Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants and cars must conform. The F1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known as , held usually on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. The polesitter is the driver that has qualified for a Grand Prix in pole position, at the front of the starting grid. Out of the 1,165 completed (as of the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix), the driver that has started in first has gone on to win the race 508 times.

Qualifying is traditionally contested on the Saturday (Friday for some events) of a Grand Prix weekend to determine the drivers' positions on the starting grid of the race held on the Sunday (although across and , in a small number of the events, so-called sprint races were held, which determined the starting grid of the race on Sunday. In 2021, the winner of the sprint was credited with pole position. In 2022, the pole-sitter of the sprint race was officially awarded the pole position in those events. Since 2023, sprint races have been held at select events, these have had their own qualifying session, the polesitter for these races is not credited with a pole position.) Historically, there have been a number of different qualifying systems; previously, each driver was only allowed a single lap to set his qualifying time. Drivers currently have to compete in three rounds before pole position is determined. The first round, known as Q1, is contested by twenty drivers in an 18-minute session, at the end of which the five slowest cars are eliminated. This is followed by Q2, a 15-minute session, where the slowest five are again eliminated. The remaining ten cars contest Q3, the final 13-minute session, to determine their places on the grid and who will sit on pole position.

Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most pole positions, having qualified first on occasions. Michael Schumacher is second with 68 pole positions. Ayrton Senna is third with 65 poles. Senna and Max Verstappen jointly hold the record for most consecutive pole positions; Senna qualified in first place in eight in a row from the 1988 Spanish Grand Prix to the 1989 United States Grand Prix, with Verstappen's record streak lasting from the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Kimi Antonelli is the youngest polesitter; he was 19 years, 201 days old when he qualified in first place for the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix. The oldest person to qualify in pole position was Nino Farina, who was 47 years, 79 days old when he was polesitter for the 1954 Argentine Grand Prix. As of the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, 109 drivers have been on pole position in the 1,164 since the first World Championship race, the 1950 British Grand Prix, with the most recent driver to achieve their first pole position being Pierre Gasly at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix. From 2014 to 2017, the driver with the most pole positions in a season was awarded the Pole Trophy. The inaugural Pole Trophy was won by Nico Rosberg. In 2018, the FIA Pole Trophy was discontinued and replaced with the Pirelli Pole Position Award, where the polesitter at each race is awarded a Pirelli wind tunnel tyre with the name of the polesitter and their time.

By driver

+KeyDriver has competed in the seasonFormula One World ChampionDriver has competed in the season and is a Formula One World Champion

