As the F1 season prepares to resume this weekend, which driver is ahead in the key head-to-head match-ups at each team so far? watch the Dutch Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1, with the track action underway on Friday and Sunday's race starting at 2pm
Wednesday 23 August 2023 06:08, UK
The driver match-up at each Formula 1 team is always one of the biggest talking points of any season.
So with Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen among those performing particularly strongly against their respective team-mates after the first dozen rounds of this 2023 campaign, how do the key overall metrics stand at each of the 10 teams as the racing resumes in the Netherlands this weekend?
Notes on the head-to-head numbers: Qualifying scores are awarded on the results at the end of Q3 before any grid penalties are applied; If both cars from the same team fail to finish a race, then no head-to-head score for that race is awarded; The Sprint Shootout and Sprint results are not included in the main head-to-head numbers below.
Qualifying: Verstappen 10 vs 2 Perez
Race: Verstappen 10 vs 2 Perez
Did Not Finish (DNF): Verstappen 0 vs 0 Perez
Points: Verstappen 314 vs 189 Perez
No surprises here.
Max Verstappen's utter domination of the 2023 season is reflected in his team-mate head-to-head with Sergio Perez.
The score reads 8-0 to the runaway title leader in both qualifying and the grand prix since Perez's win in Azerbaijan back in April, with the Mexican's early-season hopes to mount a title challenge undone by a succession of qualifying disappointments amid his team-mate's relentless front-running form.
Qualifying: Hamilton 7 vs 5 Russell
Race: Hamilton 9 vs 3 Russell
DNF: Hamilton 0 vs 2 Russell
Points: Hamilton 148 vs 99 Russell
Considering George Russell started the season by outqualifying his team-mate at the season's first four events, Lewis Hamilton has been in fine form since to swing the second year of the all-British head-to-head in his favour.
It has been the seven-time champion who has been able to extract the most from the improved - but not-yet-Red Bull challenging - W14 more consistently.
Hamilton delivered the car's only pole position in Hungary and four of its five podium finishes up to the summer break.
Qualifying: Alonso 10 vs 2 Stroll
Race: Alonso 11 vs 1 Stroll
DNF: Alonso 0 vs 2 Stroll
Points: Alonso 149 vs 47 Stroll
Not for the first time in his long career, Fernando Alonso is setting a high bar in the battle against his team-mate.
Lance Stroll is the latest driver to experience the relentlessness of the two-time champion, with the podium-achieving form that Aston Martin displayed in the season's early months very much reflecting well on Alonso.
Ironically, it was only really the Spaniard's home event at Barcelona in June when Stroll had the upper hand for most of a weekend.
Qualifying: Leclerc 8 vs 4 Sainz
Race: Leclerc 7 vs 5 Sainz
DNF: Leclerc 2 vs 1 Sainz
Points: Leclerc 99 vs 92 Sainz
2023 is not proving to be the season Ferrari envisaged, so the battle to be top dog from weekend to weekend here hasn't often counted for as much as the drivers would want.
Despite a tough start to the season with retirements from two of the opening three rounds, it's Charles Leclerc who has fought back to lead in the key metrics, although Carlos Sainz continues to put up a decent fight against one of the sport's outright fastest drivers over a single lap.
Indeed, Sainz has the more consistent results in qualifying - with only Verstappen achieving a higher average grid spot across the first dozen rounds - and races but Leclerc has achieved all the poles and podiums.
Qualifying: Norris 10 vs 2 Piastri
Race: Norris 9 vs 3 Piastri
DNF: Norris 0 vs 2 Piastri
Points: Norris: 69 vs 34 Piastri
Lando Norris continues to set the standard at McLaren, with the 23-year-old's well-established speed and under-rated consistency a high bar for Oscar Piastri to try and emulate in the Australian's rookie season.
But Piastri is faring pretty well, particularly recently following McLaren's big jump in form, and qualified in and around Norris in the three rounds before the break.
Piastri started ahead for both Sprint and GP in Belgium, although the latter was ended in first-corner contact after a runner-up finish to Verstappen in Saturday's shorter race.
