The F1 record we’re unlikely to ever see again

Now that Valtteri Bottas is dropping off the Formula 1 grid in 2025, the unique record he shares with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen is unlikely to be extended.

This is the statistic for most podium appearances across any F1 driver triplet arrangement, with Bottas, Hamilton and Verstappen having appeared together in 20 podium ceremonies.

This run occurred between the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix – when Bottas and Hamilton still formed Mercedes’ F1 line-up – and the 2021 Saudia Arabian race.

Of those 20 occasions, the most common finishing position for the trio – which happened seven times across the 2020 Hungarian and Spanish races, plus the Bahrain, Portugal, Spain, Brazil and Saudi events the following year – was Hamilton-Verstappen-Bottas.

The next highest arrangement in their 20 rostrum visits was the six times they finished Hamilton-Bottas-Verstappen, before three times they came home in the order Verstappen-Hamilton-Bottas (2020’s 70th Anniversary GP and 2021’s Styrian and Dutch races).

Bottas winning ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen happened twice (the 2019 Melbourne and Austin races), while they finished Bottas-Verstappen-Hamilton just once – at the 2020 Russian GP.

The chances of this particular trio taking to an F1 podium together for a 21st time to extend the record they set at Portugal 2021 dropped dramatically when George Russell replaced Bottas in Mercedes’ line-up and he headed for Sauber in 2022, which was also the year the Silver Arrows squad fell back from being in title consideration.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 Team, Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Second in F1’s all-time podium triplets list is the 14 times Hamilton appeared alongside Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel between 2014 and 2016, with the line-up of Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber third having appeared 13 times from 2010-2013.

Joint fourth on 12 appearances are Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard from 1997-2001, plus Hamilton, Bottas and Vettel between 2016 and 2019.

The Bottas-Hamilton-Verstappen record could theoretically be extended if Bottas is able to return to full-time F1 action after losing his Sauber drive to 2024 Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto.

The Finn has re-signed with Mercedes to be its reserve driver for 2025, as he has retained warm relations with team boss Toto Wolff.

If Bottas were to rejoin the F1 grid from a reserve role, he would mirror the career extension achieved by former Haas racer Nico Hulkenberg – who is also joining Sauber next year.

Hulkenberg used his position as a Racing Point/Aston Martin reserve driver in 2020-2021 to establish a relationship with then Haas boss Guenther Steiner, which he successfully transformed into a deal to return to racing full-time at the start of 2022.

Bottas therefore would have the chance to woo incoming Cadillac management when they visit the F1 paddock ahead of the team’s 2026 entry, or indeed try to seal a grand prix racing return at one of the established teams.

In his 12 years racing full-time in F1 from 2013-2024, he raced for Williams, Mercedes and Sauber (including the last two years of its Alfa Romeo branding guise), scored 10 wins and was runner-up to Hamilton in the drivers’ title twice – in 2019 and 2020.