Which drivers have impressed in the opening seven rounds of the 2023 Formula 1 season and who has work to do? Crunching the numbers on the team-mate battles since the start of the season
Thursday 8 June 2023 16:42, UK
Seven Grand Prix weekends completed, 15 races and five Sprints to go. The 2023 F1 season is well under way but which drivers are getting the better of their team-mates so far?
There are six new team-mate pairings this season, and throughout the grid there have been intriguing on-track battles in the opening rounds.
But who has got an early advantage and which drivers have work to do? After all, the first aim for an F1 driver is beating your team-mate! Sky Sports F1 crunches the numbers on the 10 head-to-heads so far…
N.B. Grid penalties are not included in qualifying head-to-head scores. No Sprint or race day score is given if both cars fail to finish or at least one car fails to start.
And as qualifying is the ultimate display of pace, the average qualifying margin is calculated using a driver's fastest lap within the hour-long session. Qualifying sessions where a driver failed to set a representative time are also discounted.
QUALIFYING
Verstappen 5-2 Perez
Best result: Verstappen 1st, Perez 1st
Q3 appearances: Verstappen 6-4 Perez
Poles: Verstappen 4-2 Perez
Average qualifying margin: 0.447s in Verstappen's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Verstappen 0-1 Perez
SPRINTS
Verstappen 0-1 Perez
RACE DAY
Verstappen 5-2 Perez
Best result: Verstappen 1st, Perez 1st
Wins: Verstappen 5-2 Perez
Podiums: Verstappen 7-4 Perez
Fastest laps: Verstappen 3-1 Perez
Points: Verstappen 170-117 Perez
STORY SO FAR
Verstappen is certainly the man to beat once again in 2023 after Red Bull's dominant start to the season. Perez remains his closest title rival, but his qualifying crash and point-less finish in Monaco and another poor weekend in Barcelona were significant dents to his title ambitions, coming fresh off the back of Verstappen driving from ninth to victory at the Miami GP.
QUALIFYING
Alonso 6-1 Stroll
Best result: Alonso 2nd, Stroll 6th
Q3 appearances: Alonso 7-5 Stroll
Average qualifying margin: 0.534s in Alonso's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Alonso 1-0 Stroll
SPRINTS
Alonso 1-0 Stroll
RACE DAY
Alonso 6-1 Stroll
Best result: Alonso 2nd, Stroll 4th
Podiums: Alonso 5-0 Stroll
Retirements: Alonso 0-2 Stroll
Points: Alonso 99-35 Stroll
STORY SO FAR
Aston Martin are the surprise team trying to take the fight to Red Bull and that is being led by star signing Alonso. The two-time world champion is dominating new team-mate Stroll, but the Canadian ended Alonso's sweep of qualifying and race day results by outperforming his team-mate at the Spanish GP.
QUALIFYING
Hamilton 3-4 Russell
Best result: Hamilton 3rd, Russell 2nd
Q3 appearances: Hamilton 6-5 Russell
Average qualifying margin: 0.082s in Hamilton's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Hamilton 0-1 Russell
SPRINTS
Hamilton 0-1 Russell
RACE DAY
Hamilton 5-2 Russell
Best result: Hamilton 2nd, Russell 3rd
Podiums: Hamilton 2-1 Russell
Fastest laps: Hamilton 1-1 Russell
Retirements: Hamilton 0-1 Russell
Points: Hamilton 87-65 Russell
STORY SO FAR
The battle between Hamilton and Russell is the closest on the grid, with little to split the British team-mates. Russell has the slight upper hand in qualifying but Hamilton is coming back having out-qualified his team-mate in both Monaco and Spain.
And Hamilton is stretching ahead of Russell on Sundays, but both of them finishing on the podium in Barcelona helped Mercedes move above Aston Martin into second in the Constructors' Championship.
QUALIFYING
Leclerc 4-3 Sainz
Best result: Leclerc 1st, Sainz 2nd
Q3 appearances: Leclerc 6-7 Sainz
Poles: Leclerc 1-0 Sainz
Average qualifying margin: 0.058s in Leclerc's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Leclerc 1-0 Sainz
SPRINTS
Leclerc 1-0 Sainz
RACE DAY
Leclerc 2-5 Sainz
Best result: Leclerc 3rd, Sainz 4th
Podiums: Leclerc 1-0 Sainz
Retirements: Leclerc 2-0 Sainz
Points: Leclerc 42-58 Sainz
STORY SO FAR
It's turning into a tricky season at Ferrari. Leclerc is holding a slight advantage in qualifying over Sainz and is the only driver to break Red Bull's stranglehold on pole positions so far.
The Monegasque's DNFs in Bahrain and Australia have helped Sainz open up an advantage on race days, but Leclerc has picked up Ferrari's only podium so far in Azerbaijan.
QUALIFYING
Ocon 4-3 Gasly
Best result: Ocon 4th, Gasly 4th
Q3 appearances: Ocon 5-5 Gasly
Average qualifying margin: 0.286s in Ocon's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Ocon 1-0 Gasly
SPRINTS
Ocon 0-1 Gasly
RACE DAY
Ocon 3-3 Gasly *Both drivers retired in Australia
Best result: Ocon 3rd, Gasly 7th
Podiums: Ocon 1-0 Gasly
Retirements: Ocon 2-1 Gasly
Points: Ocon 25-15 Gasly
STORY SO FAR
The intra-team battle between Ocon and Gasly at Alpine is incredibly tight with Ocon having a slight advantage in qualifying while they are matched on race day. Ocon though claimed Alpine's first podium since 2021 with a superb performance at the Monaco GP which resulted in a third-place finish.
