History not in Ferrari's favour: Leclerc rarely wins from pole

F1 News

Verstappen statistics f1 pole positions charles leclerc
29 October 2023 at 13:15
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  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Charles Leclerc starts on pole position for the Mexican Grand Prix, but perhaps that's not the most ideal starting position. Recent history and statistics show why Max Verstappen is still the big favourite for victory and that is mainly because of a problem at Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc secured his 22nd career pole position in Mexico. An impressive number, which already puts the Monegasque in 15th place in the all-time pole position list. Leclerc is on a par with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso and has only eight pole positions less than Max Verstappen.

Why Verstappen is the favourite in Mexico

It is completely different when it comes to wins. Of Leclerc's 21 pole positions prio to the Mexican Grand Prix, Leclerc managed to convert only four of them into wins. The fifth victory of his career came after Leclerc took pole position from Verstappen. Leclerc thus only converted a pole into a win 19% of the time.

What is remarkable is how many of Leclerc's pole positions were converted into a win by Verstappen. Of the 21 pole positions, Verstappen won the Grand Prix 10 times, 48% of them. Interestingly, Verstappen achieves the same percentage for his own 30 pole positions.

So the chances are pretty good that Leclerc's pole position will mean another win for Verstappen in Mexico too. Especially if you look at the 2023 stats. Ferrari took pole five times this year, three times resulting in a win for Verstappen (60 per cent), with Sergio Perez winning another for Red Bull. Only in Singapore was it Carlos Sainz who managed to turn his pole position into a victory. Leclerc conceded all three of his pole positions.