In the unpredictable world of motorsports, statistics can sometimes tell baffling stories. That’s exactly the case with who leads the series in laps led but—somehow—has yet to secure a single top-10 finish this season.
For a driver to be at the front of the field so often yet fail to convert that dominance into results is almost unheard of. Typically, leading laps is a strong indicator of race-winning potential, but for it has been a season of near-misses, bad luck, and untimely misfortune.
Dominance Without Reward
Through races this season, has paced the field for a total of laps, more than anyone else in the series. That’s more than race winners, championship contenders, and even drivers consistently finishing in the top 10. Yet, when the checkered flag waves, something always seems to go wrong.
Mechanical failures, pit road errors, crashes not of their own doing—whatever can go wrong, has gone wrong. Whether it’s a late-race caution derailing a strategy call, an ill-timed pit stop, or getting caught in someone else’s wreck, has been the embodiment of “wrong place, wrong time.”
How Rare Is This?
Statistics show that such a season is nearly unprecedented. In most cases, a driver leading this many laps would have at least a handful of top-10 finishes—if not multiple podiums or wins. Even historically dominant drivers who have suffered winless droughts still managed to piece together respectable results.
If continues on this path, they could set a record for the most laps led in a season without a top-10 finish, an unwanted but fascinating footnote in racing history.
Turning It Around
The good news? The speed is there. If a driver is leading races, they have the pace to compete at the front. What’s missing is the execution, the fortune, and the ability to close races without disaster striking.
For , the focus now has to be on cleaning up mistakes, improving race-day strategy, and—perhaps most importantly—hoping that luck finally turns in their favor.
With plenty of races left in the season, there’s still time for this bizarre trend to end. But until it does, remains one of the strangest stories of the season: a driver who can’t seem to cash in on their own dominance.
