Formula 1's 50-Pole Club

After earning his 50th pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix, Max Verstappen joined a select group of drivers who have reached this milestone. Only five drivers in history have achieved this feat, and the list Max is joining is undoubtedly a distinguished one, [...]

After winning his 50th pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix, Max Verstappen joined a small group of drivers who have achieved this record. It's an achievement that only a select group of drivers in history - five to be exact - have achieved, and the list that Max joins is undoubtedly an illustrious and proud one.

According to the last car, the last driver who achieved this important record was Sebastian Vettel, who recorded his 50th pole position at the 2017 Mexico City Grand Prix.

Vettel won his first pole position in memorable conditions; While he was only 21 years and two months old, he became the youngest driver who had won this title by winning the first place in the Italian Grand Prix in 2008; A record that was held by him until this season and before it was broken by Kimi Antonelli. The German driver also made that result his first F1 victory.

After moving from Toro Rosso's entry-level team to Red Bull's main team the following year, Vettel enjoyed a highly successful career with the team that included 44 more pole positions, numerous victories and four world championships. Although the transfer of this German driver to Ferrari in 2015 did not lead to winning more championship titles, he was able to increase the total number of pole positions in his career to 57, the last of which was at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2019.

The next person on this list is another multiple world champion and prominent figure of this sport. Ayrton Senna (Ayrton Senna) started his career in Formula One with the Toleman team in 1984, and proved his abilities very soon; However, the Brazilian driver had to wait until his second season in the competition - by which time he had joined the Lotus team - to claim his first pole position.

That first place at the Portuguese Grand Prix was a defining moment and led to Senna's first victory in Formula One. During his three years in the Lotus team, he managed to get another pole position, but most of his records and honors were achieved during his collaboration with the McLaren team between 1988 and 1993.

Senna took his 50th pole position at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix—the season in which he ended up winning the second of his three world championships; He had reached the number of 62 until his departure from the McLaren team and joining the Williams team in 1994.

Senna managed to place his car on the starting line three more times, but the last one was accompanied by tragedy because it happened on the same weekend that the driver from Sao Paulo died in an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix.

The record of winning the first place on the starting line, which was held by Senna, may have seemed unattainable for a while, but finally this record was broken by Michael Schumacher; A man who rewrote many of the sport's historical records during his career.

After attracting attention in his short-lived first appearance with Team Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix (1991), Schumacher was immediately recruited by Team Benton for the following races. He took his first victory in 1992 but had to wait until the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix to take his first career pole position.

Schumacher reached the first place in the qualifying stage a total of 10 times, which was related to his championship seasons in 1994 and 1995; Then, during his very successful collaboration with Ferrari, he increased his statistics to stunning and unprecedented figures.

His 50th pole position was achieved in 2002 at the Suzuka circuit in Japan, and his 68th (and last) was achieved at the French Grand Prix in 2006. In his return to racing with Mercedes in 2012, Schumacher set the fastest time in the third qualifying round at Monaco, but ended up starting the race in sixth place due to a penalty that put him five places back on the grid.

This list is rounded off by a driver who tops the grid for first place by a significant margin. Lewis Hamilton (Lewis Hamilton) won his first pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix in 2007, only a few races after the start of his first season in the McLaren team; An achievement that eventually led to his first victory in the competition

The British driver left the McLaren team in 2012 before joining Mercedes after 26 pole positions. Then during his brilliant and record-breaking career with Mercedes, he achieved a remarkable record of 50 pole starts at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.

A year later, at the Italian Monza circuit, Hamilton surpassed Schumacher's overall record and took the place of this German driver as the record holder of the most pole positions in the history of Formula One; He then went on to improve this record, taking it to a staggering 104 at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Although he has won more than one sprint pole position since his high-profile transfer to the Ferrari team, he has yet to achieve pole position in the main race. A statistic that will undoubtedly be eager to change.

The last car website was designed and coded by Tosi Group, and all rights to its format are reserved by him.