2014 F1 team-mate battles: How the drivers are faring in their intra-team fights

We look at which drivers seized the initiative in the intra-team qualifying and race battles during the opening 14 races.

Red Bull

Wow! Who would have predicted Daniel Ricciardo having an unassailable lead this early in the season having dominated the race battle at Red Bull. The Australian’s promotion to the senior team was derided as the easy option by some fans, but he has proved to be anything but a whipping boy for Sebastian Vettel. The World Champion was famed for his one-lap pace and whilst that battle is closer, the fact that Ricciardo still heads it proves how impressive he has been in 2014.

Mercedes

Not only is this one a battle for supremacy at Mercedes, but for the World Championship as well as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton lock horns. The Briton is regarded by many as the fastest over a single lap but finds himself trailing his team-mate in qualifying this season – although that can partly be explained by two "free" scores for Rosberg in Germany and Hungary, when reliability problems saw Hamilton make an early exit. The scores are reversed when it comes to race performances, with the 2008 champion taking the lead following Rosberg’s Monza chicane woes and Singapore retirement.

Ferrari

Billed as the battle to watch in the build-up to 2014 as two former world champions squared off, Fernando Alonso has annihilated Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari duel. Only once has the Finn beaten his team-mate when both have finished the race as the Spaniard reinforces his reputation as the best all round driver in Formula 1. Had a young driver been in the second seat and had the same record as Raikkonen, it is highly likely they would already have been replaced by the Scuderia.

Lotus

What a difference a new contract makes! Having made a rather lacklustre start to life at Lotus, Pastor Maldonado has beaten Romain Grosjean in four of the five races since being retained for 2015 ahead of the German GP. However, over a single lap in qualifying, the Frenchman still has a clear advantage and enjoys a healthy advantage that cannot be beaten this season.

McLaren

Jenson Button has never been famed for his qualifying pace, but his experience is showing when it matters in the races. Only twice when both cars have finished has Kevin Magnussen beaten his team-mate, which is certainly not form that warrants being retained over Button should one of the many big names linked with McLaren arrive. However, something has clicked in qualifying since Hockenheim for Magnussen, who has only lost out once in the previous five races.

Force India

Nico Hulkenberg was heralded as the next big thing whilst Sergio Perez was the man cast to the scrapheap after one year at McLaren, but there has been little to choose between the pair in 2014. Perez is currently enjoying a great run of form, having outperformed his team-mate in the previous four races, but he needs to up his Saturday pace with Hulkenberg enjoying a clear advantage.

Sauber

The battle at Sauber continues to ebb and flow between Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil in what has been a difficult season for the Swiss team. Gutierrez dominated the opening part of the campaign, but the momentum is now with Sutil, who has come out on top in the last four races and also won the qualifying battle at three of the previous four grands prix.

Toro Rosso

Was leaping from GP3 to F1 too much for Daniil Kvyat? Certainly not if his performances alongside Jean-Eric Vergne are anything to go by! The Frenchman is no slouch and was seriously considered for a seat at the senior Red Bull team this season, but the highly rated Russian rookie has been a match for his team-mate, who is currently in his third season of F1. If Kvyat can continue to develop as he has this year in F1 and last year in GP3, he is looking every inch a future world champion.

Williams

A battle of the young star and elder statesman at Williams has seen Valtteri Bottas enjoy a clear advantage over a single lap, with Singapore the first time Felipe Massa has out-qualified him since Austria. The battle is much closer in the races, however, with Massa’s experience showing as he makes up for the qualifying deficit, but he still trails his team-mate, who Frank Williams regards as “one of the best young drivers” he has ever seen.

Marussia

Ferrari protégé Jules Bianchi continues to impress at Marussia, particularly in qualifying, where he was last beaten by Max Chilton in Canada. After a slow start to the campaign, where he lost out in the opening three races, Bianchi is now also the dominant force in the races and it is surely only a matter of time before he is promoted to the Scuderia.

Caterham

Despite being side-lined in Belgium and finding his future the subject of constant speculation, Kamui Kobayashi has comprehensively outperformed Marcus Ericsson this season. Incidents during races, such as brake failures in Australia and Singapore, mean the race score is slightly closer, but the qualifying result shows clearly the advantage the Japanese driver enjoys. Ericsson failed to impress in GP2 before his graduation and his performances this year have done little to shake the pay-driver tag.