A qualifying duel is one of the best ways to measure two teammates against each other, as it's about pure one-lap pace without anything like traffic or pitstops that could alter the result. So, how is each team's qualifying battle going after 15 of the 21 total qualifying sessions? Check the list below!
As there are 21 qualifying sessions in the 2019 season, you win your battle with your teammate as soon as you beat him 11 times. This has happened in three cases already, as you can see below, with
Daniel Ricciardo sealing his qualifying superiority in Singapore by qualifying in eighth compared to teammate
Nico Hülkenberg, who came in behind him in ninth.
Of course, beating your teammate in qualifying doesn't mean you are the better driver than him, as racing is completely different. There are qualifying experts who don't excel as much in races, and there are poor qualifiers who usually make up in places during a Grand Prix (
Lance Stroll is a good example of the latter).
However, in most cases, the driver who is on top in qualifying usually is on top in the drivers' standings as well; in eight of the ten cases as of now, with
Williams and
McLaren being the exceptions.
2019 F1 Qualifying duels (15/21)
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton 10 - 5 Valtteri Bottas
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc 9 - 6 Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull Racing
Max Verstappen 2 - 1 Alexander Albon
McLaren
Lando Norris 9 - 6 Carlos Sainz Jr.
Renault
Daniel Ricciardo 11 - 4 Nico Hülkenberg
Toro Rosso
Pierre Gasly 2 - 1 Daniil Kvyat
Racing Point
Sergio Pérez 14 - 1 Lance Stroll
Alfa Romeo Racing
Kimi Raikkonen 10 - 5 Antonio Giovinazzi
Haas F1
Kevin Magnussen 10 - 5 Romain Grosjean
Williams
George Russell 15 - 0 Robert Kubica
Underlined drivers have won their respective qualifying battle already