F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Who has taken the most number of poles?

The F1 Austrian GP made a return to the sport at the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014. Ever since, the track has not only been a staple on the F1 calendar, it has been a staple for producing some great action year-after-year. Having said that, the F1 Austrian GP has not been short of surprises on Saturdays either. The Red Bull Ring is a throwback when it comes to the track layout and its demands from drivers.

Though the respective sectors might not look like much with the lap only being 60-odd seconds, every turn has to be pitch-perfect and drivers have to be cautious of S3 with its wacky wing-breaker kerbs. This is arguably one of the reasons why we often tend to see surprise pole-sitters on Saturdays. No one would have expected Williams to score a pole position with Felipe Massa on this track in 2014, or Valtteri Bottas with Mercedes in 2017.

Yet there are some drivers that have a better track record here than others. So, who has been the king of qualifying at the Red Bull ring? With the Austrian GP making a comeback to F1 at the start of Mercedes' dominance, you'd have expected this accolade to once again go to Lewis Hamilton. However, you'd be mistaken.

Who has the most pole positions at the F1 Austrian GP?

Lewis Hamilton has had decent success at the Red Bull ring at the start of the Turbo-Hybrid era when Nico Rosberg was his teammate. After the shock pole position for Felipe Massa in 2014, it was Lewis Hamilton securing pole position in 2015 and 2016.

However, after the 2016 F1 season, Nico Rosberg retired, and in stepped Valtteri Bottas. In what was a slightly surprising turn of events, Valtteri Bottas had the edge over Lewis Hamilton in qualifying more often than not. It was his one-lap superiority that helped Bottas score pole positions in 2017, 2018, and 2020. The former Mercedes driver was untouchable on a few of the circuits during his Mercedes career and the Red Bull ring was one of them.

In terms of the number of poles in the Austrian GP, Bottas recorded three while Lewis Hamilton has two, and Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen have one each to their name.

Which one was the best?

Among Bottas' three pole positions, it's not that hard to judge which one was the best, considering the spectacular performance he put up in 2017.

The 2017 F1 season was Bottas' first season with Mercedes. Until then, he had blown hot and cold and was widely regarded as No. 2 to Lewis Hamilton. The championship fight was supposed to be a two-way battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, with Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas playing the supporting cast.

However, at the Austrian GP in 2017, Bottas flipped the script by beating both his teammate Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the process of securing pole position for the race. As icing on the cake, Bottas held on to the lead to win the race on Sunday. It was this race that made the paddock look differently at Bottas and made him into a driver who needed to be taken seriously.