Carlos Sainz Jr has taken pole position for the British GP at Silverstone in a wet session – his first in nearly eight years of racing. Where was his last pole?
Formula 1 has a new pole sitter as Carlos Sainz Jr took pole for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, in wet conditions.
Rain fell just before the qualifying hours began. Drivers used the intermediate tyres throughout to ensure their grid positions.
Sainz, who is in his 150th grand prix weekend took his first ever pole position in F1 – with Max Verstappen P2, as Charles Leclerc made a mistake in the sister Ferrari.
It is the first pole for a Spanish driver in F1 since Fernando Alonso at the 2012 German Grand Prix – but when was Carlos Sainz Jr’s last pole position in motorsport?
Carlos Sainz Jr pole position
Sainz secured a maiden F1 pole with a 1m:40.983s lap of Silverstone – pipping old teammate Verstappen by 0.072s.
Leclerc spun in sector 3 on his final lap, meaning he could not improve and close the 0.315s gap to Sainz’s benchmark.
The Spaniard is now the 104th driver to claim a pole position in F1.
Carlos Sainz Jr’s last pole position actually came before he even entered F1 back in his junior days.
DAMS driver, he won pole position in September 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 Series race in Paul Ricard.
He was joined by Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly on the grid for his seventh pole of the year.
Sainz turned the pole into victory on his way to a second and ultimately the championship the year before he was promoted in 2015 to F1 with Toro Rosso.
Incapable of showing speed with cars
Sainz, as teammate to Verstappen in 2015 actually out-qualified the Dutchman over the season, but the latter was given the promotion to the main Red Bull team in ’16.
Verstappen is a winner, pole and world champion, but Sainz has just a few podiums.
Between 2017 and 2021, he moved teams four times from Toro Rosso to Renault to McLaren to Ferrari – usually being given midfield fodder equipment to race with.
He has 11 podium finishes to his name – including three seconds places in 2022 – including two in the last three races in Monaco and Canada.
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