A record unlikely to be seen again in F1

This is the statistic of the highest number of podiums shared by a trio of drivers in F1. It was with Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, and Max Verstappen, having appeared together on 20 podiums.

This series took place between the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix, when Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton were still racing for the Mercedes team, and the 2021 Saudi race.

Among these 20 occasions, the most frequent position for the trio, which occurred seven times during the 2020 Hungarian and Spanish Grand Prix, as well as the Bahrain, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, and Saudi Arabia races the following year, was Hamilton-Verstappen-Bottas.

The second most common arrangement of their 20 podiums was Hamilton-Bottas-Verstappen, which occurred six times, before they finished three times in the order Verstappen-Hamilton-Bottas (at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix in 2020, as well as at the Styrian and Dutch Grand Prix in 2021).

Valtteri Bottas won ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen twice (the Grand Prix of Melbourne and Austin in 2019), while they finished Bottas-Verstappen-Hamilton only once, at the Russian Grand Prix in 2020.

The chances of seeing this trio climb onto a podium for the 21st time to extend the record they set in Portimão in 2021 significantly decreased when George Russell replaced the Finn at Mercedes and the latter joined Sauber in 2022.

Other trios in history

The second best trio in F1 history in terms of podiums is the one formed by Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, and Sebastian Vettel, appearing 14 times between 2014 and 2016. The trio Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Mark Webber comes third with 13 appearances, between 2010 and 2013.

In fourth place, with 12 appearances, we find Michael Schumacher, Mika Häkkinen, and David Coulthard (1997-2001), as well as Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, and Sebastian Vettel, between 2016 and 2019.

The Bottas-Hamilton-Verstappen record could theoretically be extended if Valtteri Bottas managed to return to F1 after losing his seat at Sauber to the 2024 Formula 2 champion, Gabriel Bortoleto. The Finn has signed a new contract with Mercedes as a reserve driver for 2025, as he still maintains a good relationship with the team boss, Toto Wolff.

If he were to return to the grid from his role as a reserve driver, he would follow the example of Nico Hülkenberg, former Haas driver, who is also joining Sauber next year. Nico Hülkenberg used his reserve driver role at Racing Point/Aston Martin in 2020-2021 to establish a relationship with Haas team principal Günther Steiner, which he successfully turned into a contract to return as a full-time driver in early 2022.

During his 12-year career in F1, from 2013 to 2024, Valtteri Bottas raced for Williams, Mercedes, and Sauber (including the last two years under the name Alfa Romeo), achieving 10 victories and finishing twice as runner-up behind Lewis Hamilton, in 2019 and 2020.