Internal F1 duels | Verstappen runs out again, tension at Ferrari

A week after the Formula 1 season resumed at Zandvoort, the Italian Grand Prix was on the programme. The internal duels between teammates show that some F1 drivers are (again) running out of steam, while a number of teams are getting particularly exciting. GPblog lists the averages.

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 Verstappen was unable to finish his qualifying due to a technical problem. In the case of a crash due to his own fault, 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. With rain during qualifying, the time difference between them is not factored into these results.

Sergio Perez had a good weekend in Monza, but as in most F1 races in 2023, the Mexican could not match his faster teammate Max Verstappen. Unlike a number of other GP weekends, Perez did little wrong in Italy. His qualifying could have been better and possibly prevented him from catching up earlier in the race, but the Red Bull driver showed his best side in several fine battles with George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Ferrari

Ferrari was keen for a good result in its own home race, in front of the tifosi present in large numbers. On Friday, Sainz in particular proved to be in good shape and the Spaniard proved it in qualifying a day later, where he secured pole position at the expense of Verstappen. In the race, Sainz and Leclerc were evenly matched, resulting in a spectacular battle between the two Ferraris for the final podium spot. In the internal duel, Sainz is creeping closer to his teammate after the Italian GP, both in qualifying and race results.

Mercedes

As different as it has been in the past, Mercedes knew prior to the race weekend that it should not expect miracles at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton drove around in no man's land and could be moderately satisfied with fifth and sixth places, especially considering that both drivers had a five-second time penalty. Russell scored a point for his better race result, but saw Hamilton finish ahead in most races so far. It is more exciting in the qualifying duel: there the two British drivers are tied.

Alpine

Alpine had a weekend to quickly forget at Monza. The French team lacked speed throughout the weekend and was in the rear in almost every session. For Esteban Ocon, the race ended in a retirement. Pierre Gasly managed to make the best of it, but more than a fifteenth place was not in the cards for him. What is clear is that the two compatriots are evenly matched.

McLaren

After several strong performances in the past few races, McLaren fell behind at Monza. In qualifying it still looked pretty good and rookie Oscar Piastri even managed to qualify ahead of Lando Norris, but in the race on Sunday only Norris managed to grab a point for the Woking-based team. In Singapore, it should be seen whether the British formation can again fight for the positions behind Red Bull.

Alfa Romeo

A fairly colourless weekend for Alfa Romeo, but Valtteri Bottas still managed to grab a precious point on Sunday. To do so, the Finn drove forward from fourteenth starting position to cross the finishing line in tenth place. Guanyu Zhou is not letting his experienced teammate completely beat him this season, but had to acknowledge Bottas' superiority in Monza.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin could not move forward in Monza was shown by Fernando Alonso's tenth starting place and the very last for Lance Stroll. The latter did not move beyond 16th place on Sunday, while Alonso struggled to gain a place. The Silverstone-based stable will be hoping that the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore suits the AMR23 better.

Haas

Nico Hulkenberg consolidated his position in the internal duel with Kevin Magnussen yet again by finishing ahead of his teammate in Italy, in both qualifying and the race. Points were not in it for the US team, which saw both drivers cross the finish line as stragglers.

AlphaTauri

Since the departure of his good friend Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda has clearly taken on the role of team leader within AlphaTauri. The Japanese is already up to his third teammate of the year with Liam Lawson replacing the injured Daniel Ricciardo. Both drivers drove a strong qualifying, but for Tsunoda, the race already ended during the formation lap. For this reason, no point will be awarded to Lawson, who finished in a fine 11th place in the internal duel.

Williams

*Albon's crash in Australia and Sargeant's crash in Holland are not included as the team stated after the race that a technical problem caused the dropouts.

Alexander Albon continues to impress in the 2023 F1 season. At Monza, the Williams driver again came up very strong with sixth place in qualifying, before losing just one spot in the race. The British Thai thus scored important points again, while Logan Sargeant remains on a zero score.