The duels between teammates at mid-season of F1 2023

Red Bull – Max Verstappen versus Sergio Perez

12 Grand Prix races contested, and as many victories for the Austrian team, leaving no crumbs to their opponents, just like Max Verstappen. With 10 wins out of the 12 races, only allowing his Mexican teammate 2 small victories at the start of the season (Djeddah and Baku), the Dutchman is further widening the gap on the others. For the comeback GP, he might even equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of 9 consecutive wins, which was achieved at his home track in Zandvoort.

Qualifications: 10-2

Course: 10 – 2

Race: 10 – 2

DNF: 0 – 0

DNF stands for “Did Not Finish,” indicating that the match ended without a score.

Points: 314 – 189

Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton versus George Russell

Behind the Red Bulls, the Mercedes managed to stay in sight, led by the inevitable Lewis Hamilton. The English champion, far from being able to fight for victory, managed to maintain a certain consistency, never finishing beyond 8th place in a Grand Prix, with 3 podium finishes to his name. He is also one of only two drivers to have managed to snatch pole position from the Red Bulls this season in Hungary. George Russell, on the other hand, has only been on the podium once, in Spain, beaten by his teammate and Max Verstappen.

Qualifications: 7-5

Course: 9-3

DNF: 0 – 2

Points: 148-99

Aston Martin – Fernando Alonso against Lance Stroll

The English stable, but especially its veteran [Alonso], were not expected at this level of performance. At 42 years old, the Spanish driver is the sensation of this early season. Worst starting position on the grid this season, 9th. Worst result in a Grand Prix, also 9th. It is a rediscovered Fernando Alonso who carries his team and is currently in 3rd place in the [drivers’ standings] in this month of August.

On the other hand, Lance Stroll is struggling more, fighting to be in the points rather than at the top of the field in recent weeks. Alonso could have even performed better in the race if he hadn’t stayed behind Stroll towards the end of the race in Austria, despite being much faster than his teammate in the final stint.

Qualifications: 9-2

Course: 9-2

DNF: 0 – 2

(“DNF” stands for “Did Not Finish”, indicating that the person or team did not complete the competition or event. “0 – 2” indicates the final score of the match or game, with the first team having a score of 0 and the second team having a score of 2.)

Points: 149- 47

Scuderia Ferrari – Charles Leclerc against Carlos Sainz

If at the quarter of the season Charles Leclerc was a bit below expectations, he has turned the tide and is once again the leader of his team in terms of points. At one point behind his teammate in the standings, he now leads him by 7 small units. It should be noted that the Monegasque has two pole positions to his name this season, almost a feat considering the overwhelming dominance of Red Bull, including the one at Spa last weekend.

Sainz, on the other hand, is experiencing difficulties in translating his results in qualifying into Grand Prix races. His best place in a race was 4th, which he achieved in the season opener in Bahrain. Recently, he has had three more challenging weekends, with only 5 points scored in Grand Prix races.

Qualifications: 8-4

Cours: 7-5

DNF: 2-1

Points: 99-92

McLaren – Lando Norris against Oscar Piastri

In major difficulty in the first two races of the year (twice 17th), Lando Norris found consistency towards the end of the first half of the season to remain the leader at McLaren. He completes the first half with 69 points, more than double that of his teammate (34). He notably stepped on the podium twice recently, at Silverstone and the Hungaroring.

These last 3 weekends have been quite successful for the MCL60 drivers as Oscar Piastri achieved his best results of the season as a rookie. Starting 3rd on the grid in Great Britain and 4th in Hungary, always one place behind Norris, he finished both races in 4th and 5th position. Unfortunately, he had an incident at Spa last weekend, forcing him to retire just after the start while he was in 5th place.

Qualifications: 10-2

Course: 9-3

DNF: 0-2

Points: 99-92

Alpine – Esteban Ocon versus Pierre Gasly

Status quo in the French team. If Esteban Ocon had a more fruitful start to the season in terms of points, both Alpines lack performance and don’t meet expectations. It’s difficult to distinguish between the two French drivers, as they are equal in their qualifying duels as well as in races. However, Ocon managed to secure a great third place at Monaco Grand Prix, which brought a smile back for a brief moment.

