F1
Jake Michaels, ESPN Senior Writer 6y

Chinese GP stats: Daniel Ricciardo remains king of the overtake

Formula 1

SHANGHAI, China -- Red Bull's opportunistic switch from medium to soft rubber during a Chinese Grand Prix Safety Car period paved the way for Daniel Ricciardo's sixth win in Formula One.

ESPN takes a look at some of the best and quirkiest stats to come out of Shanghai.

Stat focus 1: Dominant Daniel's delight

Ricciardo continues to make a habit of winning in unusual circumstances.

The Australian almost missed qualifying after a turbo failure in FP3 forced an engine change in his Red Bull but a sensational recovery by his crew saw him qualify P6. His win on Sunday meant his record of winning every race from outside the top three remains intact. 

In the six wins Ricciardo has had, he has made up a staggering 29 places before taking the chequered flags. What's more? Ricciardo alone pulled off more overtakes in China than the entire field managed during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Stat focus 2: Lewis' unprecedented streak

The 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix is widely considered the race Lewis Hamilton lost his world championship crown to then teammate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton, who started on pole, was leading in Sepang and looking good to re-take the championship lead before an engine failure on lap 40 forced him into retirement.

Since that race, which seems like an eternity ago, Hamilton has been on a charge, finishing in the points in 28 consecutive races to surpass Kimi Raikkonen's all-time record of 27.Yes, this is partly due to Formula One's much-improved reliability and the pace of the Mercedes, but credit must be given to Hamilton as he notches up yet another record.

During this streak Hamilton has claimed 13 wins, taken 16 pole positions and set seven fastest laps as well as averaging an astonishing 18.68 points per race.

Some things you probably didn't know

As good as Ricciardo has been since joining Red Bull in 2014, his win in China was the first time he had ever reached the podium in one of the first four races of a season.Up until this point he was zero of 27, although he had taken six fourth place finishes including a hatrick of them to start the 2016 season.

Also, is this the end of Mercedes' dominant spell? For the first time in Formula One's V6 turbo era, Mercedes is in a win drought, if you can call it that, of three races. It's also been five years since two teams won a race to start a season before the Silver Arrows.

Fast facts:

1 - Only one driver has finished every race in 2018 inside the top four, Lewis Hamilton.

7/9 - Raikkonen has been the lead Ferrari in all but two practice sessions in 2018 (Australia FP3, China FP3).

2006 - The last year Ferrari had back-to-back front row lockouts.

1.35% - Before Sunday's race, the amount of laps led by a non-Mercedes in China since 2014.

Ricciardo for world champion? - The past four winners of the Chinese Grand Prix have gone on to win that season's world championship.

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