Verstappen and Alonso impress in Formula 1 Qualifying duels this year

In Formula 1, qualifying is still very important. It indicates the pure speed of a driver if he loses the qualifying duel over an entire year. Besides the qualifying duel, there is also the average qualifying difference.

To arrive at as fair a picture as possible, GPblog looks at the last qualifying session drivers have driven together. If 'Driver 1' drops out in Q1, then the difference in that session is included. In Q2 the track becomes faster, giving 'Driver 2' an advantage then. Due to rain, the track could also become slower, making the difference an outlier. GPblog also takes into account the time driven in the same session under almost the same conditions.

In addition, GPblog also takes into account technical problems. A technical issue beyond the driver's control does not count as a victory for the other driver. However, a crash of a driver does count, unless the crash is due to a technical problem of the car.

Looking at the figures, it's noticeable that two drivers are yet to be defeated in their qualifying duel in 2025: Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen. Both outperformed their teammates on every occasions, although for Verstappen this does not result in a 9-0 score. He had Liam Lawson as teammate for two races (2-0) and has now been racing against Yuki Tsunoda for seven races (7-0).

However, Verstappen takes the crown when it comes to the average qualifying difference. With Liam Lawson, it was 0.913s and with Yuki Tsunoda, the average difference is 0.692s. For a top team, of course, that's a gap that's too big. Alonso follows at an appropriate distance, with an average lead of 0.399s over Lance Stroll.

While one duel can hardly be called a duel, other teammates are incredibly close to each other. Due to the unequal number of races no pair is at a tie, but a difference of just 1 can be seen at McLaren, Williams, and Kick Sauber. Also, the duel between Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman at Haas is tight with the Frenchman leading 5-3.

The smallest average difference this season on Saturdays is between Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. Just 0.065s is the average difference between the veteran and the rookie, which says a lot about the debut of the Brazilian. Also, at Haas and championship contenders Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, the average difference is under one tenth.

In the terms of the Grand Prix duels, GPblog count again only the races where both drivers finish. If one does not finish due to a technical problem, no victory is counted for the other driver. This only counts if the other driver is out of the race due to their own fault.

Also in the races, Verstappen and Alonso are superior to their teammates. For Verstappen, this can also be seen in the points, but not for Alonso. Stroll scored more points than Alonso, as he finished in the top ten when Alonso did not reach the finish line.

The exciting duels can also be found on Sundays at McLaren and Kick Sauber. Especially, the race duels show that there's little to separate the teammates, where the points can sometimes give a skewed view. For example, Nico Hulkenberg appears much stronger than Gabriel Bortoleto when looking at the points, but the race duels also show that Hulkenberg was simply stronger than Bortoleto on circuits where the Kick Sauber car was good enough to score points.

This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sárközi