Among the many special aspects that characterized the 2022 season of Max Verstappen there was definitely hers ability to win races in which he found himself starting away from the very first rows of the grid. The one-two scored at the turn of the summer break, with the success in Hungary arriving starting from tenth position on the grid and the one in Belgium obtained even starting from the 14th position, are the perfect synthesis of the comeback qualities of the orange fans’ idol. During the year, Verstappen collected ‘only’ 7 pole positions, against 9 for Charles Leclerc. Despite this, however, 15 victories arrived, more than double the number of pole starts won in qualifying.
Verstappen’s tendency to excel more on Sunday than on Saturday – opposite to that of his contemporary and rival Charles Leclerc – has accompanied him throughout his career. In fact, in 163 GPs held, the Red Bull driver collected 20 starts from the first box against 35 successes. The Twitter page F1_charts enjoyed comparing these data with those of other great champions in the history of Formula 1, discovering how in calculating the ratio between victories and poles, obtained by dividing the number of firsts by that of seconds, the two-time world champion has no comparison in entire history of the Circus.
Translating this calculation into a percentage, in fact, Verstappen has the 175% of victories compared to the pole positions obtained. In this particular ranking it is according to Jackie Stewart, which stands at 159%. Other ‘racing’ drivers according to this criterion would be Alain Prost (155%), Fernando Alonso (145%) and Michael Schumacher (134%). However, the case of Lewis Hamilton who with 103 poles conquered and as many victories travels on a perfect 100%. Obviously, there is also the opposite figure: those drivers who have collected more pole positions than victories in their careers. Among the pilots with at least 10 starts at the pole and as many successes to stand out are two very different names: that of Valtteri Bottas (20 poles and 10 victories conquered) and Ayrton Senna (41 successes against 65 pole positions).
Max Verstappen with 35 wins and 20 pole positions is the driver with highest wins to poles ratio (among drivers with at least 10 of each) in #f1 history – 175%📈
Lewis Hamilton having highest number of both is also only one with exact same numbers of wins & poles 🟰 #Formula 1 pic.twitter.com/g2auE7pjtu
— F1_charts (@F1_charts) December 12, 2022
#Wintopole #ratio #Verstappen #FormulaPassion.it