List of Formula One polesitters

Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform. The F1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The polesitter is the driver that has qualified for a Grand Prix in pole position, at the front of the starting grid. Out of the 1,149 completed Grands Prix (as of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix), the driver that has started in first has gone on to win the race 497 times.

Qualifying is traditionally contested on the Saturday (Friday for some events) of a Grand Prix weekend to determine the drivers' positions on the starting grid of the race held on the Sunday (although across and , in a small number of the events, so-called sprint races were held, which determined the starting grid of the race on Sunday. In 2021, the winner of the sprint was credited with pole position. In 2022 the pole-sitter of the sprint race was officially awarded the pole position in those events. Since 2023, sprint races have been held at select events, these have had their own qualifying session, the polesitter for these races is not credited with a pole position.) Historically, there have been a number of different qualifying systems; previously, each driver was only allowed a single lap to set his qualifying time. Drivers currently have to compete in three rounds before pole position is determined. The first round, known as Q1, is contested by twenty drivers in an 18-minute session, at the end of which the five slowest cars are eliminated. This is followed by Q2, a 15-minute session, where the slowest five are again eliminated. The remaining ten cars contest Q3, the final 12-minute session, to determine their places on the grid and who will sit on pole position.

Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most pole positions, having qualified first on occasions. Ayrton Senna is third with 65 poles. Senna and Max Verstappen jointly hold the record for most consecutive pole positions; Senna qualified in first place in eight Grands Prix in a row from the 1988 Spanish Grand Prix to the 1989 United States Grand Prix, with Verstappen's record streak lasting from the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel is the youngest polesitter; he was 21 years, 72 days old when he qualified in first place for the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. The oldest person to qualify in pole position was Nino Farina, who was 47 years, 79 days old when he was polesitter for the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix. As of the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, 107 drivers have been on pole position in the 1,149 Grands Prix since the first World Championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix, with the most recent driver to achieve their first pole position being Oscar Piastri at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. From 2014 to 2017, the driver with the most pole positions in a season was awarded the Pole Trophy. The inaugural Pole Trophy was won by Nico Rosberg. In 2018, the FIA Pole Trophy was discontinued and replaced with the Pirelli Pole Position Award, where the polesitter at each race as awarded a Pirelli wind tunnel tyre with the name of the polesitter and their time.

