With more than two months gone since the end of the 2003 season and less than three months left before the 2004 season begins, the countdown to the Australian Grand Prix is running strong. However, this is Formula One, and behind every number there is always a story - so every day until the race in Melbourne, Atlas F1 will bring the numbers and the story behind them... Don't forget to check this page for a new addition every day!

German drivers have so far scored 73 fastest laps, ranking third behind Great Britain (180) and France (87). However, for a long time a fastest lap wasn't something normally set by a German driver. Before 1992, only four Germans had driven a fastest lap.

The first two of those came in Mercedes' glorious 1954 season. Hans Herrmann became the first German to accomplish the feat in the French Grand Prix, followed two races later by Karl Kling in the German Grand Prix.

After that, the Germans had to wait for 21 years for a third fastest lap. Jochen Mass set it in the 1975 French Grand Prix. He repeated the feat a year later in the accident shortened Spanish Grand Prix, which he also won.

From 1992 onwards, there was a new generation of fast German drivers, led by Michael Schumacher. The now six time World Champion set his first of his 56 fastest laps in the 1992 Belgian Grand Prix. The older Schumacher was most successful in his championship years with Benetton. In both 1994 and 1995 he scored eight fastest laps. Other Germans who contributed to the grand total were Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who set six fastest laps in his Williams period, and Michael's brother Ralf who scored seven fastest laps, also for Williams.

Honda powered cars have claimed pole position 74 times. This puts the Japanese engine supplier fourth behind Ferrari (166), Ford (139) and Renault (137).

The first driver to score a pole position for Honda was John Surtees in the 1968 Italian Grand Prix. What makes this pole position special for Honda is the fact that it's the only pole that was achieved with a Honda chassis as well as a Honda engine, while all the other pole positions for Honda were as engine supplier only.

After the first pole it would take seventeen years before Honda was on top of the time sheets again. In the 1985 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard, Keke Rosberg put his Williams on pole, his first of a total of two for Honda.

The most successful driver for Honda was Ayrton Senna, who scored 46 out of the 74 poles for Honda. Between 1988 and 1992 he was on pole position, driving a Honda powered car, for almost 58% of his races. The Brazilian was also the only driver to give Lotus-Honda a Pole Position.

Other drivers who were on pole position with a Honda powered car are Gerhard Berger (four times), Alain Prost (four times), Nelson Piquet (six times) and Nigel Mansell (eleven times).

The 75th race in the history of the Formula One World Championship was the deciding race of the 1958 season. Mike Hawthorn went into the race with a comfortable eight point lead over Stirling Moss, which meant a fifth place would be enough to win the title.

Both rivals qualified on the front, Hawthorn narrowly beating Moss for pole position. However, Moss grabbed the lead at the start and didn't allow anyone past him during the entire race. This meant it was all up to Hawthorn in the Ferrari to keep driving in the points. After initially driving in second, his teammate Phil Hill passed in order to try and get to Moss. After 19 laps Hawthorn dropped another place when Moss' Vanwall teammate Tony Brooks made his way past the Ferrari driver. Fear struck the flamboyant Englishman as he was losing the grip of the situation.

However, ten laps after Brooks had passed him, the engine of the Vanwall stopped and Hawthorn was once again up into a more safe third place. With the end of the race looming near and the title pretty much secured, Hill dropped back behind Hawthorn to give his teammate second place. While Hawthorn secured the title, there wasn't much reason for big celebrations. A few laps before the end of the race, Vanwall driver Stuart Lewis-Evans had crashed badly, getting stuck in his burning wreck. Days later, Lewis-Evans died from his injuries.

Italian Alessandro Nannini started 76 races for Minardi and Benetton. In his first two years in Formula One he drove for Minardi, which greatly tested his patience. From the 30 races he actually started for the team, Nannini saw the chequered flag only three times. The first time he saw the black and white flag being waved, he wasn't even rewarded for it. Being ten laps down in the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix meant he wasn't classified. However, in the next race in Mexico things went better and Nannini was actually classified.

