What is the record for the most doubles in a season?
With 3 doubles in 4 races, Red Bull seems untouchable at the moment. But is the RB19 as dominant compared to historic Formula 1 cars?
Red Bull seems untouchable in the early stages of the 2023 season. With a strong start to dominate once again, can the Austrian team beat the record for the most double wins in a season?
With a dominant Max Verstappen and a consistent and opportunistic Sergio Pérez, one wonders how other teams can win under normal race conditions. With 351 Grand Prix under their belt, Red Bull has recorded 96 victories and 25 one-two finishes in F1. The highest total in a season was last year with 5 one-two finishes.
They have the opportunity with the RB19 to achieve something never done before; the most number of doubles in a season. With the calendar continuously expanding, now reaching up to 22 Grand Prix races, the record is likely to be broken.
Here is a small recap of the cars that have achieved the most doubles in a single season.
2002 Ferrari F2002: 9 doubles
2002 Ferrari F2002: 9 doubles
After two years dominated by Michael Schumacher behind the wheel of his Ferrari, the 2002 season continues in the same vein with overwhelming dominance. The four-time reigning world champion will win 11 out of the 17 Grand Prix races that make up the 2002 Formula 1 season. Ruben Barrichello, the German’s teammate, secures 4 Grand Prix victories to complete an almost perfect season.
When calculating the percentage of doubles throughout the season, Ferrari drivers finished in the top two positions on the podium over 50% of the time during the season. Michael Schumacher will become a five-time world champion at the end of the season with a 67-point lead over his teammate.
1988 McLaren MP4/4: 10 doubles
The domination of McLaren in the 1988 Formula 1 season was almost total. It was only at Monza, where a mechanical failure forced Alain Prost to retire and an accident cost Ayrton Senna the first place, that a McLaren did not win. McLaren’s dominance is largely attributed to its car, the legendary MP4/4.
No Formula 1 car has matched the dominance of the MP4/4, although Mercedes came close in 2016, winning 19 out of 21 races.
Indeed, this McLaren has a winning percentage of 93% and a doubling percentage of approximately 62%.
Afterwards, with a duo of drivers Senna-Prost, it’s almost surprising that the numbers are not higher.
2014-2015 Mercedes W05-W06: 11 and 12 doubles
With the start of the hybrid era, a new team emerges as the clear favorite from pre-season testing, and that team is Mercedes. The German team’s dominance is absolute. Lewis Hamilton and Rosberg will never be challenged in their quest for the World Championship. In 2014 and 2015, the duo of drivers will win 16 out of 19 races, resulting in a victory percentage of 84%. These statistics become even more impressive when looking at the number of one-two finishes during the season. The record was set in 2015, where out of 19 races, Mercedes achieves 12 one-two finishes, an absolute record in Formula 1. This represents a 63% percentage of one-two finishes throughout the season.
Of course, we must remember the 2016 season where Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton together achieved 19 victories out of 21 races. However, they “only” managed 8 one-two finishes. This number was tarnished by tensions between the two drivers during this season, where ultimately Nico Rosberg became the crowned champion.
Remains to be seen if now the RB19 will have the chance to secure a spot in the ranking of the most double wins in a single season.
