Sergio Perez he hardly hoped for it anymore: in 11 full seasons of Formula 1 he had never managed to conquer a pole position, and the 2022 season seemed to be no exception, with Sakhir’s fourth place. On the other hand, in Jeddah, the Mexican found the lap of his life, as he admitted in post-qualifying interviews, ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari by 25 thousandths and giving +0.261 to Max Verstappen. Which is no small feat, considering the world champion’s flying qualities.
The first pole is never forgotten, but how long to reach it. 216 Grands Prix, an absolute record that is hard to match. The second in this ranking is in fact Mark Webber, who waited for 131 races to start at the pole (Nürburgring 2009), again thanks to a Red Bull. Jarno Trulli completes the podium, who needed 119 Grands Prix before the pole of Monte-Carlo 2004. Evidently, the Middle East brings luck to Perez, given that in Bahrain he won his first career victory in 2020 (the Mexican also dominates this ranking, ahead of Webber and Rubens Barrichello).
For a Perez who had to wait 216 races for pole, there were six far more precocious riders, able to do so in thedebut: Nino Farina (who won it at the first Grand Prix in history), Duke Nalon, Walt Faulkner, Mario Andretti, Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Villeneuve.
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