Racing: Top 10 most unbreakable records across Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar

#5 – Lewis Hamilton’s 72 Formula One poles

Lewis Hamilton’s 72 career poles over the course of his 11-year career in Formula One sit atop the all-time poles list in the history of the sport. While there are other pole totals that are close to Hamilton’s, he is still an active driver and could very well continue to make this record harder to catch to the point where there may never be another total in the sport’s future that even comes close to his.

Only three other drivers in the history of Formula One have pole totals that are more than half of the pole total that the 32-year-old Hamilton has. Two of those drivers are drivers who Hamilton just passed on the all-time poles list, and the other one is an active driver.

The drivers who Hamilton just passed on that list are Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. Schumacher started from pole 68 times throughout his 19-year Formula One career, and Senna did so 65 times in his 11-year career. Sebastian Vettel, 30, the other driver with more than half of the pole total of Hamilton, has started from pole 50 times so far in his 11-year career.

Among drivers who are not likely to retire within five years of Hamilton, there is really no one with a chance to catch his pole total. The only other drivers with at least one career Formula One pole are similar to Hamilton in age, so there is really no one who has a chance to catch and pass Hamilton in the poles category, especially given the fact that he is still an active driver and could continue to build on this record.