Mid-season report – Teammate duels

Red Bull Racing – Max Verstappen against Sergio Perez

The relationship between the two drivers is relatively the same as in 2021. Sergio Perez is once again serving as the lieutenant of Max Verstappen, having surrendered the victory to the Dutchman in Barcelona. However, Perez still managed to win the Monaco Grand Prix and finished ahead of his teammate on several occasions. On the other hand, the Dutchman continues his great form from 2021 and has taken a significant lead in the World Championship ahead of Charles Leclerc.

• Qualifications: 8 – 3
• Course*: 6 – 2
• DNF: 2 – 2
• Points: 208 – 151

Qualifications: 8 – 3
Course*: 6 – 2
DNF: 2 – 2
Points: 208 – 151

“Only races where both drivers have finished the race are taken into account.”

Scuderia Ferrari – Charles Leclerc versus Carlos Sainz.

Tensions are rising among the red team. Ferrari’s highly promising start to the season quickly faded due to strategic errors and a deadly lack of reliability for the hopes of Sainz and Leclerc. Charles Leclerc is leading the championship with a 37-point advantage over Sainz. Sainz made a lot of mistakes at the beginning of the season, and his F1-75 is far from being spared from mechanical issues, but Ferrari continues to place hope in both drivers, risking tensions to escalate, as in Silverstone and Austria, where collisions were not far off.

• Qualifications: 9 – 2
• Course: 3 – 3
• DNF: 2 – 4
• Points: 170 – 133

Mercedes AMG F1 – George Russell versus Lewis Hamilton

Although the start of the season for Mercedes has been disastrous compared to previous years, the German team has recently managed to capitalize on its duo of drivers to score good points and currently sits in 3rd place in the constructors’ championship, lurking behind Ferrari and Red Bull. Mercedes is on a good streak of 4 consecutive podium finishes, including 3 by Hamilton. While the start of the season seemed to indicate a dominance by Russell over his compatriot, the trend appears to be reversing without ever creating tension between the two drivers.

• Qualifications: 6 – 5
• Course: 8 – 3
• DNF: 1 – 0
• Points: 128 – 109

McLaren F1 Team – Lando Norris against Daniel Ricciardo

The pre-season tests of McLaren hinted at major difficulties in the upcoming races. However, McLaren managed to maintain 4th position in the championship ahead of Alpine. Nevertheless, credit should be given where credit is due, the current form of McLaren is almost exclusively due to a dominant Lando Norris over Daniel Ricciardo. The pair of drivers maintain an excellent relationship off the track, but the results of the Australian are well below those of his teammate, to the point that his place at McLaren is hanging by a thread.

• Qualifications: 9 – 2
• Course: 6 – 3
• DNF: 1 – 1
• Points: 64 – 17

Alpine F1 Team – Esteban Ocon versus Fernando Alonso

The Dieppe team is tied for 4th place with McLaren, and the fight for the top 4 will be tough in the upcoming races. The performance of the Alpine seems to be improving with each Grand Prix, and the Ocon/Alonso duo is still functioning well. Alonso’s performances may be slightly below Ocon’s, but let’s not forget the numerous mistakes that the Spaniard has been facing. Despite his age, Alonso continues to impress in qualifying sessions, but his team doesn’t make it easy for him once the race starts. On the other hand, Ocon seems comfortable behind the wheel of his Alpine and consistently finishes races in the points.

• Qualifications: 4 – 7
• Course: 6 – 2
• DNF: 1 – 2
• Points: 52 – 29

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN – Valtteri Bottas vs. Guanyu Zhou

Alfa Romeo has truly increased the pace this season. The year 2021 has been quite difficult for the Italian team, struggling to score points. The switch to the 2022 single-seaters has been mastered by Alfa Romeo, which now manages to frequently place in the points. They currently hold the 6th place in the constructors’ standings, still within reach of Alpine and McLaren. The team is driven by Valtteri Bottas, leveraging his experience with Mercedes, who manages to achieve impressive performances. On the other hand, Guanyu Zhou’s debut is satisfactory, managing to score a few points, but reliability has been tough on the Chinese driver, already experiencing three retirements due to a problem with the car.

• Qualifications: 9 – 1
• Course: 6 – 0
• DNF (Did Not Finish): 2 – 4
• Points: 46 – 5

Haas F1 Team – Kevin Magnussen versus Mick Schumacher

While Alfa Romeo’s progress is commendable, Haas’ progress is worthy of congratulations. The American team had a disappointing 2021 season, with an unstable and unpredictable car. After separating from Mazepin early in the year, Haas brought back their former driver, Kevin Magnussen, to replace him. This gamble paid off for them, as Magnussen brought in the majority of Haas’ points, even though he often finished behind his teammate during races. As for Schumacher, he is just starting to find his rhythm and seems to finally be capable of consistently bringing the car into the points.

• Qualifications: 7 – 4
• Course: 2 – 5
• DNF: 2 – 2 (+1 DNS)
• Points: 22 – 12

AlphaTauri – Pierre Gasly against Yuki Tsunoda.

The situation of AlphaTauri is very bad. With a lack of performance and no major improvements so far, the AT03 does not allow its driver duo to score many points. Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda are facing more difficulties than last year, but the performance level of the Japanese driver is much better than in 2021. There is now a semblance of balance between the performances of the two drivers, which sometimes leads to tensions on the track, and even collisions like in Silverstone.

• Qualifications: 8 – 3
• Course: 4 – 2
• DNF: 3 – 2 (+1 DNS)
• Points: 16 – 11

Aston Martin – Sebastian Vettel against Lance Stroll

With only 18 points, Aston Martin’s situation is far from idyllic. The car is not performing well and the improvements made by the British team do not seem to be working as expected. The team’s internal situation is also tense. With Lance Stroll’s contract, the son of the team owner, still uncertain and Sebastian Vettel’s contract still under discussion, nothing is certain for 2023. However, it is important to highlight some good performances by Vettel, who manages to occasionally reach Q3 and bring home points on Sundays.

• Qualifications: 7 – 4
• Course: 5 – 3
• DNF: 1(+2 DNS) – 0
• Points: 15 – 3

Williams – Alex Albon vs Nicholas Latifi

Williams is continuing the difficulties encountered in the last seasons. With very few means, the British team struggles to find the path to points and quickly finds itself outperformed by its rivals. Alex Albon manages to pull off some eye-catching performances, earning some valuable points for his team. As for Nicholas Latifi, he continues to try to reach the required level to be competitive, but with no real success.

• Qualifications: 9 – 2
• Course: 6 – 1
• DNF: 2 – 2
• Points: 3 – 0