This Era of Dominance has Been Unprecedented

Hi guys. I know to most F1 fans the statement above will seem self explanatory, but sometimes putting it into figures helps really understand the historical context of what we're watching week in an out. 

Titles

Vettel and Hamilton have absolutely dominated the title chase in the 2010s. Over the past decade there has been only a single driver with a different surname to win the title. In context:

The 2000s: 5

The 1990s: 7 

The 1980s: 6

The 1970s: 7

The 1960s: 6

The 1950s: 5

And of course:

The 2010s: 3

We're talking not only has this never happened before, but we're short 2 drivers on the next-least-winning-ist decade. 

But to be fair, some championships could easily have gone the other way. With a couple of Maldonado spins we could be looking at a Mark Webber title, or a third or even fourth Alonso entry. Note that even if this did occur, they'd still only tie the other least-winning decades. 

So let's look at races:

There were 198 races held in the 2010s

Of those 198, Lewis Hamilton is responsible for taking the checkered flag in 78 (39%) of them.

Sebastian Vettel is responsible for 24% of said wins.

In Michael Schumacher's best 5 year stint he managed to take home 56% of available race wins. 

Lewis is on track to hit 51% in his best 5 year stint. 

The difference is, never have two drivers been above 50% in a season in the same decade. (Hamilton 4, Vettel 2)

When people say the Hamilton dominance after Vettel was truly unexpected. They've got a point. 

Lastly, and most incriminatingly is pole positions. 

Of the ten drivers on the top of the all-time poles list...

Three are courtesy of the 2010s. In fact, the only decade that has produced more top-15 drivers is the 1980s. Ratio-wise, the 2010s are far from topped. Those 3 drivers account for more poles than Lauda, Stewart, Piquet, Hill, Hunt, and Andretti combined. 

Even with Hamilton and Vettel alone, its enough to eclipse Senna, Prost, and Clark's entire career poles put together. 

Mercedes fan or not, its hard to doubt that ours is an era of unparalleled dominance. The hope is its one for our kids to enjoy from afar. Long live the silver arrows.