The French team-mates are also the only pair to have taken each other out in a race so far too, having both ended up in the barriers at Turn Two in Australia.
QUALIFYING
Norris 6-1 Piastri
Best result: Norris 3rd, Piastri 9th
Q3 appearances: Norris 3-3 Piastri
Average qualifying margin: 0.123s in Norris' favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Norris 1-0 Piastri
SPRINTS
Norris 0-1 Piastri
RACE DAY
Norris 5-2 Piastri
Best result: Norris 6th, Piastri 8th
Retirements: Norris 0-1 Piastri
Points: Norris 12-5 Piastri
STORY SO FAR
In an under-performing MCL60, rookie Piastri is managing to stay closer to Norris than Daniel Ricciardo managed to. Norris might be enjoying a 6-1 advantage in qualifying results, and managed to qualify third in Barcelona, but only a tenth of a second is splitting the two on average qualifying margin. The McLaren cars are also finishing close to each other on Sundays.
QUALIFYING
Magnussen 2-5 Hulkenberg
Best result: Magnussen 4th, Hulkenberg 8th
Q3 appearances: Magnussen 1-3 Hulkenberg
Average qualifying margin: 0.460s in Hulkenberg's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Magnussen 0-1 Hulkenberg
SPRINTS
Magnussen 1-0 Hulkenberg
RACE DAY
Magnussen 4-3 Hulkenberg
Best result: Magnussen 10th, Hulkenberg 7th
Retirements: Magnussen 2-0 Hulkenberg
Points: Magnussen 2-6 Hulkenberg
STORY SO FAR
The battle at Haas is an intriguing one with Hulkenberg's dominance of qualifying so far not translating to Sunday results as Magnussen has finished ahead of his new team-mate on four occasions - indeed the Spanish GP was the first time Hulkenberg has beaten his team-mate when both Haas cars have finished.
Hulkenberg has made Q3 on three occasions, but Magnussen secured Haas' best-ever Grand Prix starting position with his fourth place in qualifying in Miami. Hulkenberg leads the points standing courtesy of avoiding the chaos in Australia to finish seventh.
QUALIFYING
Bottas 4-3 Zhou
Best result: Bottas 10th, Zhou 12th
Q3 appearances: Bottas 1-0 Zhou
Average qualifying margin: 0.143s in Bottas' favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Bottas 0-1 Zhou
SPRINTS
Bottas 0-1 Zhou
RACE DAY
Bottas 4-3 Zhou
Best result: Bottas 8th, Zhou 9th
Fastest laps: Bottas 0-1 Zhou
Retirements: Bottas 0-1 Zhou
Points: Bottas 4-4 Zhou
STORY SO FAR
It has been a back-and-forth battle down at Alfa Romeo between Bottas and Zhou. After an impressive eighth place in Bahrain for Bottas, Zhou outperformed his experienced team-mate in both Saudi Arabia and Australia. Bottas then had the upper hand in Baku, Miami and Monaco but Zhou was faster in Spain and the two drivers are now level on points in the Drivers' Championship.
QUALIFYING
Tsunoda 5-2 De Vries
Best result: Tsunoda 8th, De Vries 12th
Q3 appearances: Tsunoda 2-0 De Vries
Average qualifying margin: 0.216s in Tsunoda's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Tsunoda 1-0 De Vries
SPRINTS
Tsunoda 0-1 De Vries
RACE DAY
Tsunoda 6-1 De Vries
Best result: Tsunoda 10th, De Vries 12th
Retirements: Tsunoda 0-2 De Vries
Points: Tsunoda 2-0 De Vries
STORY SO FAR
Contrasting fortunes down at AlphaTauri with Tsunoda comfortably outperforming De Vries, who has endured a baptism of fire to his F1 rookie season. Tsunoda has finished either 10th or 11th in five of the seven Grands Prix, while De Vries has been involved in a number of collisions and is one of only two drivers yet to pick up a point.
But the Dutchman ended Tsunoda's stranglehold in qualifying in Miami and also had the upper hand on Saturday in Spain, while a much-improved weekend in Monaco saw him finish ahead of his team-mate for the first time in a race.
QUALIFYING
Albon 7-0 Sargeant
Best result: Albon 8th, Sargeant 15th
Q3 appearances: Albon 1-0 Sargeant
Average qualifying margin: 0.594s in Albon's favour
SPRINT SHOOTOUTS
Albon 1-0 Sargeant
SPRINTS
Sargeant failed to start Azerbaijan GP Sprint
RACE DAY
Albon 5-1 Sargeant *Both drivers retired in Australia
Best result: Albon 10th, Sargeant 12th
Retirements: Albon 2-1 Sargeant
Points: Albon 1-0 Sargeant
STORY SO FAR
Albon is dominating rookie team-mate Sargeant, the other driver yet to score a point in F1 2023. Albon is the only driver yet to be out-qualified and managed to get his Williams to a very impressive eighth on the grid in Australia.
Sargeant had a solid debut race in Bahrain as he came home 12th and will be seeking to get back to those heights in the races to come and close the gap to his more experienced team-mate.
