3 Ferrari drivers with most pole positions after Michael Schumacher

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari are an iconic duo that has had a remarkable run in the history of F1. With five back-to-back double championship victories, the Scuderia and Schumacher remained indisputable for the longest time. Notably, the Italian team had developed one of the strongest cars by the time Schumacher began his climb.

The team's dominance was so profound that, despite a streak of DNFs at one point, Schumacher was able to bounce back and win the title (2000). The German during his time started 180 Grand Prix for the team. The driver was on the podium an astounding 155 times. Further, he won 72 races and managed a standout 58 poles with his Ferrari.

The pole position is awarded to the fastest driver on the grid. Schumacher was undoubtedly the fastest for 4 consecutive years. Schumacher won 58 poles with his time at Ferrari and till now, no Ferrari driver has been able to upstage these numbers.

However, some of them still managed their own feats with the Maranello Marque. Let's find out which drivers managed to secure the highest pole positions after Schumacher:

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#1 Niki Lauda was a star driver for Ferrari

Niki Lauda joined Ferrari in 1974. During his time with the team, the Austrian won 15 races, 54 podiums and 23 pole positions. While his pole numbers are less than half of what Schumacher managed, it is still the second best. Also, no Scuderia driver has been able to beat Lauda to these many pole positions since the 70's.

The 1974 season was promising, with Lauda taking 9 remarkable poles. He later went on to win two drivers' titles for the Maranello camp (1975,1977). In 1975, the 312-T assisted Lauda to 9 pole positions again and 5 wins. The Austrian lost out on the 76' title by a mere point, and managed three poles.

In 1977, despite his life-threatening accident, Lauda managed to continue in F1 and won thrice that season. The Austrian won the pole twice that year, shifting his count to a total of 23.

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#2 Charles Leclerc is the Scuderia's next promising talent

Charles Leclerc is often compared to the great Schumacher and is counted on to revive Ferrari's golden era. He joined the Scuderia only in 2019, and already has the third-most pole positions for the outfit. He is five more shy of replacing Lauda on this list.

Leclerc partnered the legendary Sebastian Vettel in his first year (2019) for the Italian team. He produced better results ahead of his German counterpart, who had spent years with Ferrari by then. The driver managed seven out of the nine total team poles that year.

2020-2021 was not the most competitive year for Maranello Marque. They managed only sixth and third on the constructors', respectively. However, in 2021, Leclerc managed to grab two poles (one at Monaco, his home race).

He surprised many with his true pace as he made a place in the record books in 2022. The driver has managed nine poles in 2022 so far. With five races to go in the season, many expect Leclerc to keep increasing this number.

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#3 Felipe Massa almost achieved title glory with Ferrari

Brazilian legend Felipe Massa drove for Ferrari from 2006 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the most competitive drivers to have ever driven for the Scuderia. During his time there, the driver won 11 races and managed 15 poles.

In 2006, he managed to bear the pressure of being Schumacher's teammate pretty decently. He was competitive and out of the seven poles managed three of them.

In 2007, Massa managed an impressive six pole positions and three wins. He was a title contender in 2008 and repeated his six pole position stats from 2007. The driver largely dominated his teammate Kimi Raikkonen in those years, and converted most of his poles to wins.

Above mentioned are the three top Ferrari drivers who have managed most poles since Schumacher. The team was never as competitive again in its 2000-2004 era, but many talented drivers still managed great records.