F1 Fanatic

Not going to be here to confirm. Someone else can have my go

I think that would be France – 7.

Spain had six.

Edit: I think the answer will be more informative if I list the seven tracks.

Reims-Gueux, Rouen-Les-Essarts, Charade, Le Mans – Bugatti, Paul Ricard, Dijon-Prenois, Magny-Cours

OK. Sorry for the delay.

Here you go.

How many races Niki Lauda won not starting from pole?

He scored 25 wins and 24 poles during his career as we know and he was known for being able to diligently work his way through the field if needed, particularly after his comeback, so I think this is an interesting question.

‘Most wins before a pole position?’ You mean having the most wins before actually securing a pole during his career? I don’t think it was 10 for him.

Edit: Actually, it could be, I did not check it. But it’s not what I asked unfortunately.

Nope.

We know he scored 25 wins. To make it a little more interesting I reveal it’s more than 13 – which is unusual already.

Don’t give up, the stat actually has a very interesting aspect, which I’ll reveal once the correct answer is found.

It is quite easy to research as well.

@sigman1998 There you go, there’s the winner.

Niki Lauda scored nearly 66% of his wins not starting from pole. I did not check it, but I think that has to be one of highest among the drivers with the most race wins of all time in F1.

The most interesting thing is that he actually haven’t scored a win from pole after his near-fatal crash on the Ring in 1976. Before that pole-to-win was his habit, he scored a lot of wins from pole. After that – none.

I think it’s very strange how he seemingly lost some edge after that. Nevertheless, we must not forget, after 1976 he scored his wins in arguably the next-best package almost exclusively. In 1977, the Lotus was already very quick, though unreliable. In 1982-1984/1985, the McLaren was not the quickest car either on one lap. This title belonged to the Renault then the Brabham in 1983, and to the Brabham exclusively in 1984.

I think this underlines how he was one of the most successful and cleverest driver in the pack – to use a NASCAR terminology. Wonderful.

the_sigman, you are the next.

81 drivers took part in world championship races in 1950. 80 if you discount Alfredo Pian’s DNS in Monaco. Still an astonishing number by today’s standards! That would be 3-4 driver changes per team now!