Pole to Win ratio

KekeTheKing

Banned
Supporter
Here's another stat I just compiled. Make of it what you will. Ranked by amount of Wins achieved divided by Poles achieved.


GP/PP
27 : 17 - Jackie Stewart = 1.59 Wins per Pole Position
51 : 33 - Alain Prost = 1.46 WPP
32 : 22 - Fernando Alonso = 1.45
91 : 68 - Michael Schumacher = 1.34
20 : 16 - Kimi Raikkonen = 1.25
22 : 20 - Damon Hill = 1.1
14 : 13 - Graham Hill = 1.08
14 : 13 - Jack Brabham = 1.08
13 : 12 - David Coulthard = 1.08
25 : 24 - Niki Lauda = 1.04
16 : 16 - Stirling Moss = 1
31 : 32 - Nigel Mansell = .97
23 : 24 - Nelson Piquet = .96
13 : 14 - Alberto Ascari = .93
39 : 45 - Sebastian Vettel = .87
11: 13 - Jacques Villeneuve = .85
24 : 29 - Juan Manuel Fangio = .83
10 : 12 - Gerhard Berger = .83
11 : 14 - Rubens Barrichello = .79
20 : 26 - Mika Hakkinen = .77
25 : 33 - Jim Clark = .76
26 : 35 - Lewis Hamilton = .74
11 : 15 - Felipe Massa = .73
10 : 14 - James Hunt = .71
10 : 14 - Ronnie Peterson = .71
9 : 13 - Mark Webber = .69
12 : 18 - Mario Andretti = .67
41 : 65 - Ayrton Senna = .63
8 : 13 - Jacky Ickx = .62
6 : 10 - Jochen Rindt = .60
7 : 13 - Juan Pablo Montoya = .54
7 : 18 - Rene Arnoux = .39
 
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I should note that the list above only includes drivers with 10 or more Pole Positions.

Emerson Fittipaldi notched 14 victories with just 6 Poles for a 2.33 Wins per Pole number. Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones both have 12 victories to their 6 Poles and so sit on 2 WPP each.

The highest figure I've found is 3.33 with Jody Scheckter. He was able to collect 10 Wins while securing just 3 Pole Positions.
 
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It is a very interesting list KekeTheKing, with a group of drivers I would describe as "canny racers" at the top gradually evolving to a group I would describe as "prodigiously fast talents".

Senna's record is pretty terrible. You would expect a top three of Stewart, Prost and Alonso though, ne c'est pas?

The highest figure is Eddie Irvine's infinity... ;)
 
Why limit this to only drivers with 10 pole positions? Why not 10 wins? After all, gaining a large number of wins without always putting the car on pole position is quite a feat!

A few figures to add in:
Jenson Button: 15 wins from 8 pole positions. = 1.875
 
So, at the top, we have (as a tie) Eddie Irvine, (4 wins, 0 poles), Bruce McLaren (4 wins, 0 poles), Johnny Herbert (3 wins, 0 poles), Olivier Panis (1 win, 0 poles).

At the other end, we have drivers like Bruno Giacomelli (1 pole, 0 wins), Nick Heidfeld (1 pole, 0 wins) ... Are there any that I've missed?
 
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There is one driver missing from this years list with a better ratio than all other current F1 drivers barring Kimi and Alonso....

With a ratio of exactly 1 the driver better than Hamilton, Button, Massa & Vettel is the one and only Pastor Maldonado!
 
F1Yorkshire

Why is a ratio of 1 better than a ratio of infinity? After all, a ratio of 1 simply means that you convert pole positions into wins; a ratio of infinity means that you win, despite not having sat on pole position.... The more complete racing driver will win from pole, but also be able to win from far down the grid...
 
I think the figures demonstrate race craft versus "balls out" single lap pace so it's quite reassuring that the top 3 are all regarded as great racing drivers not just qualifiers. I'm sure the reason why Jim Clark is so low down is more due to reliability than race craft as Colin Chapman struggled to make a car which could last a whole race. What is it with the name Lotus and breaking down?
 
The Artist..... I said the ratio of 1 is better than most of the current f1 drivers nothing can beat infinity. And surely you could see the tongue in cheek nature of the post saying that Maldonado is better than the rest!
 
5 it is then teabagyokel

GP/PP
14/6 = 2.33 - Fittipaldi
12/6 = 2 - Jones
12/6 = 2 - Reutemann
15/8 = 1.88 - Button
27/17 = 1.59 - Stewart
51/33 = 1.46 - Prost
32/22 = 1.45 - Alonso
91/68 = 1.34 - Schumacher, M.
20/16 = 1.25 - Raikkonen
22/20 = 1.1 - Hill, D.
14/13 = 1.08 - Hill, G.
14/13 = 1.08 - Brabham
13/12 = 1.08 - Coulthard
25/24 = 1.04 - Lauda
16/16 = 1 - Moss
6/6 = 1 - Farina
6/6 = 1 - Schumacher, R.
5/5 = 1 - Rosberg, K.
5/5 = 1 - Regazzoni
31/32 = .97 - Mansell
23/24 = .96 - Piquet
13/14 = .93 - Ascari
39/45 = .87 - Vettel
6/7 = .86 - Laffite
11/13 = .85 - Villeneuve, J.
24/29 = .83 - Fangio
10/12 = .83 - Berger
11/14 = .79 - Barrichello
20/26 = .77 - Hakkinen
25/33 = .76 - Clark
6/8 = .75 - Surtees
6/8 = .75 - Patrese
26/35 = .74 - Hamilton
11/15 = .73 - Massa
10/14 = .71 - Hunt
10/14 = .71 - Peterson
5/7 = .71 - Rosberg, N.
9/13 = .69 - Webber
12/18 = .67 - Andretti
41/65 = .63 - Senna
8/13 = .62 - Ickx
6/10 = .6 - Rindt
7/13 = .54 - Montoya
3/6 = .5 - Hill, P.
2/5 = .4 - Tambay
7/18 = .39 - Arnoux
2/6 = .33 - Jabouille
0/5 = 0 - Amon
 
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Damon ahead of his dad! and both way ahead of cousin Phil!

I was surprised at Hamilton being where he is, but then I noticed that Coulthard was ahead of Hakkinen!

Despite some outliers, I think it does show a pattern.
 
There are definitely some things to be gleaned from such a list. When you get near the middle-bottom you see it is definitely populated with drivers that were/are able to put a car in a grid position it doesn't deserve to be in. We are coming off a 3 year run where Vettel won a vast majority of Pole Positions and the only other driver to really collect any noteworthy number of Poles was Hamilton, who clearly paid the price with this conversion stat.

And as TBY pointed out, Jimmy Clark paid a heavy toll with reliability issues. Not to mention the Renault-Turbo boys at the very bottom.

You can also apply one drivers WPP rate to a different driver just for the hell of it. For example, what if Senna had the same Wins per Pole rate as Prost? 65x1.46 = 94.9 Voila! We've got a new All Time Wins leader!
 
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