Pole Position

Pole Position is a term used to describe the position which lies at the front of the starting grid. This gives the driver in pole the advantage of starting ahead of all the other drivers. This advantage is such that, in all races in Formula One history, more than 40% of race wins have come from pole.351 wins from pole out of 874 Formula One Grands Prix in total, as of the 2012 Korean Grand Prix
Throughout the history of F1, pole position has been determined by one or more qualifying sessions, the fastest driver (either in a single session or as an aggregate) of which starts on pole.
Since , only five drivers have achieved pole position on their F1 debut. Two of these, Giuseppe Farina and Walt Faulkner were in Formula One's inaugural season (1950). The other three, Duke Nalon, Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Villeneuve were set in , and respectively.
As from , the driver who scores the most Pole Positions in a season will win the Pole Position Trophy.
==Records==
The current record holder for Most Pole Positions is Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel holds the records for most poles in a season and youngest pole sitter. The following tables show the top six in each category. (Bold names indicate currently active drivers.)
===Most Poles===
====Overall====
Rank	Driver 	Number of Poles
1 	Lewis Hamilton 	
2 	Michael Schumacher	68
3 	Ayrton Senna 	65
4 	Sebastian Vettel 	
5 	Alain Prost 	33
5 	Jim Clark 	33
7 	Nigel Mansell 	32
8 	Nico Rosberg 	30
9 	Juan Manuel Fangio	29
10 	Max Verstappen 	29
====In Same Season====
Rank	Driver 	Number of Poles	Season
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	15 	
2 	Nigel Mansell 	14 	
3 	Ayrton Senna 	13 	
3 	Ayrton Senna 	13 	
3 	Alain Prost 	13 	
3 	Max Verstappen 	13 	
6 	Lewis Hamilton 	12 	
7 	Mika Häkkinen 	11 	
7 	Michael Schumacher	11 	
7 	Nico Rosberg 	11 	
7 	Lewis Hamilton 	11 	
7 	Lewis Hamilton 	11 	
7 	Lewis Hamilton 	11 	
===Pole positions by age===
Youngest (first pole only)	Youngest (first pole only)	Youngest (first pole only)	Youngest (first pole only)
Rank 	Driver 	Age 	Race
1 	Sebastian Vettel 	21y 72d 	2008 Italian Grand Prix
2 	Charles Leclerc 	21y 165d 	2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
3 	Fernando Alonso 	21y 236d 	2003 Malaysian Grand Prix
4 	Max Verstappen 	21y 307d 	2019 Hungarian Grand Prix
5 	Lando Norris 	21y 316d 	2021 Russian Grand Prix
6 	Lance Stroll 	22y 16d 	2020 Turkish Grand Prix
7 	Rubens Barrichello 	22y 97d 	1994 Belgian Grand Prix
8 	Lewis Hamilton 	22y 153d 	2007 Canadian Grand Prix
9 	Andrea de Cesaris 	22y 308d 	1982 United States Grand Prix West
10 	Nico Hülkenberg 	23y 79d 	2010 Brazilian Grand Prix
Oldest (last pole only)	Oldest (last pole only)	Oldest (last pole only)	Oldest (last pole only)
Rank 	Driver 	Age 	Race
1 	Nino Farina 	47y 79d 	1954 Argentine Grand Prix
2 	Juan Manuel Fangio 	46y 209d 	1958 Argentine Grand Prix
3 	Jack Brabham 	44y 17d 	1970 Spanish Grand Prix
4 	Mario Andretti 	42y 196d 	1982 Italian Grand Prix
5 	Nigel Mansell 	41y 97d 	1994 Australian Grand Prix
6 	Carlos Reutemann 	39y 188d 	1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
7 	Graham Hill 	39y 156d 	1968 British Grand Prix
8 	Kimi Räikkönen 	38y 319d 	2018 Italian Grand Prix
9 	Fred Agabashian 	38y 283d 	1952 Indianapolis 500
10 	Alain Prost 	38y 241d 	1993 Japanese Grand Prix
===Most poles without a win===
Rank	Driver 	Poles
1 	Chris Amon 	5
2 	Jean-Pierre Jarier 	3
2 	Eugenio Castellotti	3
4 	Teo Fabi 	2
4 	Stuart Lewis-Evans 	2
6 	Luigi Villoresi 	1
6 	Mike Spence 	1
6 	Nico Hülkenberg 	1
6 	Johnny Thomson 	1
6 	Jerry Hoyt 	1
===Most consecutive pole positions===
 	Driver 	Poles	Season(s)
1	Ayrton Senna 	8 	–
2	Ayrton Senna 	7 	–
2	Alain Prost 	7 	
2	Michael Schumacher	7 	–
2	Lewis Hamilton 	7 	
6	Niki Lauda 	6 	
6	Ayrton Senna 	6 	
6	Ayrton Senna 	6 	
6	Nigel Mansell 	6 	
6	Mika Häkkinen 	6 	
6	Nico Rosberg 	6 	
6	Lewis Hamilton 	6 	
–
===Conversion rate===
The following table shows rates of conversion from pole to win. In other words, this rate shows as a percentage of career pole positions.
Correct as of 2022 Italian Grand Prix
Rank	Driver 	Poles	Wins from Pole	Conversion rate
1 	Bill Vukovich 	 	1 	100%
1 	Pat Flaherty 	 	1 	100%
1 	Jo Bonnier 	 	1 	100%
1 	Thierry Boutsen 	 	1 	100%
1 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	1 	100%
6 	Max Verstappen 	 	32 	80%
7 	Emerson Fittipaldi	6 	4 	66.67%
7 	Tony Brooks 	3 	2 	66.67%
7 	Jody Scheckter 	3 	2 	66.67%
10 	Alberto Ascari 	14 	9 	64.29%
11 	Fernando Alonso 	 	14 	%
12 	Jenson Button 	8 	5 	%
13 	Michael Schumacher	68 	40 	58.82%
14 	Alain Prost 	33 	18 	54.55%
15 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	41 	%
16 	Charles Leclerc 	 	4 	%
==Notes==
Category:Racing terms