Team duels | Verstappen makes mincemeat of Perez even in bad weekend

Verstappen also makes mincemeat of Perez in bad weekend

Starting with Verstappen who, with his P5 finish at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, finished better again in the duel with Perez. In the race, Verstappen is 13-2 ahead of the Mexican. In the qualifying duel, things are even more dire for Perez. The driver managed to be faster than Verstappen in qualifying only once this season. The standings are 13-1.

Looking at the average starting position of both Red Bull Racing drivers this season, the gap between the two becomes even more painfully obvious. Verstappen has an average starting position of 1.9, while Perez has an average starting position of 11.2 behind his name.

Sainz and Leclerc make it hard for Ferrari to choose

At Ferrari in 2023, it is difficult to decide who deserves number one status within the team. After another strong performance by Sainz, he has moved further ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc in the championship. Leclerc was the better and the faster in qualifying, although it was evenly matched. Leclerc beat Sainz eight times, vice versa seven times. On average, the Monegasque is about four hundredths of a second faster than Sainz.

In the race, Sainz is the stronger one. Given that Sainz also started behind Leclerc more often than the other way around, the Spaniard can rightly be seen as the better racer of 2023. Sainz finished ahead of Leclerc seven times in races in which they both finished. Leclerc did so only six times.

Russell holds on to Hamilton in qualifying

A final special mention in the list of team duels is for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton is over seventy points ahead of George Russell and often outpaces his teammate in races. It stands 10-4 for the seven-time world champion. In qualifying, Hamilton is behind and is 7-8. The difference in qualifying times is particularly narrow between the two. Just two thousandths of a second Russell is faster than his compatriot.

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