We look at which drivers seized the initiative in the intra-team qualifying and race battles during the opening nine races.
Force India
Nico Hulkenberg continues to pick up the plaudits at Force India as he enjoys a 7-2 advantage in qualifying and a 6-3 lead in races over Sergio Perez. The Mexican made a slow start to life at the Silverstone-based team, exiting qualifying in Q2 in Australia and Malaysia whilst his team-mate was fighting it out in the top ten shootout. That said Perez did pick up the team's first podium for almost five years in Bahrain, was the only Force India to make Q3 in Monaco and was on course for a strong finish in Canada before a final-lap collision with Felipe Massa.
Sauber
Three-successive race victories have seen Adrian Sutil close the gap to Esteban Gutierrez, but the recent comeback cannot hide the fact that he is surely enduring his worst season in F1. The stats could look even worse for the German had Gutierrez been able to contest qualifying in Canada and he was running behind his team-mate in Montreal before the Mexican retired with six laps remaining. With Giedo van der Garde, Simona de Silvestro and Sergey Sirotkin all pushing for a race seat in 2015, Sutil really needs to up his game or his stint with the Swiss team could be very short indeed.
Toro Rosso
Daniel Kvyat's impressive start to his F1 career continues and his record next to Jean-Eric Vergne makes it all the more remarkable that this is his rookie season. The Russian seems to have a calm, calculated approach to races that some more experienced drivers still do not seem to possess and he has used that to outperform Vergne during the opening nine races this season. The Frenchman still heads the qualifying battle, but Kvyat closed the gap in Austria and at Silverstone as F1 returned to tracks he was more familiar with and with Carlos Sainz Jr waiting in the wings, Vergne needs to ensure he doesn't fall behind in that battle as well.
Williams
Valtteri Bottas is edging clear of the experienced Felipe Massa in the Williams battle, with Austria qualifying the only blemish on his scorecard in the last three races. Having been in the shadow of Fernando Alonso at Ferrari this was Massa's chance to become a team leader, but instead it is the Finn who is grabbing the headlines and the podiums. Heading into the second half of the season Massa desperately needs to find more of the flashes of brilliance that saw him take pole at the Red Bull Ring.
Marussia
The battle at Marussia is much closer than many predicted, with Max Chilton providing a sterner test for Jules Bianchi than he did in 2013. That said, the Frenchman still heads both standings and after a number of impressive performances this year - including a points finish in Monaco - it is surely a case of when rather than if he is promoted to a higher station.
Caterham
Kaumi Kobayashi is dominating the battle at Caterham with Marcus Ericsson's form suggesting it was money that secured him the seat rather than his achievements in GP2. Two of the Swede's race victories have come when Kobayashi has either retired or had a damaged car and speculation has already started swirling around the paddock that he could be replaced before the season is out.
