)
Last Championship won: Juan Manuel Fangio in 1957

Australia, Austria, Finland, France (4 Championships each)

Australia: Last Championship won- Alan Jones in 1980
Austria: Last Championship won- Niki Lauda in 1984
Finland: Last Championship won-Kimi Räikkönen in 2007
France: Last Championship won- Alain Prost in 1993

Italy (3 Championships)
Last Championship won: Alberto Ascari in 1953

Spain, USA (2 Championships each)
Spain: Last Championship won- Fernando Alonso in 2006
USA: Last Championship won- Mario Andretti in 1978

Canada, South Africa, New Zealand (1 Championship each)

Canada: Last Championship won- Jacques Villeneuve in 1997
South Africa: Last Championship won- Jody Scheckter in 1979
New Zealand: Last Championship won – Denny Hulme in 1967

4. Most number of world champions

The 65 drivers are split between 32 drivers. Schumacher is the leader with 7 and Juan Manuel Fangio is second with 5 with Vettel and Prost in joint 3 with 4 titles apiece. Including these 4, there are 16 drivers who have won the title on more than one occasion.

UK (10 World Champions)

The United Kingdom have its 15 championships split between 10 drivers. The championship winning drivers are
Lewis Hamilton (2), Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill (2), Jim Clark (2), Jackie Stewart (3) , James Hunt , Nigel Mansell, John Surtees, Damon Hill, Jenson Button

Finland, Brazil (3 World Champions each)

Both countries have 3 drivers to have won the Drivers’ Championship. Brazil along with Germany have multiple drivers winning multiple championships. The world cup winning drivers for each country are:

Brazil: Ayrton Senna (3), Nelson Piquet Sr (3), Emerson Fittipaldi (2)
Finland: Kimi Räikkönen, Mika Häkkinen (2), Keke Rosberg

Germany, USA, Italy, Austria, Australia (2 World Champions each)

Germany have just 2 world champions but those have an amazing number of wins. USA, Italy, Austria and Australia were all power houses of racing once, but that was in an era in the past, maybe they will come back in the front again some day.

Germany: Michael Schumacher (7), Sebastian Vettel (4)
USA: Mario Andretti , Phil Hill
Austria: Niki Lauda (3), Jochen Rindt
Australia: Jack Brabham (3), Alan Jones

Argentina, South Africa, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, France (1 World Champions each)

Argentina’s Juan Manuel Fangio might be the only Argentine on the list, but his 5 titles puts him 2 all time. The drivers to have won from these countries are

Argentina: Juan Manuel Fangio (5)
Spain: Fernando Alonso (2)
South Africa: Jody Scheckter
New Zealand: Denny Hulme
Canada: Jacques Villeneuve

5. Country with highest percentage of drivers on Podium (at least 3 driver entries)

9 drivers from Finland have entered into Formula One. They have 4 world Champions and 3 others have been on the podium at least once. This means 7 of their 9 drivers have been on the podium. No other country comes close!! It’s a 77.7% of their drivers which is the highest of all countries with multiple driver entries into the sport.

If we remove our atleast 3 driver entries criteria, Russia have a 100% success rate with both Vitaly Petrov and Daniil Kvyat have been on the podium at least once.

6. Country with no podiums (more than 3 entries in history)

With 5 entries, no Irish driver has ever stepped onto the Podium in history of the Sport. Second place goes to Uruguay who have 4 entries and no podium finish. There are other nations such as India, Thailand etc who have had 1 or 2 entries with no podium finish, but that’s too narrow a margin for us to consider. With 5 and 4 entries, Ireland and Uruguay are first and second with most drivers entered without a podium.

7. Most races without a win

There are 3 very experienced drivers in the sport, who have scored points consistently with their team. They have finished on the podium several times. However, their first win always eluded them. The drivers with most entries and starts in a race but who have never won are

1. Andrea de Cesaris. 214 entries, 208 starts. 5 podium finishes.
2. Nick Heidfeld. 185 entries, 183 entries. 13 podium finishes
3. Martin Bundle. 165 entries. 158 starts. 9 podium finishes.

8. Most Constructors by country (top 5)

Constructors like the drivers hail from a certain country. This is not where they are based. It is where they are registered and head- quartered. An example could be, Force India is an Indian Formula One team, but is based in UK.

By the nationality of the team, the country which is home to the most number of teams are

United Kingdom – 53 Teams.
4 Teams (included in the 53) are in the 2015 Season: McLaren, Williams, Lotus, Manor

Italy – 24 Teams.
2 Teams (included in 23) are in the 2015 Season: Ferrari and Toro Rosso

France – 12 Teams

Germany -11 Teams
1 Team in is in the 2015 Season: Mercedes

United States – 7 Teams

9. Drivers and Constructors by Teams

Drivers Championships

Ferrari – 15 Drivers Championships
The most successful team in championships won. Their last champion was Kimi in 2007.

McLaren (12)

The second most experienced and successful team in the sport. Their last champion, is incidentally the current Champion, Lewis Hamilton back in 2008, when he was with the British team.

Williams (7)

One of the most popular teams on the grid. They have re-established themselves as a force with the new regulations. Their last champion was Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.

Lotus (6)

Once a dominant force in F1, the team folded in 1994. Its last champion was American Mario Andretti in 1978.

Red Bull and Brabham (4)

Brabham were a team established by Jack Brabham and were managed once by current F1 Boss, Bernie Ecclestone. The team unfortunately folded in the early 90s. Its last Driver’s Champion was Nelson Piquet Sr in 1983.

Red Bull are a recent team having really risen to power in 2009. They had tremendous success with Vettel in their ranks, winning 4 Drivers titles. Their last Drivers Champion was Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

In the Constructors Championship

Ferrari (16)

With 16 Drivers Champions, Ferrari has more Constructors Championships than Drivers. It indicates an overall strong team performance. Its last constructor’s title came in 2008.

Williams (9)

Like Ferrari, Williams have more Constructors Championships than Drivers. Its last Constructors title came 1997.

McLaren (8)

The British Outfit have much fewer wins in this category than Drivers wins. Its last constructors title was far back in 1998

Lotus (7)

The once F1 powerhouse last won its constructor championship in 1978

Red Bull (4)

The Austrian Outfit last won their constructor in 2013, by a convincing margin over 2 place Mercedes.