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An F1 pole position is a unique part of a Grand Prix weekend. While the race is enjoyable, many fans are bigger admirers of the qualifying sessions. It is a true test of these engineering marvels, where they fight to take the top spot in a lavish display of speed.
Conquering an F1 pole position is not an easy task. A driver goes through three sessions, Q1, Q2, and Q3, to be able to fight for P1 in the last one. Only the driver with the fastest time in Q3 gets to sit on pole for the race the next day.
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However, recording the fastest time is not easy, as these drivers need to push very hard. They have the scary task of avoiding walls and fences, remaining calculative to bare millimeters while maintaining top speed. The higher the starting position, the better for the team and the driver in the race.
Sometimes the fight for pole is so close that drivers miss out on P1 by a few hundredths of a second. In these cases, it all comes down to just how clean a pilot can be with his exits and entries, mixed with his car pace. So, let's look at some of the smallest margins between the pole sitter and the P2 sitter over the years.
#1 Sebastian Vettel-Fernando Alonso recorded the smallest gap for pole
The 2010 F1 season was a showdown between the top three to four teams that year. It is widely regarded as one of the most competitive periods in the sport. So much so that Sebastian Vettel won over Fernando Alonso by just four points in the year. Moreover, the top four were separated by barely 10-16 points.
At the German Grand Prix, Vettel had won twice while Alonso had only won one race. The Spaniard then presented an electrifying challenge to his Red Bull colleague and took provisional pole in the first two sessions of qualifying (at the German GP). However, as Q3 reached its concluding time, Vettel emerged victorious by just 0.002 seconds.
This was the smallest pole margin ever recorded in the history of F1. However, Alonso still managed to snatch away the victory later on in the race.
#2 Valtteri Bottas defeated Lewis Hamilton for pole on home ground
Valtteri Bottas was a loyal teammate to Lewis Hamilton throughout his time at Mercedes F1. However, during the 2019 F1 British Grand Prix, the Finn managed to outqualify his world-champion teammate.
Bottas, who had not even qualified in the top three at Silverstone prior to 2019, did extremely well throughout the sessions. He also stopped his teammate from claiming his fifth consecutive British GP pole. However, the margin between the two Mercedes was just 0.006 seconds, the second smallest post-Hockenheim in 2010.
He later addressed the competition with Hamilton and relished:
“It felt really good. I’ve been missing the feeling [of] being on pole. And a good performance, especially on a track like this where Lewis has been so difficult to beat. "
#3 Lewis Hamilton nicked the 2014 F1 Singapore GP pole last-minute from Nico Rosberg
F1's Marina Bay circuit is not a track that suited the Mercedes car for a long time. With its already hard to conquer multi-corners, Hamilton had his work cut out if he was to dent teammate Nico Roberg's 22-point advantage in 2014.
Overtaking is hard on this circuit and Hamilton could not have afforded to lose out on pole. To add to his misery, torrential rain hit the day and the circuit was damp. Further, he even locked up on turn one of his last flying laps. However, he still caught up and produced a good enough lap to edge out his teammate.
The two Mercedes were split by a mere difference of 0.007 seconds. To Hamilton's relief, this pole helped him take his victory on the circuit as Rosberg did not even finish in the top three.
#4 Charles Leclerc's competitive lap at 2022 F1 Singapore GP
The F1 Singapore GP never fails to deliver. The 2022 qualifying was a special marvel in F1 as almost three to four teams competed for the top spot. In fact, the race began with three different teams in the top three on Sunday.
Although, Leclerc's ability to conquer pole under any circumstance remains exceptional. Under immense pressure, he battled Red Bull and Mercedes to beat them out by just 0.022s and 0.054s, respectively.
The conditions were damp, and the driver made the brilliant call of putting softs on his car as some parts of the track dried up. Leclerc later explained:
“It’s been a very tricky qualifying in Q1 and Q2 with the intermediates. Then in Q3, we didn’t really know what to do. We went for the softs at the very last minute and it paid off. It was really, really tricky. I did a mistake on my last lap, so I thought we wouldn’t get pole, but it was just enough."
#5 Charles Leclerc's marvelous lap to get F1 pole for home crowd
In 2019, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel partnered with each other at Ferrari F1. As the team headed to Monza, Tifosi expected a home win from either of the two Ferraris.
Leclerc, despite not having a championship-worthy car, challenged his teammate, the Red Bulls and Lewis Hamilton to pole. He managed the spectacular feat by just a margin of 0.039s over Hamilton. Meanwhile, his teammate was down at P4 after the disadvantage of not receiving the tow.
Still, the Monegasque was ahead of Vettel by over a minute. In fact, Leclerc went on to take a brilliant victory in Monza the next day.
So, these were some of the smallest margins by which a driver has taken pole on a race weekend. Many of these sessions turned out to be a spectacular watch for the fans.
