Unlocking Leclerc’s dire pole conversion rate

Statistics rarely lie. In Formula 1 world championship history, 487 grands prix have been won from pole position – 43.2% of the total.

Since Charles Leclerc made his debut in 2018, that figure is up to 50.3% (82 out of 163 races). And it grows further to 56.6% for grands prix Leclerc didn’t start on pole. That’s because Leclerc’s 27 career pole positions – more than the likes of Mika Hakkinen, Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet – have delivered a meagre five race wins.

Let’s look at how that happened.

2019 Bahrain GP – 1st to 3rd
New Ferrari driver Leclerc led from pole until lap 47, dropping down to third behind both Mercedes due to an engine issue.

2019 Austrian GP – 1st to 2nd
Leclerc dominated the race until he was forcefully overtaken by Max Verstappen on lap 69 of 71.

2019 Belgian GP – 1st to 1st
Leclerc held off future Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton to take an emotional maiden win, 24 hours after Anthoine Hubert’s death at Spa-Francorchamps. “This one is for Anthoine,” he proclaimed.

2019 Italian GP – 1st to 1st
Leclerc took a popular victory on Ferrari’s Monza turf, again holding off a Mercedes driver – this time Valtteri Bottas.

2019 Singapore GP – 1st to 2nd
Polesitter Leclerc was undercut by Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel and never managed to fight back, coming home a close second.

2019 Russian GP – 1st to 3rd
Leclerc was overtaken by Vettel on the run down to Turn 1 as the German made the most of the slipstream. Vettel retired from an MGU-K failure, causing a virtual safety car period. This allowed Mercedes to have cheap pitstops and take a 1-2 finish. Leclerc finished third.

2019 Mexican GP – 1st to 4th
A two-stop strategy failed to pay off for Leclerc, especially with a slow second stop. He ended up fourth, just six seconds away from the win.

2021 Monaco GP – 1st to DNS
Leclerc was fastest in Q3 when he crashed in the second part of the Swimming Pool complex. The red flag brought the session to an end and secured his pole position. Ferrari opted not to change the gearbox after checking it thoroughly, avoiding a five-place grid penalty that would have been particularly costly in Monaco, but Leclerc suffered a driveshaft failure on his way to the grid and failed to start the race.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21

2021 Azerbaijan GP – 1st to 4th
Leclerc was overtaken by Hamilton, Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the first seven laps, then had an early pitstop. The race was eventful, but he still finished just fourth, behind Perez, Aston Martin’s Vettel and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

2022 Bahrain GP – 1st to 1st
Pole position, fastest lap, victory, all but two laps led: that was nearly a grand chelem by Leclerc. Carlos Sainz made it a Ferrari 1-2.

2022 Australian GP – 1st to 1st
This time it was a real grand chelem, with a 20.5s gap over second-placed Perez.

2022 Miami GP – 1st to 2nd
Leclerc was overtaken by Verstappen for the lead on lap 9 and took the runner-up spot, under four seconds behind the Red Bull driver.

2022 Spanish GP – 1st to DNF
Leclerc led by more than 12 seconds when he had a turbo failure on lap 27.

2022 Monaco GP – 1st to 4th
On a wet but drying track, it was all about strategy, and Leclerc came off worse as he pitted twice for intermediates and slicks – unlike team-mate Sainz, who went straight from wets to slicks – and his switch to slicks was one lap too early compared to the Red Bull cars, which also pitted twice. He dropped to fourth in a matter of five laps and never recovered, though he was under three seconds away from race winner Perez at the chequered flag.

2022 Azerbaijan GP – 1st to DNF
Leclerc locked up at the start and was overtaken by Perez, but pitted under the virtual safety car on lap 9, which allowed him to undercut the Red Bull and take the lead back… ever so briefly, as he suffered an engine failure and retired.

2022 French GP – 1st to DNF
Leclerc was leading when he spun and crashed out of the race on lap 18.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, exits his car after crashing out at Le Beausset

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

2022 Italian GP – 1st to 2nd
Leclerc’s two-stop strategy, banking on an early VSC intervention, didn’t pay off, and he came second behind Verstappen.

2022 Singapore GP – 1st to 2nd
Leclerc was overtaken by Perez at the start and he shadowed the Mexican for the whole race.

2023 Azerbaijan GP – 1st to 3rd
Leclerc led for three laps until both Red Bulls easily passed him with assistance from the DRS. He couldn’t keep up with them and finished third.

2023 Belgian GP – 1st to 3rd
Leclerc lost the lead to Perez on lap 1 on the Kemmel Straight. Verstappen overtook him there too on lap 9, on his way to a dominant victory from sixth on the grid after a gearbox penalty.

2023 United States GP – 1st to DSQ
Leclerc was passed by Norris at the start, Hamilton on lap 6 and a ruthless Verstappen on lap 11. The Monegasque then ran a one-stop strategy, unlike his rivals on two stops, but eventually dropped behind Sainz and Perez, before being disqualified due to an excessively worn plank.

2023 Mexico City GP – 1st to 3rd
Leclerc was sandwiched by the Red Bull cars coming into Turn 1, collided with Perez and damaged his front wing. He was in second behind Verstappen when the race was red-flagged following a crash for Kevin Magnussen, and kept that position at the second restart. However, a DRS-assisted Hamilton overtook him four laps later down the main straight, with two wheels on the grass. Leclerc finished the race third, with a 23-second gap to Verstappen.

2023 Las Vegas GP – 1st to 2nd
Leclerc was pushed off the track by Verstappen at the start with the Red Bull itself taking to the runoff, but the Dutchman kept the position with a five-second penalty. Leclerc took the lead back on lap 16, moments before Verstappen pitted. A safety car intervention allowed Perez, who started 11th, to get a cheap pitstop and find himself in second place with fresher tyres than Leclerc, and the Mexican swiftly took the lead. However, Verstappen fought his way back to the front and won, with Leclerc snatching second position away from Perez with a bold, last-lap move.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23

Photo by: Erik Junius

2024 Monaco GP – 1st to 1st
Leclerc finally ended his home curse, which stretched back to his Formula 2 days, with an uncontested victory on the streets he grew up around.

2024 Belgian GP – 1st to 3rd
Leclerc retained the lead on lap 1, but Hamilton flew past the Ferrari down the Kemmel Straight on the third tour. Russell won on the road with an audacious one-stop strategy but was disqualified as his car was underweight. Leclerc still took third after Oscar Piastri overtook him around the outside at Les Combes on lap 36.

2024 Azerbaijan GP – 1st to 2nd
Piastri overtook Leclerc in Turn 1 shortly after the first round of pitstops, leading the remainder of the race to win by more than 10 seconds.

2025 Hungarian GP – 1st to 4th
Leclerc led 28 of the opening 39 laps of the race at the Hungaroring, only temporarily ceding first place to one-stopping, eventual winner Norris. However, he subsequently suffered an undefined chassis issue and dropped to fourth, copping an inconsequential five-second penalty for moving under braking against Russell.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images

So, in a few words, how did Leclerc lose out so often?

Looking at those 27 races, Leclerc won five times. Reasons he failed to win include mechanical issues out of his control (four), strategy mistakes or safety car misfortune (five), driver errors (two) and simply being defeated fair and square (11).