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After 9 races in 9 countries, we are almost at the half way mark in the 2013 Formula 1 season. With just 1 race left before the summer break, most of the drivers are out in full swing to impress teams who are looking for new drivers next year. The first thing that teams will look for in a driver is how well they are against their own teammate, who has pretty much the same car and this gives them a clear comparison. Let’s take a look at how the drivers have matched up against their teammates this year,
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Marussia F1 Team – Jules Bianchi vs Max Chilton
Currently, Bianchi is placed two places higher compared to his teammate Chilton in the Championship. Jules has impressed everybody with his performance this year and has qualified higher than his team mate a whopping 8 times. He has given the team its best finish this year with a 13th place in Malaysia. Bianchi has Ferrari‘s backing and with performances like this, he can surely make his way to the Italian team one day. Max Chilton has the money he needs to keep the seat, but after a point, someone with more money and better performance should get the chance to take his seat. Right now, its Jules Bianchi that leads by quite a margin.
Caterham F1 Team – Charles Pic vs Giedo van der Garde
Charles Pic is competing in his second Formula 1 season and this experience has given him an advantage against his rookie teammate. This was evident in their qualifying performance where Pic has out-qualified the young Dutchman 6 times out of 9. Van der Garde made the team really happy by qualifying in 15th in Monaco, but his race performances have been less impressive. He is currently in 22nd and last, whereas his teammate is in 20th. Again, this could be down to the experience that Pic has but Van der Garde has to step up his performance before the team decide to bring back Hekki Kovalainen to replace one of these drivers next year. If it goes this way, we could see Pic pairing up with Kovalainen next year.
Williams F1 Team – Pastor Maldonado vs Valtteri Bottas
Again another surprise here as we see Bottas have better qualifying results compared to his teammate. The Finn leads 6 to Maldonado’s 3. Bottas surprised everybody with his 3rd place in Montreal Qualifying but these qualifying results have not proved helpful as Maldonado has had better races. In saying this, the team is having a really bad year and are yet to score a point this year. Maldonado has better financial backing but Bottas is right on his tail with good performances for a rookie. Looks like this battle could go down the wire with Maldonado having the advantage because of his experience.
Sauber F1 Team – Nico Hulkenburg vs Esteban Gutierrez
Hulkenburg’s experience with two other teams has clearly given him a big advantage over his rookie teammate. The German has out qualified his teammate in all the races and has scored all of the team’s seven points. Clearly, he is taking the team forward with his experience, but Sauber are holding him back instead of giving him a competitive car. With new Russian investors helping the team, it looks like we could have a Russian racer replacing one of these two drivers. Surely, Hulkenburg will finish ahead of the Mexican and he should move to another team.
Scuderia Torro Rosso- Daniel Ricciardo vs Jean Eric Vergne
Red Bull Racing’s sister team is a stepping stone for success and in turn Championships, and the winner of this battle will have a 50% chance of making it to the big team next season. Right now, the Australian Ricciardo has the clear advantage in qualifying with a 6-3 lead over his teammate. Again, qualifying is only half the job and in the race results its Vergne who leads Ricciardo by two points. But Ricciardo’s overall performance has given him the clear advantage for Webber’s seat at Red Bull. Will Red Bull stick to their decision if Kimi chooses Lotus and Ricciardo isn’t this good later in the season? We will have to wait and see.
McLaren-Mercedes – Jenson Button vs Sergio Perez
Button’s vast experience has given him an advantage over Perez. The Briton has out qualified his team mate 6 times out of 9. This performance has helped Button keep the lead during races. He now leads Perez by 17 points. Surely, Button will keep Perez at bay till the end of the season. The real fight will begin when they both start fighting for wins rather than just points. So, McLaren need to get it all right next year and continue their legacy.
Force India F1 Team – Adrian Sutil vs Paul Di Resta
This team gives us a more evenly matched pairing with Di Resta leading the German 5-4 in Qualifying. Looking at the race stats, again it is Di Resta who leads Sutil by 13 points in the Championship. Even though Sutil has almost double the number of starts than Di Resta does, it is the Briton who looks to finish the year higher and possibly score the team’s second podium.
Lotus F1 Team – Kimi Raikkonen vs Romain Grosjean
Kimi Raikkonen is here to race and nothing else. He does his job well and the results reflect this. He has been out qualified by his teammate only once, however he has consistently beaten Grosjean in races by quite a margin. The Championship standings prove this – Raikkonen is in 3rd whereas his teammate is in 8th with just over a third of Raikkonen’s points scored. Surely, it is Kimi who will come out on top at the end of this year and certainly move to Red Bull next year.
Scuderia Ferrari – Fernando Alonso vs Felipe Massa
The Italian team’s star driver and World Championship contender Alonso has a clear advantage over his teammate. Felipe Massa has been struggling to bring out the positives in his car like Alonso does. He hasn’t won a race since Brazil 2008, where he lost the Championship by a single point in the last corner drama. This season, it’s again Alonso who leads the Qualifying battle 6-3 and in the championship, Alonso leads Massa by a massive 66 points. There is no doubt about Alonso winning this battle. The major talking point at the end of the season will be the decision to keep or drop Massa from the line up of drivers. I think it’s going be the end of the road for the Brazilian this season unless he can give the team really good performances.
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team – Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton
Rosberg has been with the team ever since it’s buy out by Mercedes. He is a driver with a lot of skill but he is underrated. The two wins this year are debatable but a win is a win. His performance against Schumacher was amazing, but ever since Lewis has come into the team, there has been a really good fight between the two of them at the front. Lewis Hamilton leads the Qualifying battle 6-3 and even though Rosberg has won two races where Lewis has won none, the Briton leads his teammate by 15th points. It looks like this battle will go down to the wire, both drivers will stick with Mercedes next year so the battle will only become more intense on track next year. Right now, it looks like its going to be Lewis Hamilton who comes out on top.
Infiniti Red Bull Racing – Sebastian Vettel vs Mark Webber
There is no doubt about the winner of the qualifying battle; it is obviously the three time World Champion and current Championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who has qualified better than his teammate in every race this season. In the World Championship table, it is the young German Vettel who remains on top by a margin of 34 points from his nearest Championship rival Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber, who is competing in his last Formula 1 Season this year, is 64 points behind his teammate. This speaks volumes about Sebastian Vettel, who has come, seen and conquered everything he wanted to and will continue to do so for a long time to come. Mark Webber has every fan’s utmost respect for his driving abilities, but he has had a lot of opportunities to win the WDC, which will remain an unfulfilled wish for him and his fans alike.
10 races remain this season and it is about time where teams will start focusing most of their attention to next year’s car. Teams will need the right drivers and the drivers will need the right team to start off a new era in Formula 1 beginning next year. The next couple of months will give us a clear picture of who takes the risk of moving teams and what kind of surprises the teams have in store for us. Its going to be a great battle not only between the Championship contenders but also between teammates, who will want the team’s full support going into next year.
