Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso… The results of the duels between teammates

En Formula 1, your first rival is your teammate. All pilots know this rule. While they try to have the best possible relationship for the good of the team, the team representatives on the track do not forget that they always want to be ahead of their garage neighbor at the end of the season.

At Mercedes for example, the internal struggle turns in favor of Lewis Hamilton for 5 seasons and the retirement of Nico Rosberg at the end of 2016. Put in competition with Valtteri Bottas, the seven-time world champion never lost to his teammate when it came time to do the math at the end of the campaign. Thus, in 2021, for the 5th time in a row, the Englishman dominated the Finn with a score of 18-4 in the race and 17-5 in qualifying. In terms of points, there was no photo since the first scored 387,5 against 226 for the second which allowed them to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively in the championship.

Max Verstappen once again demonstrated to him to be the boss of Red Bull. Crowned world champion, the Batavian left no chance to his teammate Sergio Pérez against whom he only lost 3 times in the race and 2 in qualifying in all 22 Grands Prix contested. On the balance sheet, the Dutchman scored twice as many points as his partner (395,5 against 190). Results which also made him the best driver of the year with the team bosses.

Once again on the Manufacturers' podium, Ferrari can boast of having one of the most complete duos on the grid. Neck and neck throughout the season, Carlos Sainz et Charles Leclerc A great internal battle was fought, ultimately won by the first. If the Monegasque dominated him in the race (14-8) as in qualifying (13-9), the Spaniard demonstrated great consistency during the 2021 financial year to finally finish 5th among the drivers with 164,5 points while his garage neighbor was content with 7th place at 5,5 lengths.

Faced with a new teammate in the person of Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris was not impressed by the Australian's CV. Very fit for his 3rd year with the big boys, the Englishman has proven to have the ability to fight for victory and resist internal pressure. Faced with a huge customer, the Briton showed off his talent to gain the upper hand over his neighbor whom he dominated 15 times in qualifying and in the race. If it was indeed Daniel Ricciardo who gave the first victory to McLaren since 2012, it was Lando Norris who ranked among the best drivers on the grid with a 6th place in the championship relegating the Australian to 45 points.

Back after a 2 year break, Fernando Alonso showed that he still had a nice drive. Associated to Esteban Ocon, the double world champion was able to lead Alpine towards 5th place among the Manufacturers thanks to very solid performances proving that he still has the energy even at 40 years old. Concerning the record against his teammate, the Bull of Asturias used his experience to win over Esteban Ocon. With an A521 capable of the best and the worst, Fernando Alonso got the better of the Norman in the race with a slight lead (11 to 10) while in qualifying it was a perfect tie (11-11). At the end of the season, 7 points separated the two men who finished in 10th and 11th place respectively.

He is one of the drivers of the year. At the wheel of the modest AT02Alpha Tauri, Pierre Gasly made a strong impression throughout the last contested season. Associated with the young rookie Yuki tsunoda, the Norman quickly showed who was the boss of the Italian garage. Regularly in the Top 6 in qualifying, the Frenchman left no chance to his partner whom he beat in the first 21 rounds, only losing in Abu Dhabi for the last one. In the race, the results are also largely favorable to the Habs who won 16 of the 22 oppositions against Nippon. For a long time all alone to help AlphaTauri in the fight for 5th place among the Manufacturers, Pierre Gasly signed the best season of his career on the balance sheet with 110 points scored and a 9th place up for grabs.

The first year of Sebastian Vettel in Aston Martin was made of ups and downs. Although he was able to perform well in the race (2nd in Azerbaijan), the German was dominated by his teammate Lance stroll in this compartment (12-9). Nothing too scary since the quadruple world champion finished ahead in the championship, 12th with 43 points compared to 13th with 34 points for the Canadian. In qualifying, the German won the battle with 14 better results than his teammate.

At Williams, George Russell was the best element without much surprise. Sparkling in qualifying, “Mr. Saturday” left only the crumbs Nicholas latifi who lost 20 times. In the race, the balance is also favorable to the Briton who achieved 15 better results than his sidekick and was able to secure a podium this year (Belgium).

For his last year in F1, Kimi Räikkönen did not show great motivation. Already thinking about his retired life, “Iceman” often took the door in Q1 before not doing much on Sunday in the race. If the tie in the race with Antonio Giovinazzi is perfect (10-10), the Finn was no match for qualifying, an exercise in which his garage neighbor beat him 13 times. The world champion, however, managed to score more points than the Italian to rank 16th at the finish with 10 points. The Transalpine finished 18th with 3 small points.

Promised for a difficult year, Mick Schumacher et Nikita mazepin have had a difficult year. Unable to compete in duels against others, the German and the Russian fed off the internal battle. A battle which largely turned in favor of the son of the Red Baron. Champion of F2 outgoing, Mick Schumacher was uncompromising against his teammate whom he dominated 20 times in 22 qualifying sessions. He was also the only representative of Haas to be able to extricate his mount from Q1 during the Turkish Grand Prix. In the race, the German finished 16 times ahead of his partner. However, neither man was able to score any points. A first for the American team since its arrival in F1 in 2016.

ALSO READ > Team bosses have elected the 10 best drivers of the season