Qualifying duels: Albon needs replacing, Ocon and Stroll weak links

With four races to go, the 2020 Formula 1 season is almost over. It has resulted in a lot of interesting duels within different teams, although a lot of duels have already been decided. GPblog kept track of which drivers win the qualifying game and with which margin.

Red Bull is in need of a replacement

If we look at the current top two in the rankings, you can see a clear difference between the two top teams. While Valtteri Bottas still manages to win four of the thirteen qualifications from Lewis Hamilton, Alexander Albon is already 13-0 behind. The differences in time are also enormous. Bottas loses 0.218 on average, whereas Albon had to give in an average of 0.613 over the thirteen qualifiers.

It is therefore not surprising that Red Bull Racing is looking for a new teammate for Verstappen. The Dutchman needs a second driver who can help him develop the car, who can help optimize the setup and who can be there when the Dutchman doesn't have his day for a while.

McLaren the dream scenario

The number four manufacturer has understood this very well. McLaren may not have the best car in the duel with Renault and Racing Point, but it does have two drivers pushing each other to greater heights. Carlos Sainz is just ahead by 7-6, but on average Lando Norris is faster. The difference says it all because that's only 0.013.

A dream scenario they can only dream of at Renault and Racing Point. Daniel Ricciardo only lost one qualifying session to Esteban Ocon and the Frenchman lost an average of 0.272 per qualifying session. At Racing Point this is something different. Sergio Perez is well ahead by 8-2, but the wide margin with which Stroll won in Styria ensures that the average lead of Perez is still 0.060.

Ferrari and AlphaTauri can't really hook up in this duel and at Ferrari, this is mainly due to Sebastian Vettel. Charles Leclerc is clearly the boss at Ferrari with 11-2 and each time the average difference has increased to 0.460. At AlphaTauri Gasly is clearly the boss with the same intermediate position, only Kvyat manages to stay a bit closer on average and the average difference over thirteen qualifications is 0.342.

The biggest mismatch

With Alfa Romeo and Haas, it also goes up and down. Kimi Raikkonen is 7-6 ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, but with an average backlog of 0.062, the gap is manageable. Giovinazzi will aim to finally beat the Finn in 2021. Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean are also matched and surprisingly the Frenchman will lead 7-5 this year. Romain was also on average 0.054 faster per qualification.

The biggest mismatch, however, is at Williams, where it stands 13-0 for George Russell, who has teammate Nicholas Latifi in the lead with an average of seven-tenths on Saturday. On Sunday that's no good for Russell, who seems to have a hand in getting into trouble in races where the chance of points is there.

Mercedes

Hamilton 9-4 Bottas

Hamilton on average 0.218s faster over thirteen sessions. 

Red Bull Racing

Verstappen 13-0 Albon

Verstappen on average of 0.613s faster over thirteen sessions. 

Renault

Ricciardo 12-1 Ocon

Ricciardo on average 0.272s faster over thirteen sessions.

McLaren

Sainz 7-6 Norris

Norris on average 0.013s faster over thirteen sessions. 

Racing Point

Perez 8-2 Stroll

Perez on average 0.060s faster over ten sessions. 

Ferrari

Leclerc 11-2 Vettel

Leclerc on average 0.460s faster over thirteen sessions. 

AlphaTauri

Gasly 11-2 Kvyat

Gasly on average 0.342s faster over thirteen sessions. 

Alfa Romeo

Raikkonen 7-6 Giovinazzi

Raikkonen on average 0.062s faster over thirteen sessions. 

Haas

Grosjean 7-5 Magnussen

Grosjean on average 0.054s faster over twelve sessions. 

Williams

Russell 13-0 Latifi

Russell on average 0,700s faster over thirteen sessions.