F1 News
Japanese GP Qualifying duels | One driver still unbeaten in 2023 F1 season
Max Verstappen has struck another major blow in the mutual qualifying duel with Sergio Perez. Only once this year did Perez manage to beat his teammate on in qualifying. Fernando Alonso is also once again running ahead of Lance Stroll and Williams driver Alexander Albon remains unbeaten driver in qualifying 2023.
While Verstappen and Alonso are striking blows in the duels between them, the tension among other Formula 1 teams is increasing. For instance, Lewis Hamilton has levelled the standings with George Russell, while Charles Leclerc is just another point ahead of Carlos Sainz, who was almost equal to his teammate after the Singapore Grand Prix.
Still unbeaten by his teammate is Albon. His crash in Q1 meant Logan Sargeant could no longer attempt to beat Albon in qualifying for the first time this year. As a result, the Thai-British driver has been faster than his American teammate in every F1 weekend in 2023 so far on Saturday.
Mutual qualifying duels after qualifying GP Japan
Verstappen 14-1 Perez*
Leclerc 9-7 Sainz
Hamilton 8-8 Russell
Ocon 7-9 Gasly
Norris 12-4 Piastri
Bottas 10-5 Zhou**
Alonso 14-2 Stroll
Magnussen 4-11 Hulkenberg*
Tsunoda 3-1 Lawson / Tsunoda 1-1 Ricciardo / Tsunoda 7-2 De Vries
Albon 16-0 Sargeant
*If drivers cannot take action in a session due to technical problems, we do not count this as a direct win by the other driver.
**If drivers are disqualified due to technical problems, we will not count this as a direct victory for the other driver.