Despite not seeing the finish very often, his talent was apparent and for the 1988 season Nannini signed with Benetton. He scored his first point in his second race with the team, at Imola. In Great Britain and Spain he even scored a podium finish that year. 1989 saw his second podium in Great Britain and also his first and only win. In Japan, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost collided and even though Senna went on to cross the line first, the Brazilian was disqualified and Nannini was proclaimed the winner.

1990 was his final year at Benetton and with a third in San Marino and a second in Germany, he was doing a good job. Unfortunately, a helicopter crash shortly before the Japanese Grand Prix ended Alessandro's career. He wasn't able to fully use his right arm anymore, which meant the end of his promising Formula One career.

Since Bridgestone made its Formula One debut in 1997, the Japanese tyre manufacturer has scored 77 pole positions. In its debut year Bridgestone didn't score any poles, but from 1998 onwards it was the major force in Formula One. In the final year of Goodyear, Bridgestone was already very dominant, thanks to the McLaren supremacy. In the first 13 races of the year a Bridgestone shod car was on pole, 12 times a McLaren and once a Benetton. Mika Hakkinen gave the Japanese their first pole in Australia.

In 1999 and 2000 Bridgestone was the only supplier and thus took all pole positions. In 2001 Michelin entered the competition, but Bridgestone's experience and partnership with Ferrari meant another 13 poles. In San Marino David Coulthard gave Bridgestone their 50th pole position. In 2002 and 2003, Ferrari was the only competitive team left with Bridgestone, which showed in a decreasing number of pole positions. In 2002 there were ten, while last season saw only eight Bridgestone poles.

Michael Schumacher gave Bridgestone their most pole positions. The German qualified fastest 35 times, followed by Mika Hakkinen who did it 25 times. Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard clearly where the second drivers to both, with respectively eight and seven poles. The two remaining poles were for Giancarlo Fisichella for Benetton in the 1998 Austrian Grand Prix and Heinz-Harald Frentzen with Jordan in the 1999 European Grand Prix.

Between 1988 and 1992, The Dallara team started 78 Grands Prix. The team was off to a rocky start in 1988, simply because their car wasn't ready and they had to start the season in an F3000 car that was brought up to Formula One specifications. In the second race, the car was ready and a real eye catcher: it was by far the longest car in the field. The first races brought many problems, but in Detroit the car lastest the distance for the first time, finishing eight and even driving in the points for some laps.

For the next season Alex Caffi was accompanied by Andrea de Cesaris. A solid race by Caffi in Monaco meant a fourth place and the team's first points. The 1989 Canadian Grand Prix was no doubt the highlight of the team's history. In a chaotic, wet first part of the race, both drivers kept their heads cool and their cars on the track. The end result was a third position for de Cesaris and a sixth for Caffi.

1990 was then a dramatic fall for the team. Bar a third qualifying position for de Cesaris there wasn't a single memorable fact for the team. In 1991 JJ Lehto gave the team its second podium finish in Imola. The next year the car was reliable, but slow. Pierluigi Martini managed two sixth places, but that was not enough to keep the Dallara name alive in Formula One. The team competed one more season under the Lola BMS name, but after that ceised operations.

From 1958 to 1994, team Lotus scored 79 wins in Formula One. Twelve drivers won races for Lotus, ranging from one to twenty five wins each.

The Monaco Grand Prix of 1960 was the venue for Lotus's first Formula One win. Stirling Moss won the rain hit Grand Prix ahead of Bruce Mclaren and Phil Hill. Interesting fact about the race is that only four drivers managed to finish. Moss went on to win another three Grands Prix, bringing his total number of wins for Lotus to four.

Most of Lotus's wins came in the hands of Jim Clark, who between 1962 and his death in 1968 won 25 races. In the seventies, four drivers won the bulk of the Lotus race wins. In 1970 Jochen Rindt won 6 races on his way to the Championship. From 1970 to 1978, Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson both won nine races each and Mario Andretti won eleven.

Other race winners for Lotus include drivers like Innes Ireland in 1961, Jo Siffert in 1968, Gunnar Nilsson in 1977 and Elio de Angelis in 1982 and 1985. Lotus's last victory was taken by Ayrton Senna in 1987, in the streets of Detroit. Lotus continued to compete in Formula One until 1994 but never won a race again.

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