By taking the pole position for the 2019 Russian Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc became the first Ferrari driver to take four consecutive Formula 1 pole positions in nearly two decades.
Scuderia Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc continued his post-2019 Formula 1 summer break hot streak by taking yet another pole position this one for the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom, the 16th of 21 races on the schedule.
This pole position was Leclerc’s series-high sixth pole position of the season. The closest drivers to him on the pole positions list are Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport teammates Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who have taken four each but none in recent months.
But more importantly in the context on Formula 1 history, particularly Ferrari history, Leclerc’s pole position for this 53-lap race around the 18-turn, 3.634-mile (5.848-kilometer) Sochi Autodrom road course in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia was his fourth consecutive pole position.
No Ferrari driver had taken four consecutive pole positions since the end of the 2000 season and the start of the 2001 season. In fact, Ferrari as a whole hadn’t pulled it off since then.
Now Leclerc has done it just 16 starts into his tenure driving for the Prancing Horse.
Who was the last Ferrari driver to pull off this feat?
Michael Schumacher.
Maybe you’ve heard the name.
All he did was win an all-time record 91 races and an all-time record seven championships to go along with those 91 Grand Prix victories in his day.
When Schumacher’s streak of pole positions ended during the 2001 season, it ended at seven races, so Leclercstill has a decent bit to climb to match that mark. In all of Formula 1 history, only Ayrton Senna has recorded eight consecutive pole positions.
Schumacher took the pole positions for the final four races of the 2000 season before taking the pole positions for the first three races of the 2001 season.
The final four races of the 2000 season included the Italian Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Japanese Grand Prix and the Malaysian Grand Prix while the first three races of the 2001 season included the Australian Grand Prix, the Malaysian Grand Prix and the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Of these seven races, the Brazilian Grand Prix is the only one Schumacher didn’t win. He finished in second place behind McLaren’s David Coulthard.
Leclerc was three years old when this streak ended.