Staggering Differences Between Teammates: 2023 Qualifying Head To Head

Not all Formula One teammates have been equally matched throughout the 2023 season, and these unforgiving stats reveal which drivers lagged behind their teammates the most.

Comparing F1 drivers from different teams is challenging because of completely different cars with various speeds and setup differences, but it is a lot easier to compare teammates from the same team.

Only drivers with equal machinery can be compared, and it is quite often said in the sport of Formula One that the most important comparison for any driver is to his own teammate.

The differences between teammates can be measured in multiple ways, for example, by comparing points accumulated throughout the season, average race pace difference, or qualifying pace difference.

The Qualifying head-to-head statistics reveal the raw pace of a Formula One driver. During the race, there are a lot more variables that determine drivers' pace, but in qualifying, it is one lap all out, and that is it.

The 2023 Qualifying head-to-head stats reveal some of the teams had much more closely matched drivers than others.

The teams with closely matched drivers include Alpine, Mercedes, and Ferrari. The gaps between Pierre Gasly with Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton with George Russell are so small it can be said the two drivers were pretty much equal on pace.

On the other hand of the spectrum, the differences between drivers from AlphaTauri, Red Bull, Williams, and Aston Martin were staggering in 2023.

Liam Lawson was a rookie in AlphaTauri who jumped in the car for only five races as a substitute for injured Daniel Ricciardo and was not completely familiar with the F1 car, so his difference from Yuki Tsunoda can be explained.

On the other hand, Sergio Perez from Red Bull, for example, had the fastest car on the grid along with Max Verstappen but just could not put a qualifying lap together. His average qualifying position was ninth place on the grid, lagging -0.495 seconds behind his teammate.

Any gap above 0,2 seconds between two drivers is pretty significant and can mean a loss of up to five positions during the Qualifying session. See the full head-to-head results below: