SUMMARY
- A hat trick is accoplished when a driver wins the pole positions award, race, and the fastest lap award.
- A Grand Slam is whne a driver gets the pole position, race win, fastest lap, and has led every lap of the race.
There are a number of achievements a Formula 1 driver can accomplish over a race weekend or multiple race weekends. Of course, pole positions and race wins are there. But there are some achievements that rank above these. There is of course the hat-trick, and then there is the grand slam.
These terms are quite popular in other sports. The term Grand Slam is very popular in Tennis. However, it does not mean the same thing in Formula 1. Accomplishing a Grand Slam or a hat trick can only be accomplished by some of the best drivers and teams in F1.
What is a hat trick in Formula 1?
A hat trick is commonly used in soccer when a player scores 3 goals in a single match. In cricket, a hat trick is accomplished when a bowler takes 3 consecutive wickets. In all these scenarios, there is one number in common which is 3.
Similar to these sports, F1 also has a hat trick accomplishment. In F1, a driver can accomplish the hat trick over the course of the weekend. In order to make this accomplishment, a driver will have to win 3 awards. First of of course the pole position.
The pole position award is given to the driver who finishes 1st in Saturday’s qualifying session. The driver finishing Saturday’s qualifying in 1st will be allowed to start at the front for the start of the race which will take place on Sunday.
#OnThisDay | Michael Schumacher recorded his final career hat-trick 👏
📍Magny-Cours
🗓 2006
🏎 248 F1
Pole position, fastest lap and race win 🙌#essereFerrari 🔴 pic.twitter.com/mLSS1BmocQ— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 16, 2019
The second award to accomplish the hat trick is the race win. Winning a Grand Prix is of course the most important accomplishment of the weekend as it is the only result that carries points. However, even after winning the race, it does not complete the hat trick. There is still one more award to win the complete the hat trick.
Another award that is given out over the course of the weekend is the fastest lap. This is different from the fastest lap achieved during the qualifying session. The fastest lap award goes to the driver who has the fastest lap during the race. This fastest lap is usually accomplished during the final laps of the race as that is when the cars have the least fuel and is more lighter.
The driver to win all these 3 awards accomplishes a hat trick during a race weekend. Naturally, only one driver can accomplish this during a race weekend.
What is a Grand Slam?
A Grand Slam is an achievement that is often used in Tennis. When a player wins all 4 of the major tournaments in Tennis, a player wins the grand slam. These 4 major tournaments are the Australia Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. These 4 tournaments are a combination of clay and grass courts around the world.
For a driver to accomplish a Grand Slam, they will have to be completely flawless. This can only be accomplished by some of the best drivers in the world. There are 4 milestones in accomplishing a Grand Slam in F1.
One is the pole position award which is awarded to the fastest driver during the qualifying session. The next is the race win, and then the fastest lap. However, there is one more important accomplishment the driver will have to accomplish to earn a Grand Slam. This is probably the most important one as the rest of the accomplishments are the same as a hat trick.
Max Verstappen’s first career grand slam! 👏#SkyF1 #AustrianGP 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/iYplkuvyOH
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) July 4, 2021
In order to complete a Grand Slam, the driver will have to lead every lap of the race. This is considered to be very challenging as there are a number of different strategies that take place during the race.
Over the course of an F1 race, there are 20 drivers doing everything they can to take the lead in the race. Some of these drivers even choose to stay on the track for longer without pitting in order to get a track advantage. This makes it very challenging to accomplish a Grand Slam.
A driver can stay ahead of the rest of the pack by either going fast enough to clear the pit window or by choosing to pit last in order to maintain track position.
Why is accomplishing a Grand Slam difficult in Formula 1?
As stated above, there are 2 ways of staying ahead of the pack. One is by either going fast enough to clear the pit window, and the other is by choosing to pit last. Both of these will be challenging for the drivers.
To go fast enough to clear the pit window, the driver might have to use their tires a lot. This could lead to excessive wear and could force the driver to pit another time to make up for the loss. In doing so, the drivers behind could get ahead if that track position is not maintained. This will lose the Grand Slam.
Since Michael Schumacher, only two Ferrari drivers have achieved a grand slam (pole, win, fastest lap and led every lap):
– Fernando Alonso (Singapore 2010)
– Charles Leclerc (Australia 2022)Charles is in elite company 👑 pic.twitter.com/R4IfY2omnN
— Ferrari News 🐎 (@FanaticsFerrari) April 10, 2023
Choosing to pit last could also be challenging. When a driver is leading a race, there are 19 cars behind that are trying to overtake. Out of these 19 cars, 18 of them are not on the same team as the lead driver. Given that each team has 2 drivers, the drivers could work together to compromise the leader’s race.
For example, while one driver performs an undercut, the other could be chosen to remain on track to push the leader to go longer. This will give the driver who pits before an advantage at the end of the race. There are a lot of similar strategies that can take away a driver’s Grand Slam or even the race win.
This is why accomplishing a Grand Slam is considered to be very difficult. It is important to remember that both the hat trick and grand slam accomplishments are not officially recognized by the FIA. It is more of an unofficial accomplishment that is celebrated by the drivers and teams.