Before you can dream of beating a driver from a rival team for championship glory, Formula 1 drivers must first beat their teammate. The driver in the other car is the yardstick against which every driver is measured, and with three races of the 2023 season underway, RacingNews365 has taken a look at how the 10 pairs are matching up during the unusually long April break. Article continues below images.
The top five
Going in 2022 Constructors' Championship order, we start with Red Bull - who already look like runaway 2023 champions with either Max Verstappen or Sergio Perez the likely Drivers' Champion. Verstappen is slightly shading Perez 2-1 in both qualifying and the races, with a 15 point championship lead - although in qualifying where both have finished, Verstappen leads 2-0. At Ferrari, things are a little more one-sided in the races, with Carlos Sainz enjoying a 3-0 lead over Charles Leclerc, and a 20-6 advantage in points - although it is a 1-0 lead when both drivers have finished. Leclerc has had the pace in qualifying, leading 2-1, including second in Jeddah on pace before his grid drop. Mercedes has an interesting story to tell, with George Russell smashing Lewis Hamilton 3-0 in qualifying in Sakhir, Jeddah, and Melbourne. On race day however, the seven-time champion enjoys a 2-1 advantage, although they are level at 1-1 if Russell's DNF in Australia is not counted, with Hamilton a healthy 38-20 up in points. Meanwhile, at Alpine, as many expected, the battle between Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly is as close as can be. Ocon leads 2-1 in qualifying, with both drivers 1-1 in races, having both retired at the exact same corner in Australia and each having four points in what has been a solid, but slow start for the team. At McLaren, Oscar Piastri has enjoyed a strong start alongside Lando Norris, although he is behind 2-1 in both qualifying and Grands Prix. He's also behind in points, but crucially for the team, Piastri is much closer to Norris than Daniel Ricciardo was - which was Piastri's goal for his rookie campaign. Article continues below.
One-sided battles
At Alfa Romeo, something of a surprise has emerged with Zhou Guanyu performing strongly and overshadowing Valtteri Bottas in the second car. The Chinese racer leads 2-1 in both qualifying and races, although he trails 4-2 in points. Bottas had a terrible weekend at Albert Park, one where Zhou banked a strong ninth place. The battle at Aston Martin is perhaps the most one-sided on the entire grid as Fernando Alonso has a 3-0 advantage over Lance Stroll, as well as a 45-20 points lead as the veteran Spaniard enjoys a resurgence having finally made a move at the right time. At Haas, Nico Hulkenberg's 3-0 qualifying advantage has not transitioned into races - with Kevin Magnussen ahead in races 2-1. However, the German's six points in Australia beat Magnussen's one, picked up after a feisty drive to 10th in Saudi. Yuki Tsunoda is in the same boat as Fernando Alonso, dominating his teammate thus far as Nyck de Vries tries to get to grips with a difficult AlphaTauri machine. The only saving grace for the Dutchman is that Tsunoda only has one point to his name, picked up in the chaos of the last race. For Williams, the statistics aren't as clear as they first appear, with Logan Sargeant leading 2-1 over Alex Albon in races. Albon has retired from both of those, and was running sixth in Melbourne before crashing while Sargeant was outside the points. The Thai holds a comfortable 3-0 advantage on Saturday, and picked up Williams' only point in Bahrain. Have any teammate battles surprised you so far? Let us know in the comments section below!
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