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The first Formula One season was held in the year 1950 and Giuseppe Farina of Team Alfa Romeo was crowned the Drivers Champion.
From 1950 till the 2018 Japanese Grand Prix, 993 races have been held and the driver that has been on pole position has gone on to win the race on 415 occasions (about 42% conversion rate).
Thus statistics prove that starting from pole position gives the driver a significant advantage to take the chequered flag in the ensuing race. In the earlier days, drivers were given a single lap only to set their respective qualifying times. As per today's guidelines, three rounds of qualifying are held before the pole-sitter is determined.
The first qualifying round known as Q1 is contested by 20 drivers at the end of which the 5 slowest drivers are eliminated. The remaining 15 qualify to compete in Qualifying Round 2 (Q2) where again the slowest five are eliminated.
The 10 drivers remaining battle it out in the third qualifying round (Q3) to determine the pole-sitter. Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most pole-positions in the history of the sport followed by Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.
From 1950 till date, 98 different drivers have started a race from pole position. We take a look at the 5 youngest pole-sitters in F1 history:
#5 Andrea de Cesaris
In a Formula One career spanning 14 years, Italian Andre de Cesaris drove for 10 different Formula One teams: Alfa Romeo, McLaren, Ligier, Minardi, Brabham, Rial, Scuderia Italia, Jordan, Tyrrell and Sauber.
He managed to secure points with nine different Formula One teams - a record. After retirement from Formula 1, Andrea de Cesaris became a successful currency broker and was involved in philanthropic activities until his untimely death in 2014.
At the 1982 United States Grand Prix held at Long Beach California, de Cesaris driving for Team Alfa Romeo took the pole position. He was 22 years, 308 days at the time.
#4 Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton's rookie season was with Team McLaren in the year 2007. In what may be described as one of the greatest debut seasons in Formula One history, Hamilton won four races and missed winning the Drivers Championship by just a single point.
He had an impressive six pole starts that year. Hamilton is the all-time record holder with 80 pole positions till date.
His first pole position start came at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix which he went on to win. He was 22 years, 153 days old at the time of his first pole start.
#3 Rubens Barrichello
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello holds the record for the most starts in Formula One history with 322. He made his debut in the year 1993 driving for Team Jordan. In a storied career which saw him win 11 races and finish on the podium an impressive 68 times, Barrichello drove for 6 different teams with his best results coming with Team Scuderia Ferrari.
Barrichello has started from pole on 14 different occasions and the first such instance was at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. Barrichello, who was 22 years, 97 days old at the time, was a driver of Team Jordan.
#2 Fernando Alonso
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso is one of the most skillful drivers that Formula One has ever had. He started his career with Minardi in 2001 and would later forge a spectacular partnership with Team Renault and Flavio Briatore, winning the Drivers Championship in 2005 and 2006.
Alonso has started from pole on 22 different occasions the first of which came at the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso, who was 21 years, 236 days at the time, finished the race in third position.
#1 Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel was just a teenager when he made his debut in 2007 driving for Team BMW Sauber. The following season he made the move to Team Toro Rosso and broke the record held by Fernando Alonso to emerge as the youngest ever pole-sitter and race winner at the time.
His record for being the youngest ever race winner was broken by Dutchman Max Verstappen but Vettel continues to hold the record for being the youngest ever pole-sitter. The 4-time Champion with 52 wins has started on pole 55 times, with his first coming with Team Rosso at the 2008 Italian Grand Prix. Vettel was just 21 years, 72 days old at the time. He went on to win that race.
