Max Verstappen Holds the Highest Pole to Win Ratio in F1 History

Max Verstappen has been in F1 since 2015 and has already broken several records. His dominance with Red Bull since 2022 has played a major role in propelling him through the record charts for most wins, poles, and podiums, on his way to three consecutive World championships. Verstappen also leads another impressive stat — the pole-to-win ratio.

F1 analyst Daniel Valente tweeted about the drivers with the highest pole-to-win ratio with the Red Bull champion at 80%. Verstappen has converted 32 out of his 40 poles to race wins. The threshold for this stat used by Valente was drivers with a minimum of five poles.

Best Pole to Win Rates in F1 History (min. 5 poles)

Max Verstappen 80.00% (32/40)
Emerson Fittipaldi 66.67% (4/6)
Alberto Ascari 64.29% (9/14)
Fernando Alonso 63.64% (14/22)
Jenson Button 62.50% (5/8)
Michael Schumacher 58.82% (40/68)
Lewis Hamilton 58.65% (61/104) pic.twitter.com/1HHXeIcLYa

— Daniel Valente ️ (@F1GuyDan) October 6, 2024

Behind Verstappen, Emerson Fittipaldi has the second-highest pole-to-win ratio at 66.67%. Meanwhile, Alberto Ascari ranks third at 64.29%. Among the modern F1 drivers, Fernando Alonso has a 63.64% conversion rate while Jenson Button stands at 62.50% to round out the top five.

Meanwhile, the two seven-time world champions Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have a pole-to-win conversation rate a smidge under 59%. However, their poles and wins’ tally is much higher than the aforementioned drivers.

Verstappen won his first Grand Prix at the 2016 Spanish GP and hasn’t looked back since, steadily climbing the list of drivers with the most race wins. His remarkable 34 victories across the 2022 and 2023 seasons have propelled his career win tally past several legends of the sport such as Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel.

Can Verstappen break the record for most wins in F1?

Verstappen’s trajectory over the past three years has positioned him to top many all-time records. While his 2024 campaign has hit a rough patch, with eight winless races since his Spanish GP victory, the three-time champion has already climbed to third place on the list of most race wins in F1.

With 61 wins to his name, Verstappen is only behind Hamilton (105) and Schumacher (91). If he can return to winning ways with Red Bull resolving its issues toward the tail-end of this season, he can look to bridge this gap further.

In 2023, Verstappen comfortably surpassed the win tallies of Ayrton Senna (41), Prost (51), and Vettel (53). He broke Senna’s record at the Austrian GP and surpassed Prost and Vettel in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, respectively. Despite Red Bull’s struggles this season, Verstappen has already secured seven wins and could add more to his tally if the team resolves the car’s issues.