There are only six races to go until the end of the 2021 Formula 1 season. Everyone’s attention is obviously focused above all on the world championship duel between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton for the drivers’ title, but in this final phase of the championship it becomes even more interesting to analyze the trend of direct internal comparisons to individual teams among teammates. In some teams (Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, AlphaTauri, Haas, Williams) there is a clear discrepancy between ‘first and second driving’, with a driver who has the better of the other in practically all the comparison categories considered. Conversely, in the remaining four the situation is still in equilibrium.
In terms of classification, the most poised clash is the one that is developing at Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc divided between them by just one point. Very tight, both in qualifying and in the race, also the comparison of the Alpine box, which pits Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. In Alfa Romeo, on the other hand, Antonio Giovinazzi is clearly ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in terms of performance in qualifying, but slips behind the Finn in direct confrontations in the race and above all in the points won. The situation inside the Aston Martin garage is still different, because it is more evolving.
In the middle of the season Sebastian Vettel it seemed to have taken a pretty clear gap up Lance Stroll, not only in terms of points in the standings, but also in the comparison with the Canadian in qualifying and in the race. Unexpectedly, however, the Montreal native, also thanks to the disqualification suffered by Vettel in Hungary, when he was second at the finish line, has recovered much of the disadvantage. From the Styrian GP onwards Stroll has scrapped 16 points, against the German’s 5, all referring to the particular ‘race’ in Spa. The son of the team boss has also done better than the former Ferrari driver eight times out of 12 when both are arrived at the finish. Stroll was more continuous, with eight finishes in the points, against only four by Vettel.
In qualifying, where the four-time world champion is still ahead, his neighbor is still in a positive trend. In fact, in three of the last four qualifying rounds, the # 18 preceded his team-mate / opponent, entering Q3 twice in a row. All numbers that will certainly have to make the Heppenheim driver think and push him to raise his driving level in these last races of the year.
Mercedes | Hamilton | Bottas |
Qualifications | 12 | 4 |
Q2 inputs | 16 | 16 |
Inputs Q3 | 16 | 16 |
Pole Position | 3 | 2 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.332 | |
Sprint qualifications | 1 | 1 |
Competition | 9 | 3 |
Top-10 | 14 | 11 |
Podiums | 11 | 9 |
Victories | 5 | 1 |
Points | 256.5 | 177 |
Withdrawals | 1 | 3 |
Red Bull | Verstappen | Perez |
Qualifications | 14 | 2 |
Q2 inputs | 15 | 15 |
Inputs Q3 | 15 | 14 |
Pole Position | 8 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.625 | |
Sprint qualifications | 2 | 0 |
Competition | 12 | 0 |
Top-10 | 13 | 12 |
Podiums | 12 | 3 |
Victories | 7 | 1 |
Points | 262.5 | 135 |
Withdrawals | 3 | 1 |
McLaren | Ricciardo | Norris |
Qualifications | 5 | 11 |
Q2 inputs | 14 | 16 |
Inputs Q3 | 9 | 15 |
Pole Position | 0 | 1 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.378 | |
Sprint qualifications | 1 | 1 |
Competition | 4 | 11 |
Top-10 | 11 | 14 |
Podiums | 1 | 4 |
Victories | 1 | 0 |
Points | 95 | 145 |
Withdrawals | 0 | 1 |
Aston Martin | Vettel | Stroll |
Qualifications | 9 | 7 |
Q2 inputs | 14 | 13 |
Inputs Q3 | 6 | 6 |
Pole Position | 0 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.068 | |
Sprint qualifications | 1 | 1 |
Competition | 4 | 8 |
Top-10 | 4 | 8 |
Podiums | 1 | 0 |
Victories | 0 | 0 |
Points | 35 | 26 |
Withdrawals | 3 | 2 |
Alpine | Alonso | Or with |
Qualifications | 9 | 7 |
Q2 inputs | 15 | 13 |
Inputs Q3 | 9 | 7 |
Pole Position | 0 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.041 | |
Sprint qualifications | 2 | 0 |
Competition | 6 | 7 |
Top-10 | 11 | 10 |
Podiums | 0 | 1 |
Victories | 0 | 1 |
Points | 58 | 46 |
Withdrawals | 1 | 2 |
Ferrari | Leclerc | Sainz |
Qualifications | 11 | 5 |
Q2 inputs | 16 | 16 |
Inputs Q3 | 13 | 10 |
Pole Position | 2 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.148 | |
Sprint qualifications | 2 | 0 |
Competition | 10 | 4 |
Top-10 | 12 | 14 |
Podiums | 1 | 3 |
Victories | 0 | 0 |
Points | 116 | 116.5 |
Withdrawals | 2 | 0 |
AlphaTauri | Gasly | Tsunoda |
Qualifications | 16 | 0 |
Q2 inputs | 16 | 8 |
Inputs Q3 | 13 | 4 |
Pole Position | 0 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.718 | |
Sprint qualifications | 1 | 0 |
Competition | 10 | 1 |
Top-10 | 11 | 5 |
Podiums | 1 | 0 |
Victories | 0 | 0 |
Points | 74 | 18 |
Withdrawals | 3 | 3 |
Alfa Romeo | Raikkonen | Giovinazzi |
Qualifications | 4 | 10 |
Q2 inputs | 5 | 9 |
Inputs Q3 | 0 | 1 |
Pole Position | 0 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.387 | |
Sprint qualifications | 1 | 0 |
Competition | 7 | 6 |
Top-10 | 3 | 1 |
Podiums | 0 | 0 |
Victories | 0 | 0 |
Points | 6 | 1 |
Withdrawals | 1 | 0 |
Haas | Schumacher | Mazepin |
Qualifications | 14 | 2 |
Q2 inputs | 2 | 0 |
Inputs Q3 | 0 | 0 |
Pole Position | 0 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.923 | |
Sprint qualifications | 1 | 1 |
Competition | 9 | 2 |
Top-10 | 0 | 0 |
Podiums | 0 | 0 |
Victories | 0 | 0 |
Points | 0 | 0 |
Withdrawals | 1 | 4 |
Williams | Russell | Latifi |
Qualifications | 16 | 0 |
Q2 inputs | 15 | 4 |
Inputs Q3 | 4 | 0 |
Pole Position | 0 | 0 |
Average detachment Q. | +0.448 | |
Sprint qualifications | 1 | 1 |
Competition | 9 | 1 |
Top-10 | 4 | 2 |
Podiums | 1 | 0 |
Victories | 0 | 0 |
Points | 16 | 7 |
Withdrawals | 4 | 3 |