By driver

Driver competing in the season and a Formula One World Champion

Rank	Driver	Nationality	Poles	Entries	Seasons active	First pole	Last pole
1				–	2007 Canadian Grand Prix	2023 Hungarian Grand Prix
2		68	308	–, –	1994 Monaco Grand Prix	2006 French Grand Prix
3		65	162	–	1985 Portuguese Grand Prix	1994 San Marino Grand Prix
4		57	300	–	2008 Italian Grand Prix	2019 Japanese Grand Prix
5				–	2019 Hungarian Grand Prix	2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
6		33	73	–	1962 Monaco Grand Prix	1968 South African Grand Prix
	33	202	–,	1981 German Grand Prix	1993 Japanese Grand Prix
8		32	191	–, –	1984 Dallas Grand Prix	1994 Australian Grand Prix
9		30	206	–	2012 Chinese Grand Prix	2016 Japanese Grand Prix
10		29	52	–, –	1950 Monaco Grand Prix	1958 Argentine Grand Prix
11				–	2019 Bahrain Grand Prix	2025 Hungarian Grand Prix
12		26	165	–	1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix	2000 Belgian Grand Prix
13		24	177	–, –	1974 South African Grand Prix	1978 South African Grand Prix
BRA	24	207	–	1980 United States Grand Prix West	1987 Spanish Grand Prix
15				, –, –	2003 Malaysian Grand Prix	2012 German Grand Prix
16		20	122	–	1993 French Grand Prix	1996 Portuguese Grand Prix
	20	247	–	2017 Bahrain Grand Prix	2021 São Paulo Grand Prix
18		18	131	–, –	1968 United States Grand Prix	1982 Italian Grand Prix
	18	165	–	1979 Austrian Grand Prix	1983 British Grand Prix
	18	353	–, –	2003 European Grand Prix	2018 Italian Grand Prix
21		17	100	–	1969 Monaco Grand Prix	1973 German Grand Prix
22		16	67	–	1955 British Grand Prix	1961 Monaco Grand Prix
	16	272	, –	2006 Turkish Grand Prix	2014 Austrian Grand Prix
	16		–	2021 Russian Grand Prix	2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix
25		14	33	–	1951 German Grand Prix	1954 Spanish Grand Prix
	14	93	–	1976 Brazilian Grand Prix	1977 United States Grand Prix
	14	123	–	1973 Brazilian Grand Prix	1978 Austrian Grand Prix
	14	326	–	1994 Belgian Grand Prix	2009 Brazilian Grand Prix
29		13	179	–	1962 Belgian Grand Prix	1968 British Grand Prix
	13	128	–	1959 British Grand Prix	1970 Spanish Grand Prix
	13	122	–	1968 German Grand Prix	1972 Italian Grand Prix
	13	165	–	1996 Australian Grand Prix	1997 European Grand Prix
	13	95	–	2001 German Grand Prix	2005 Belgian Grand Prix
	13	217	–	2009 German Grand Prix	2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
35		12	210	–	1987 Portuguese Grand Prix	1997 German Grand Prix
	12	247	–	1995 Argentine Grand Prix	2001 Monaco Grand Prix
37		10	62	–	1968 French Grand Prix	1970 Austrian Grand Prix
38		8	113	–	1960 Portuguese Grand Prix	1968 Italian Grand Prix
	8	257	–	1981 United States Grand Prix West	1992 Hungarian Grand Prix
	8	309	–	2004 San Marino Grand Prix	2012 Belgian Grand Prix
41		7	180	–	1976 Italian Grand Prix	1981 Spanish Grand Prix
			–	2022 Hungarian Grand Prix	2025 Singapore Grand Prix
43		6	51	–,	1960 Italian Grand Prix	1961 German Grand Prix
BRA	6	149	–	1972 Monaco Grand Prix	1974 Canadian Grand Prix
	6	55	–, –	1979 South African Grand Prix	1980 South African Grand Prix
	6	117	–, , –	1979 British Grand Prix	1980 German Grand Prix
	6	146	–	1972 Argentine Grand Prix	1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix
	6	182	–	2001 French Grand Prix	2005 Japanese Grand Prix
			–	2022 British Grand Prix	2024 Mexico City Grand Prix
			–	2025 Chinese Grand Prix	2025 Qatar Grand Prix
51		5	36	–	1950 British Grand Prix	1954 Argentine Grand Prix
	5	108	–	1968 Spanish Grand Prix	1972 French Grand Prix
	5	139	–	1970 Mexican Grand Prix	1976 United States Grand Prix West
	5	123	–, –	1983 United States Grand Prix West	1984 French Grand Prix
	5	128	–	1982 British Grand Prix	1986 German Grand Prix
56		4	47	–	1958 Belgian Grand Prix	1958 Moroccan Grand Prix
	4	72	–	1980 Monaco Grand Prix	1982 German Grand Prix
	4	256	–	2004 Monaco Grand Prix	2009 Bahrain Grand Prix
	4	231	–	1998 Austrian Grand Prix	2009 Belgian Grand Prix
60		3	26	–,	1951 British Grand Prix	1955 Argentine Grand Prix
	3	39	–	1958 Monaco Grand Prix	1959 German Grand Prix
	3	87	–,	1962 German Grand Prix	1964 Belgian Grand Prix
	3	143	, –	1975 Argentine Grand Prix	1978 Canadian Grand Prix
South Africa	3	113	–	1976 Swedish Grand Prix	1979 Monaco Grand Prix
	3	109	–	1983 European Grand Prix	1985 Canadian Grand Prix
	3	71	, –	1985 German Grand Prix	1986 Italian Grand Prix
	3	258	–	2016 Monaco Grand Prix	2018 Mexican Grand Prix
	3	285	–	2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix	2023 Miami Grand Prix
69		2	14	–	1957 Italian Grand Prix	1958 Dutch Grand Prix
	2	100	–	1968 Mexican Grand Prix	1971 Austrian Grand Prix
	2	154	–,	1977 Monaco Grand Prix	1978 French Grand Prix
	2	68	–	1979 United States Grand Prix West	1981 San Marino Grand Prix
	2	215	–	1984 Belgian Grand Prix	1985 Brazilian Grand Prix
	2	202	–	1994 Italian Grand Prix	1997 Italian Grand Prix
	2	160	–	1997 Monaco Grand Prix	1999 European Grand Prix
76	USA	1	6	–, –	1950 Indianapolis 500	1950 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	5	–	1951 Indianapolis 500	1951 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	9	–	1952 Indianapolis 500	1952 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	6	–	1953 Indianapolis 500	1953 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	6	–	1954 Indianapolis 500	1954 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	5	, –	1955 Indianapolis 500	1955 Indianapolis 500
	1	14	–	1955 Belgian Grand Prix	1955 Belgian Grand Prix
USA	1	6	, –,	1956 Indianapolis 500	1956 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	6	–	1957 Indianapolis 500	1957 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	6	, –	1958 Indianapolis 500	1958 Indianapolis 500
USA	1	8	–	1959 Indianapolis 500	1959 Indianapolis 500
	1	108	–	1959 Dutch Grand Prix	1959 Dutch Grand Prix
USA	1	7	–	1960 Indianapolis 500	1960 Indianapolis 500
	1	29	–	1961 Italian Grand Prix	1961 Italian Grand Prix
	1	42	–	1966 French Grand Prix	1966 French Grand Prix
	1	7	, –	1966 Italian Grand Prix	1966 Italian Grand Prix
	1	32	, –	1972 Canadian Grand Prix	1972 Canadian Grand Prix
	1	112	–	1973 South African Grand Prix	1973 South African Grand Prix
	1	95	, –	1974 Swedish Grand Prix	1974 Swedish Grand Prix
BRA	1	73	–	1975 South African Grand Prix	1975 South African Grand Prix
	1	79	–	1975 Swedish Grand Prix	1975 Swedish Grand Prix
	1	42	–	1975 British Grand Prix	1975 British Grand Prix
	1	82	–,	1980 United States Grand Prix	1980 United States Grand Prix
	1	214	–	1982 United States Grand Prix West	1982 United States Grand Prix West
	1	164	–	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix	1990 Hungarian Grand Prix
	1	185	–	2005 European Grand Prix	2005 European Grand Prix
	1	99	–, ,	2008 Bahrain Grand Prix	2008 Bahrain Grand Prix
	1	112	–	2008 British Grand Prix	2008 British Grand Prix
			, –, –	2010 Brazilian Grand Prix	2010 Brazilian Grand Prix
	1	96	–	2012 Spanish Grand Prix	2012 Spanish Grand Prix
			–	2020 Turkish Grand Prix	2020 Turkish Grand Prix
	1	187	–, –	2022 São Paulo Grand Prix	2022 São Paulo Grand Prix