After Lewis Hamilton hit 100 Formula 1 pole positions at the Spanish GP, we look at the key statistics - from how many poles per season and team to who has been on the front row with Hamilton most often; watch Spanish GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm on Sunday
Monday 10 May 2021 14:38, UK
Just like race victories, Lewis Hamilton has scored a pole position in all 15 of his F1 seasons.
He started off very strong at McLaren, with six poles in his debut campaign - his first pole coming at the 2007 Canadian GP - and seven in his second. That's a tally he wouldn't beat until his third year with Mercedes.
After securing 11 poles in 2015, his best season in terms of qualifying came in 2016 (12), before 11 again in 2017 and 2018. His 2020 season was also very successful, with Hamilton on pole in 10 out of 17 races.
He has two poles from four 2021 qualifying sessions so far, making his overall record: 270 entries, 100 poles.
Hamilton has long held the record for number of pole positions in F1, with the next closest driver - Michael Schumacher - now some 32 poles behind.
Hamilton passed Schumacher's tally way back at the 2017 Italian GP, while also beating his idol Ayrton Senna's record of 65 in Azerbaijan in that same season.
Sebastian Vettel looked to be a pole record contender during his Red Bull days, but may be stuck on 57 for a while.
Hamilton passed Jim Clark's British record of 33 seven years ago, in China.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Hamilton's poles have come since joining Mercedes in 2013.
Hamilton had 26 poles as a McLaren driver - which ranked him eighth on F1's all-time list - but has 74 poles for the Silver Arrows and a whopping 69 during the hybrid era.
Hamilton's most successful Grand Prix in terms of pole positions has been the season-opener in Australia. Hamilton has competed in 13 qualifying sessions at Melbourne's Albert Park and has taken an impressive eight poles - that puts him level with Schumacher (Japan) and Senna (Imola) for most poles at the same GP.
Hamilton has seven poles at Hungary, Monza and his home track of Silverstone, while Montreal, Spa, Shanghai and Barcelona also appear to be firm favourites of the seven-time champion.
Nico Rosberg has been one of Hamilton's toughest team-mates and rivals and that is evident by the list below, with the 2016 world champion having finished second behind the Englishman in qualifying for 25 of his 100 poles.
Vettel and Valtteri Bottas are level on 19 behind, while Max Verstappen will surely rise up this table in the next few years. Verstappen will start on the front row behind Hamilton for Sunday's Spanish GP.
Hamilton has won 58 of the 99 races he has started on pole. That's a very decent pole-to-win conversion rate - the average in F1's long history is around 42 per cent.
Can he do so again in Barcelona on Sunday?
Watch the Spanish GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 2pm, with Sky Sports F1 build-up from 12.30pm.