On Pierre Gasly’s side, he did no better than 7th. It was also in Monte Carlo. Nevertheless, he reassured with his 3rd place in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. As the highlight of this very complicated season, both teammates had a collision together at the Hungarian GP, forcing them both to retire. In the drivers’ standings, Ocon (35 points, 10th) remains ahead of Gasly (22 points, 12th).

Qualifications: 6-6

Course: 5-5

DNF: 3-1

Points: 35-22

Williams – Alexander Albon against Logan Sargeant

First of the four teams at the bottom of the standings, Williams only has 11 small points, all scored by Alexander Albon. Much more experienced, the Thai driver has never been beaten by his young teammate in qualifying this season. In races, only twice, both times when Albon retired in Jeddah and then in Australia.

On his side, Logan Sargeant continues his apprenticeship as a rookie, but still in the depths of the rankings or almost. The 22-year-old American, along with Nyck de Vries (dismissed from AlphaTauri), is the only driver who started the season but has not scored any points, although he came close recently at the Red Bull Ring (13th) and Silverstone (11th). However, he will still have to quickly find an opportunity if he doesn’t want to meet the same fate as De Vries.

Qualifications: 12-0

Course: 10-2

DNF: 2-1

Points: 11-0

Haas – Nico Hülkenberg against Kevin Magnussen

A heated duel was looming between two new teammates with a complicated shared past. In the end, the hatchet has been buried, but that doesn’t prevent the drivers from the American team from stagnating at the bottom of the rankings. In the duel, it is the experienced German who has the upper hand with his 9 small points, 6 of which were earned with his 7th place finish in Australia and 3 in the sprint in Austria.

Similarly, Kevin Magnussen is far from the level that allowed him to achieve the feat of obtaining pole position in Brazil last year. He only scored two small points at the beginning of the season in Jeddah and Miami (two 10th places) and that’s it. His best result since the same Grand Prix in Florida is a 15th place in Belgium last weekend. A meager record for the Danish driver who does not yet have the assurance of keeping his seat next season.

Qualifications: 5-4

Course: 7-5

DNF: 1-1

Points: 9-2

Alfa Romeo – Valtteri Bottas against Zhou Guanyu

It is one of the closest duels between teammates, but far from the top positions. This could disappoint experienced Valtteri Bottas, who has enjoyed the thrills of high-level competition and podium finishes for a long time at Mercedes. The 33-year-old Finn remains the top scorer for his team with 5 points collected since the start of the season. Despite a car that falls short of his expectations, he has managed to secure seven Q2 and two Q3 appearances this season.

Next, Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu is struggling this mid-season. He is struggling to confirm his place in his second season in F1, but he is not light-years behind his illustrious teammate. In 12 races, he has beaten him 5 times nonetheless. However, in qualifying, he is classified behind the Finnish driver more often and has only made it to Q2 4 times. Only once in Q3, he achieved a remarkable 5th place on the grid in Hungary recently.

Qualifications: 7-5

Course: 8-4

DNF: 0-1

Points: 5 – 4

Scuderia AlphaTauri – Yuki Tsunoda vs. Nyck de Vries and then Daniel Ricciardo

It is a particular season for the Italian team. Yuki Tsunoda hasn’t been able to push his talent to surpass a struggling De Vries. However, the Japanese driver is far from outstanding with only 3 points scored (three 10th places), but he satisfies his boss Helmut Marko.

In addition to that, Nyck de Vries did not live up to the expectations placed on him after his stand-in role in a Grand Prix with Williams last season, where he earned his first career points. Consistently being beaten by his teammate in both races and qualifying, his best result this season was a 12th place in Monaco. Not enough, he was let go after 10 Grand Prix without scoring a single point in 2023.

Arriving for the Hungarian GP, the eight-time Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo is aiming to challenge the competition in the bottom-ranked team. Finishing 13th at the Hungaroring and notably 10th in the sprint race in Belgium, the 34-year-old driver is making an encouraging comeback.

This may have already had a beneficial effect on Tsunoda, who was beaten in qualifying and in the race in Hungary by the Australian, as the 23-year-old driver bounced back by taking 11th place on the grid last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps and then finishing 10th in the GP.

Qualifications: 8-2

Course: 8-2

DNF: 0-1

Points: 3-0