Can Ferrari and MS break them? Well I know they can, but will they do it this season or the next? For Ferrari it is bettering McLaren Honda's blistering performance in the 1988 season when Prost and Senna (RIP) won 15 out of 16 races. Ferrari equalled it in 2002 with 15 out of 17. And for MS the pole record still remains in the hands of Senna (RIP).
As for this record, Ferrari does not reach it with 15 out of 17. McLaren won 15 and lost 1. Ferrari won 15 and lost 2. That puts them in second with 1 more failed attempt. The only way they could tie is to go back to 16 races and lose only 1. But it seems the number of races each season has is only growing, so they must beat the record with 16 W's. I hope so, but I don't think it will happen. There is a long way to go and with Kimi's run this weekend, there is a big chance they will only have a couple of wins left in the bag.
Well in my opinion those records do not matter. A constructor's championship title is a constructor's title no matter how many wins, 5, 15 or 16! Every year is very different and the regulations change so that record is marginalized. The number of poles one has set during the career does not matter either because you can win from as far down as 6th. Michael has done this several times. You sacrifice pole position to actually have a better race strategy and win the race. Michael has 80 wins now and thats what counts. Race strategy is far more important than pole. You could qualify with a minimal fuel load and be in pole position but you would pretty much have no chance of winning the race. Race victories count more than poles. You do not get any points for pole and rightly so! F1 is not about who can set pole and who cannot, but about race strategy, teamwork and performance in the race.
They matter as much as you make them matter. It is still a cool title to hold regardless of whether or not they matter. Besides, what would make them matter except for people thinking that they DID matter? Michael hasn't had a pole for a while, but I think he can snag at least 5 more before the end of his career. Also, I think that Kimi looked okay this race, but did you see how easily Michael disposed of the top 3 positions after the first pit stop? He has had harder battles earlier in the year. I don't think that there is much to worry about yet.
I think this is one record that Senna will always have and that is the number of poles/races started. MS has already raced in more races than Senna started so even if he beats the number of poles it will have taken him more races (I believe). Senna was the pole man! Pete
You can extrapolate any "series" of numbers. Most poles: wins ratio. Most pioles in rain. Most poles on a sunday that ends in "y." I mean...frankly speaking, after a VERY early point (ie lead / championship), most of these are fairly silly, stupid numbers. --Dan