Qualifying: Ocon 6 vs 6 Gasly
Race: Ocon 5 vs 4 Gasly*
DNF: Ocon 4 vs 3 Gasly
Points: Ocon 35 vs 22 Gasly
Expectations that the arrival of countryman Pierre Gasly next to Esteban Ocon would produce a closely-matched driver contest at Alpine have been vindicated.
While the performance of the team's 2023 car has fallen short of expectations, and indeed prompted all manner of recent upheaval behind the scenes, the all-French driver pairing has generally performed solidly.
Ocon's high was his run to the bottom step of the podium in Monaco, while Gasly took third in the sprint in Belgium.
*both drivers failed to finish the Australian, British and Hungarian GPs, so no scores are awarded for those races
Qualifying: Albon 12 vs 0 Sargeant
Race: Albon 10 vs 1 Sargeant*
DNF: Albon 2 vs 3 Sargeant
Points: Albon 11 vs 0 Sargeant
It's one-sided numbers like this which have added weight to the case about Alex Albon again being a driver on the rise, three years after he lost form, confidence and ultimately his seat at Red Bull.
Being team-mate to a driver in his first year of F1 should have always given him a natural advantage, but Albon has still underlined that by achieving all four of Williams' Q3 appearances and all 11 of their points.
Logan Sargeant got closest to a maiden point at Silverstone with 11th.
*both drivers failed to finish the Australian GP, so no score is awarded for that race
Qualifying: Magnussen 3 vs 9 Hulkenberg
Race: Magnussen 6 vs 6 Hulkenberg
DNF: Magnussen 3 vs 1 Hulkenberg
Points: Magnussen 2 vs 9 Hulkenberg
At Haas, it has been Nico Hulkenberg's qualifying prowess on his full-time return to F1 after four years that has proved the most consistently impressive factor of the team's season to date.
The 36-year-old has reached Q3 six times - that's half the races. Unfortunately, the car's penchant for overheating its tyres over the longer race distances has regularly seen Hulkenberg quickly slip backwards.
He and Kevin Magnussen have therefore often found themselves in similar territory as races have progressed and the drivers have grappled with the car's shortcomings, leading to an even Sunday score. Magnussen has only reached the top-10 shootout on a Saturday once so far this year, but he at least cause a stir when he got there in Miami by qualifying fourth.
Qualifying: Bottas 8 vs 4 Zhou
Race: Bottas 8 vs 4 Zhou
DNF: Bottas 0 vs 1 Zhou
Points: Bottas 5 vs 4 Zhou
One of the closer team-mate battles in the field, albeit one taking place further back in the pack than the team would like.
The 10-time race-winning Valtteri Bottas continues to enjoy an edge in results overall, but the margins have often been close with the 24-year-old Zhou Guanyu displaying more consistency in his second year of F1.
Zhou took the team's best grid spot of fifth in Hungary, while Bottas claimed their best Sunday finish of eighth all the back in Bahrain in March.
Qualifying: Tsunoda 1 vs 1 Ricciardo / Tsunoda 8 vs 2 de Vries
Race: Tsunoda 1 vs 1 Ricciardo / Tsunoda 8 vs 2 de Vries
DNFs: Tsunoda 0, Ricciardo 0, de Vries 2
Points: Tsunoda 3, Ricciardo 0, de Vries 0
Having comfortably seen off Nyck de Vries in the space of 10 races, Yuki Tsunoda's 2023 position as the lead driver at AlphaTauri will be challenged by Daniel Ricciardo, a multiple race winner, over the remainder of the season.
In the two races before the summer break, the nascent head-to-head was even, although Tsunoda did pick up just the team's third point of an awful campaign with a strong drive to 10th in Belgium.
In Q3: Tsunoda 2, Ricciardo 0, de Vries 0; Average grid spot: 14.2 vs 16 vs 16.6
Races in points: Tsunoda 3, Ricciardo 0, de Vries 0
Sprints: 0 vs 1 / 1 vs 1
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch GP and all sessions will be live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW for just £26 a month for 12 months. Cancel anytime