+Formula One polesittersRankDriverNationalityPolesEntriesSeasons activeFirst poleLast pole1–2007 Canadian Grand Prix2023 Hungarian Grand Prix268308–, –1994 Monaco Grand Prix2006 French Grand Prix365162–1985 Portuguese Grand Prix1994 San Marino Grand Prix457300–2008 Italian Grand Prix2019 Japanese Grand Prix5–2019 Hungarian Grand Prix2026 Bahrain Grand Prix63373–1962 Monaco Grand Prix1968 South African Grand Prix33202–, 1981 German Grand Prix1993 Japanese Grand Prix832191–, –1984 Dallas Grand Prix1994 Australian Grand Prix930206–2012 Chinese Grand Prix2016 Japanese Grand Prix102952–, –1950 Monaco Grand Prix1958 Argentine Grand Prix11 –2019 Bahrain Grand Prix2025 Hungarian Grand Prix1226165–1997 Luxembourg Grand Prix2000 Belgian Grand Prix1324177–, –1974 South African Grand Prix1978 South African Grand Prix24207–1980 United States Grand Prix West1987 Spanish Grand Prix15, –, –2003 Malaysian Grand Prix2012 German Grand Prix1620122–1993 French Grand Prix1996 Portuguese Grand Prix*20247–, –2017 Bahrain Grand Prix2021 São Paulo Grand Prix1819–2021 Russian Grand Prix2026 Spanish Grand Prix1918131–, –1968 United States Grand Prix1982 Italian Grand Prix18165–1979 Austrian Grand Prix1983 British Grand Prix18353–, –2003 European Grand Prix2018 Italian Grand Prix2217100–1969 Monaco Grand Prix1973 German Grand Prix231667–1955 British Grand Prix1961 Monaco Grand Prix16272, –2006 Turkish Grand Prix2014 Austrian Grand Prix251433–1951 German Grand Prix1954 Spanish Grand Prix1493–1976 Brazilian Grand Prix1977 United States Grand Prix14123–1973 Brazilian Grand Prix1978 Austrian Grand Prix14326–1994 Belgian Grand Prix2009 Brazilian Grand Prix2913179–1962 Belgian Grand Prix1968 British Grand Prix13128–1959 British Grand Prix1970 Spanish Grand Prix13122–1968 German Grand Prix1972 Italian Grand Prix13165–1996 Australian Grand Prix1997 European Grand Prix1395–2001 German Grand Prix2005 Belgian Grand Prix13217–2009 German Grand Prix2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix3512210–1987 Portuguese Grand Prix1997 German Grand Prix12247–1995 Argentine Grand Prix2001 Monaco Grand Prix12–2022 Hungarian Grand Prix2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 381062–1968 French Grand Prix1970 Austrian Grand Prix398113–1960 Portuguese Grand Prix1968 Italian Grand Prix8257–1981 United States Grand Prix West1992 Hungarian Grand Prix8309–2004 San Marino Grand Prix2012 Belgian Grand Prix427180–1976 Italian Grand Prix1981 Spanish Grand Prix43651–, 1960 Italian Grand Prix1961 German Grand Prix6149–1972 Monaco Grand Prix1974 Canadian Grand Prix655–, –1979 South African Grand Prix1980 South African Grand Prix6117–, , –1979 British Grand Prix1980 German Grand Prix6146–1972 Argentine Grand Prix1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix6182–2001 French Grand Prix2005 Japanese Grand Prix–2022 British Grand Prix2024 Mexico City Grand Prix –2025 Chinese Grand Prix2025 Qatar Grand Prix–2026 Chinese Grand Prix2026 Belgian Grand Prix52536–1950 British Grand Prix1954 Argentine Grand Prix5108–1968 Spanish Grand Prix1972 French Grand Prix5139–1970 Mexican Grand Prix1976 United States Grand Prix West5123–, –1983 United States Grand Prix West1984 French Grand Prix5128–1982 British Grand Prix1986 German Grand Prix57447–1958 Belgian Grand Prix1958 Moroccan Grand Prix472–1980 Monaco Grand Prix1982 German Grand Prix4256–2004 Monaco Grand Prix2009 Bahrain Grand Prix4231–1998 Austrian Grand Prix2009 Belgian Grand Prix61326–, 1951 British Grand Prix1955 Argentine Grand Prix339–1958 Monaco Grand Prix1959 German Grand Prix387–, 1962 German Grand Prix1964 Belgian Grand Prix3143, –1975 Argentine Grand Prix1978 Canadian Grand Prix3113–1976 Swedish Grand Prix1979 Monaco Grand Prix3109–1983 European Grand Prix1985 Canadian Grand Prix371, –1985 German Grand Prix1986 Italian Grand Prix3258–2016 Monaco Grand Prix2018 Mexican Grand Prix*3285–, 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix2023 Miami Grand Prix70214–1957 Italian Grand Prix1958 Dutch Grand Prix2100–1968 Mexican Grand Prix1971 Austrian Grand Prix2154–, 1977 Monaco Grand Prix1978 French Grand Prix268–1979 United States Grand Prix West1981 San Marino Grand Prix2215–1984 Belgian Grand Prix1985 Brazilian Grand Prix2202–1994 Italian Grand Prix1997 Italian Grand Prix2160–1997 Monaco Grand Prix1999 European Grand Prix7716–, –1950 Indianapolis 5001950 Indianapolis 50015–1951 Indianapolis 5001951 Indianapolis 50019–1952 Indianapolis 5001952 Indianapolis 50016–1953 Indianapolis 5001953 Indianapolis 50016–1954 Indianapolis 5001954 Indianapolis 50015, –1955 Indianapolis 5001955 Indianapolis 500114–1955 Belgian Grand Prix1955 Belgian Grand Prix16, –, 1956 Indianapolis 5001956 Indianapolis 50016–1957 Indianapolis 5001957 Indianapolis 50016, –1958 Indianapolis 5001958 Indianapolis 50018–1959 Indianapolis 5001959 Indianapolis 5001108–1959 Dutch Grand Prix1959 Dutch Grand Prix17–1960 Indianapolis 5001960 Indianapolis 500129–1961 Italian Grand Prix1961 Italian Grand Prix142–1966 French Grand Prix1966 French Grand Prix17, –1966 Italian Grand Prix1966 Italian Grand Prix132, –1972 Canadian Grand Prix1972 Canadian Grand Prix1112–1973 South African Grand Prix1973 South African Grand Prix195, –1974 Swedish Grand Prix1974 Swedish Grand Prix173–1975 South African Grand Prix1975 South African Grand Prix179–1975 Swedish Grand Prix1975 Swedish Grand Prix142–1975 British Grand Prix1975 British Grand Prix182–, 1980 United States Grand Prix1980 United States Grand Prix1214–1982 United States Grand Prix West1982 United States Grand Prix West1164–1990 Hungarian Grand Prix1990 Hungarian Grand Prix1185–2005 European Grand Prix2005 European Grand Prix199–, , 2008 Bahrain Grand Prix2008 Bahrain Grand Prix1112–2008 British Grand Prix2008 British Grand Prix, –, –2010 Brazilian Grand Prix2010 Brazilian Grand Prix196–2012 Spanish Grand Prix2012 Spanish Grand Prix–2020 Turkish Grand Prix2020 Turkish Grand Prix 1187–, –2022 São Paulo Grand Prix2022 São Paulo Grand Prix 1–2026 Italian Grand Prix2026 Italian Grand Prix

By nationality

+Formula One polesitters by countryCountryPolesDriver(s) 19 8 126 6 10 70 5 14 1 46 3 5 39 15 38 3 2 1 3 15 2 14 2 13 1 7 2 6 2 3 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Most pole positions per season

+KeyDriver has competed in the seasonBoldWon the World Championship in the same year