Max Verstappen made history when he topped Saturday’s Qualifying session at the Singapore Grand Prix, with it marking a milestone 50th pole position in Formula 1 for the Dutchman.
The feat is one that only a select group of drivers in history – five, to be exact – have achieved, and the list that Verstappen joins certainly makes for illustrious reading.
Here are the star names that, like Verstappen, have scored 50 F1 poles or more…
Sebastian Vettel – 57 pole positions
The last driver to reach this landmark was Sebastian Vettel, who clinched his 50th pole position at the 2017 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Vettel achieved his first pole in memorable circumstances when, aged just 21 years and two months, he became the sport’s then-youngest ever polesitter by topping Qualifying at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix – a record he held until it was broken by a certain Kimi Antonelli this season. The German also converted that result into his maiden F1 victory.
After progressing from junior outfit Toro Rosso to the main Red Bull squad in the year that followed, Vettel went on to experience great success in his time with the team – including 44 more pole positions, along with countless wins and four World Championships.
While the German’s switch to Ferrari in 2015 did not result in more titles, he did bring his career poles tally up to 57 – his last occurring at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix.
Ayrton Senna – 65 pole positions
Next up in the list is another multiple World Champion and icon of the sport. Ayrton Senna was quick to impress when he made his Formula 1 debut for the Toleman team in 1984, but the Brazilian had to wait until his sophomore season – by which time he had joined Lotus – to secure his first pole position.
That P1 in Portugal proved momentous, with it leading to Senna’s debut F1 victory. Further poles followed during his three-year stint with the team, but it was across his partnership with McLaren between 1988 and 1993 that most of his records were achieved.
At the Spanish Grand Prix in 1990 – a campaign in which he would clinch the second of his three World Championships – Senna took his 50th pole position, while his total stood at 62 by the time he left the Woking-based outfit for Williams in 1994.
Senna put his car on pole a further three times but the last remains shrouded in tragedy, with it happening on the same weekend that the driver from Sao Paulo lost his life in an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher – 68 pole positions
The pole positions record held by Senna perhaps appeared unbeatable for some time – but the number would eventually be surpassed by Michael Schumacher, a man who rewrote many of the sport’s history books during his career.
After catching the eye in his brief debut for the Jordan team at the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher was quickly snapped up by Benetton for the next round onwards. His first win followed in 1992, but the German had to wait until the 1994 Monaco Grand Prix for his debut pole.
Schumacher scored a total of 10 P1 Qualifying results across his title-winning 1994 and 1995 campaigns, before going on to bring his tally up to dizzying heights during his hugely successful partnership with Ferrari.
His 50th pole occurred at Japan’s Suzuka Circuit in 2002, while his 68th and final pole position took place at the 2006 French Grand Prix. Schumacher would go on to top the Q3 timesheets at Monaco in 2012 during his comeback with Mercedes, but a five-place grid penalty meant that he ultimately started from sixth.
Lewis Hamilton – 104 pole positions
Our list is completed by a driver that Verstappen knows very well, having memorably engaged in a fierce title battle with him back in 2021. We are of course referring to Lewis Hamilton, who leads the pole position chart by a staggering margin.
Hamilton was only a few races into his debut season for McLaren when he grabbed his first pole at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, a result that he would go on to turn into his debut win.
The Briton left the team with 26 P1 Qualifying finishes to his name in 2012, before his record-breaking run with Mercedes saw him reach his milestone 50th pole at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.
One year later at Italy’s Monza circuit, Hamilton surpassed Schumacher’s previous total to replace the German as the driver with the most pole positions in F1 history – and he would go on to extend the record even further, his tally reaching a whopping 104 at the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2023.
While he has achieved more than one Sprint pole since his blockbuster move to Ferrari, a Grand Prix pole position has eluded Hamilton in his time so far with the Scuderia – a statistic that he will undoubtedly be keen to change…
