Verstappen still best at Red Bull and is pressure mounting on Hamilton?

Red Bull Racing

*In qualifying and race duels, results where one of the drivers has a technical problem are not included. Example: Perez does not get a point for his qualifying win in Saudi Arabia because Max was unable to finish his qualifying due to a technical problem. In the case of a self-inflicted crasg, the result will be taken into account. Example: Leclerc crashes in Q3 at Miami. His defeat to Sainz will be counted as a 'win' for the Carlos, though.

The title fight in 2023 will be between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, which of course always creates extra tension within a team. In the first two seasons, Verstappen was by far the best within the team, now the difference seems slightly smaller. It has to be said that in three qualifying sessions the difference could not be measured because one of the drivers' fastest time was not valid. Verstappen still has the upper hand and with circuits like those in Imola, Spain, Canada and Austria scheduled, that difference is likely to widen in the coming weeks.

Ferrari

In one lap, Charles Leclerc is again faster than Carlos Sainz in 2023, but the Spaniard has finished ahead of his teammate more than once this year. In Saudi Arabia with some luck due to Leclerc's grid penalty, but Sainz has been more consistent than Leclerc all this season. He is still losing out on pure speed, but his consistent performances are earning him more points. It will be interesting to see how this situation will develop at Ferrari.

Mercedes

At the German racing team, things are increasingly starting to go the way of George Russell. In his first year at Mercedes he was already able to keep up handsomely with Lewis Hamilton, in 2023 the young Briton looks set to add to that. 4-1 in the qualifying duel are unprecedented figures for Hamilton, who rarely lost a qualifying duel in his F1 career. Russell also seems to have gained ground in terms of race pace. Will Hamilton strike back in Europe, or will this downward trend continue with possible consequences given his expiring contract?

Alpine

The duel between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon has not yet produced the clashes that many people had anticipated. The two handle each other well and (outside the weekend in Australia) seem to get the most out of the car. They are also very evenly matched. Over one lap, Ocon narrowly wins it, Gasly has the advantage on Sunday. For Ocon, the latter is worrying though. After all, Gasly is only just getting into that car, Ocon has been in it for years.

McLaren

McLaren paid millions to buy out Daniel Ricciardo's contract and bring in Oscar Piastri. If you look purely at performance, it is a good move. As a rookie, Piastri is much closer to Norris than his compatriot managed in two years. Given his age and experience, you can also assume that Piastri is going to gain a lot of ground. The question then becomes how Lando Norris will deal with that. Still the front-runner now, but also caught out in Saudi Arabia when under pressure.

Alfa Romeo

On average, the difference on Saturday is nowhere near as small as between Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou. For Bottas, that means code red, for Zhou it is a nice development. He entered F1 as a pay driver but is now showing his value for the Swiss team. Bottas is still slightly better, but that should also be expected from the 10-time race winner.

Aston Martin

In everything, Fernando Alonso shows who the big man is at Aston Martin. It is not Lance Stroll, the owner's son, who is the star of the team, but Alonso. Indeed, Alonso often attracts the limelight even more than the team itself. It is to the Spaniard's credit after years of misery, but the situation within the team will still worry Stroll senior. With Sergio Perez and Sebastian Vettel, his son Lance could still be around or in front, but compared to Alonso, the youngest Stroll is completely hopeless for now.

Haas

In Miami, Kevin Magnussen struck back for the first time in the duel with Nico Hulkenberg. Until the race in the United States, the Dane had surprisingly been beaten by the German who had been out of the sport for three years. Haas has a fast car that regularly competes for the final points in a race weekend. Bringing in Hulkenberg so far appears to be a masterstroke by the much-criticised Guenther Steiner. Where Mick Schumacher kept parking his car in the wall, Hulkenberg has already scored quite a few points.

AlphaTauri

Prior to the F1 season, Nyck de Vries, especially in the Netherlands, was given good chances in the battle with Yuki Tsunoda. The Dutchman saw an upward trend in the first races and qualified ahead of his teammate for the first time in Miami, but it is no secret that his performance has been disappointing. De Vries needs to perform, according to rumours earlier this week. Helmut Marko is stepping up the pressure and has Daniel Ricciardo behind him as an alternative.

Williams

*Albon's crash in Australia is not included as the team stated after the race that it was a technical problem that caused the Thai to crash out.

Logan Sargeant shows at times that he is very fast, but every weekend he makes a mistake somewhere that doesn't quite pan out. As a result, the American is so far the driver most behind his teammate, but the potential is definitely there. It also has to be said that Alexander Albon is impressing a lot. As Williams' front-runner, the Thai is performing very consistently and is particularly impressive in qualifying. That should stand out among the higher-ranked teams.