Lando's Lack of Lap 1 Leads

Lando Norris is currently in the fastest car on the grid. Over the span of his 5 year career in the sport, he has only been on pole position a total of 5 times. Every time he has started on pole, he has always lost the lead in turn 1.

Image from Vince Mignott/Getty Images

His first pole position was in Russia in 2021. After turn 1, he was left in second place. This race was also the first real chance he had at winning and a poor strategy decision he made cost him the win that day.

The second time was in Brazil in 2023 in the sprint race. He once again lost the lead in turn 1, this time to Max Verstappen. 2023 was a year of Red Bull and Max Verstappen domination considering they had the superior car so it's not too surprising to note that he lost the lead to him. However, the McLaren did have a major comeback that season and was able to somewhat challenge the Red Bulls.

The third pole position was also in a sprint race and this one was in China this year. He went wheel to wheel with 7 time world champion, Lewis Hamilton and lost the grip and went wide out of turn 1, leaving him in 7th place. This lead was lost due to no fault but his own considering it was his own mistake that cost him. He ended up finishing the race in 6th.

His next standard race pole was in Spain this year. He fought with Max Verstappen once again and even pushed Max off into the grass but George Russell benefitted from a dual slipstream from their fighting and took the lead in the first corner. Lando's drastic attempt to try to cover off Max definitely opened a gap to allow George through and therefore contributed to him losing the lead.

Finally, his fifth pole position was last weekend in Hungary. This time he lost it to his own teammate who was starting second. He attempted the same move he made on Max in Spain, on Oscar who sent it up the inside into turn 1. Max tried to go around the outside, leading to Lando pushing him off the track slightly and allowing Oscar to commit to the inside line, giving him the lead.

It's almost an incredible feat for someone to lose the lead every time they have started on pole, and in the same corner as well. The fact that it's always lap one at turn one is actually kind of impressive. A lot of people love to talk about pole to win conversion rates and Lando is currently sitting at a 0%, so not only can he not maintain a lead from turn 1 but he also he also can't convert it into a win.

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and Lando Norris losing the lead at turn 1 on the first lap of race when starting on pole.