Verstappen Joins The 50 Pole Club: The Legends Who Reached The Milestone Before Him

Max Verstappen claimed the 50th pole position of his Formula 1 career in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix. The Dutchman becomes only the fifth driver in F1 history to reach that number, and each of the other four ranks among the sport’s greatest champions.

Lewis Hamilton sits clearly at the top of the list. He took his first pole in Canada in 2007, during his debut season with McLaren, and won that race too. He left McLaren with 26 poles, reached his 50th with Mercedes at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix, overtook Michael Schumacher’s record at Monza in 2017 and extended his tally to 104 in Hungary in 2023. He has taken sprint poles with Ferrari but is still waiting for his first Grand Prix pole with the team.

Michael Schumacher is second with 68 poles. The German took his first pole with Benetton at Monaco in 1994 and built most of his tally at Ferrari. He reached his 50th at Suzuka in 2002 and took his last at the 2006 French Grand Prix. During his comeback with Mercedes, he was fastest in qualifying at Monaco in 2012, but a five-place grid penalty meant he started sixth.

Ayrton Senna is third with 65. His first pole came in Portugal in his second season, with Lotus, and he converted it into his first F1 win. The Brazilian set most of his records with McLaren between 1988 and 1993 and took his 50th pole at the 1990 Spanish Grand Prix. His final pole came with Williams in 1994, on the San Marino Grand Prix weekend when he lost his life.

Before Verstappen, the last driver to join the club was Sebastian Vettel, who reached 50 at the 2017 Mexico City Grand Prix and finished his career with 57. Vettel took pole with Toro Rosso at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix aged 21, becoming the youngest polesitter at the time, a record that stood until Kimi Antonelli broke it this season. His last pole came at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix.