Sergio Perez needed 216 races to secure his first pole in Formula 1. Pierre Gasly's recent shock at Monza highlights how rare such moments are. Several top drivers spent years chasing a single lap at the front.
Sergio Perez ended a long wait in Formula 1 by taking his first pole position after 215 race starts. He managed it in Jeddah during qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 26, 2022, edging out Charles Leclerc by just 0.025 seconds. The result came after more than a decade in the sport and several team changes.
Pierre Gasly's recent pole at Monza for Alpine was another surprise. He had started 191 races before finally topping a qualifying session. Gasly had strong showings at Toro Rosso, AlphaTauri, and Alpine, but pole always slipped away until his lap at Monza-the same track where he took his only Grand Prix win. This moved him up the list of longest waits for a first pole, as noted in a recent report.
In the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix qualifying, Carlos Sainz finished third behind Perez and Leclerc, highlighting the intense competition at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Other drivers have had to wait years for a shot at the front. Carlos Sainz needed 151 races across Toro Rosso, Renault, McLaren, and Ferrari before he finally took pole at a rain-hit Silverstone, just ahead of Max Verstappen. Kevin Magnussen's story is even more unlikely: after 141 starts, he and Haas took advantage of changing weather in Brazil, with Magnussen's early Q3 lap holding up after a red flag and worsening rain.
Mark Webber waited 131 races, driving for Minardi, Jaguar, Williams, and Red Bull, and came close several times before finally breaking through at the German Grand Prix. Jarno Trulli, known for his speed over a single lap, needed 119 attempts before his Monaco pole and rare win in 2004. Thierry Boutsen, Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, and Mika Hakkinen all had to wait more than 90 races for their first poles, often held back by slower cars or dominant rivals.
These stories show that talent alone doesn't guarantee a front-row start. Timing, team performance, and sometimes luck all matter. For many, the wait stretches over years of frustration and near-misses. Even future champions like Hakkinen and Rosberg had to wait for the right car and the right day.
In 2024, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit again hosted a dramatic qualifying session, but this time Max Verstappen claimed pole position, while Sergio Perez finished third. This shift underscores how quickly fortunes can change in Formula 1 qualifying, as noted by ANTARA in their coverage of the event.
Formula 1's structure means even top drivers can spend years out of the spotlight. Technical and competitive barriers make a single lap at the front a rare prize, often won through persistence and seizing the right moment. As Perez and Gasly have shown, the breakthrough can come suddenly, changing careers and the record books in one session. In Formula 1, patience and resilience matter as much as speed, and the path to pole is rarely simple-even for the best drivers.
