It took a long time, maybe too long, but finally the void he left Fernando Alonso inside this German Grand Prix 2012 another Spaniard occupied it. Carlos Sainz broke the 10-year streak without a pilot from Spain achieving a pole position in Formula 1. Happened to sort it out British GP 2022 and in a more than surprising way, since not even Carlos himself believed it.
“No way! How did we do that? It felt awful out there!” Sainz expressed over the team radio after seeing the checkered flag.
“It was a good lap, I struggled a lot with the potholes. The pole came as a surprise. Apart from free practice 3, the pace was there all weekend”he later added more coolly to the international broadcast.
So, Carlos Sainz became the 104th driver in Formula 1 history to take the first starting position in the ranking and the second in the history of Spain.
How many pole positions do Spanish Formula 1 drivers have?
Spanish Formula 1 drivers have added to their total 25 pole positions along history.
The Spanish Formula 1 driver who has the most pole positions is Fernando Alonso between 2003 and 2012 succeeded overall 22 first places in the ranking. The last one the Asturian achieved was on Saturday 21 July 2012 at the Hockenheim track in the rain.
He second Spanish pilot what else pole positions owns is Carlos Sainz which has added 4: Great Britain, Belgium, United States GP 2022 and the Italian GP 2023
This is the complete list of pole position Spanish drivers in Formula 1.
| Number | Pilot | Year | Big prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2003 | Malaysia |
| 2 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2003 | Hungary |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2004 | France |
| 4 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2005 | Malaysia |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2005 | Bahrain |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2005 | France |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2005 | Britain |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2005 | Brazil |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2005 | China |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2006 | Europe |
| eleven | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2006 | Spain |
| 12 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2006 | Monaco |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2006 | Britain |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2006 | Canada |
| fifteen | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2006 | China |
| 16 | Fernando Alonso (McLaren) | 2007 | Monaco |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso (McLaren) | 2007 | Italy |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso (Renault) | 2008 | Hungary |
| 19 | Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) | 2010 | Italy |
| twenty | Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) | 2010 | Singapore |
| Twenty-one | Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) | 2012 | Britain |
| 22 | Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) | 2012 | Germany |
| 23 | Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) | 2022 | Britain |
| 24 | Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) | 2022 | Belgium |
| 25 | Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) | 2022 | USA |
| 26 | Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) | 2023 | Italy |
When did a Spanish pilot achieve a pole position for last time?
The last time a Spanish Formula 1 driver got one pole position was in the classification of Italian Grand Prix on Saturday, September 2, 2023..
On that occasion, it was Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who set the fastest time in Q3 to overtake Max Verstappen.
