Of all Lewis Hamilton’s records and stats in F1, perhaps one of the most remarkable is that in his 368 starts to date, he has only retired 32 times.
This is a percentage rate of 8.70%. He has retired at 17 different venues of the 38 he has raced at since 2007, but it is the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa where Hamilton has the most DNFs, with five in total.
However, on the flipside, when he does finish a race at the 7.004km circuit, he does so with a remarkable record, with an average position of 2.23.
That is better than Silverstone, where he has won nine times (3), the Hungaroring with eight wins (2.41) and in Canada with seven wins and an average finishing position of 2.38.
From his 13 finishes at Spa, he has five wins, including his 84th and final for Mercedes 12 months ago after team-mate George Russell was disqualified for being underweight after leading a one-two on the road.
Only twice has Hamilton finished at Spa and not secured a podium, taking fourth in both his first appearance in 2007 and in 2023.
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Positive signs for Hamilton
This weekend, Hamilton will be looking to finally score his first grand prix podium for the Scuderia, having recently set an unwanted record.
His failure to finish in the top three at Silverstone meant the Briton has now gone 14 races without a podium on a Sunday. His last visit to the rostrum was P2 in the 2024 Las Vegas GP behind Russell for Mercedes.
In positive news for Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc is the fact that Ferrari is set to deploy its new rear suspension upgrade, having tested it at Mugello after the British GP.
The hope is that the new parts will be able to enable the ride height to be lower, generating more downforce from the ground effects.