The old Formula One adage that the first person a driver has to beat is their teammate may be overused. Yet in today’s highly competitive era, it provides intriguing performance data.

There’s a direct comparison from two drivers using the same kit. In the case of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, their battle atop the pack looks poised to rage through the remainder of the 2025 season.

But by delving into the match-ups between each teammate pairing, a clearer picture of the season’s story emerges. This uncovers to what extent drivers are thriving or struggling in their seats this year.

Comparing one-lap pace in qualifying is a very useful way to compare teammates, given they’re typically driving in the same conditions, as opposed to a race where varying scenarios can obscure the picture.

Here’s a rundown of each head-to-head battle across grand prix qualifying sessions this season. Sessions where crashes or incidents ruined direct comparisons are not included.

Haas

Points: Ocon 27-8 Bearman
Qualifying H2H: 7-7
Average gap: Bearman -0.021s

It’s quite easy to draw parallels between the seasons so far of Haas and Sauber when looking at these teammate battles. A quick, experienced driver is joined by an F1 junior team product, moving up from F2, and while the more experienced driver has the greater points share, it’s the rookie that’s been the quicker.

Haas didn’t let a rough start in Australia derail it, as Ocon grabbed P5 (following two Ferrari disqualifications) immediately afterwards in China. After Monaco, the Frenchman was 6-2 up in the Haas head-to-head. Bearman’s impressive cameos with Ferrari and Haas in 2024 hadn’t translated into any real statement performances through the first half of his full rookie season, leaving needing clean weekends.

But from Spain onwards, Bearman has turned things around, qualifying almost two-tenths clear of Ocon on average in that span.

Ocon is a grand prix winner and there are few doubts over his pace (Mercedes even once considered him as a teammate to Lewis Hamilton) so for Bearman already to be this close is really encouraging. The points will surely follow.

Verdict: Another case of points totals not telling the full story — Bearman is emerging as the faster Haas driver and Ocon is rapid.

McLaren

Points: Piastri 284-275 Norris
Wins: Piastri 6-5 Norris
Podiums: Piastri 12-12 Norris
Qualifying H2H: Piastri 8-6 Norris
Average gap: Piastri -0.042s

The tiny margins between Piastri and Norris will come as little surprise given the intensity of their championship fight so far. But what is striking is how much Piastri has managed to erase the gap over a single lap season-over-season.

Norris won this qualifying head-to-head 20-4 last year, making pure pace a point of focus for Piastri through the winter. That step forward, combined with Norris’s struggles to unlock optimal qualifying speed prior to McLaren’s suspension tweaks being introduced in Canada, has led to much narrower margins between the two papaya cars. Norris has often looked quicker than Piastri, but then not when it matters in Q3.

The average gap of 0.042 seconds in Piastri’s favor is the second-closest on the F1 grid this year. Should that margin remain so fine through the final 10 races, we’re likely in for a tense championship battle that goes right to the very end.

Verdict: Piastri’s qualifying gains have turned the tables on Norris at McLaren.

Sauber

Points: Hülkenberg 37-14 Bortoleto
Podiums: Hülkenberg 1-0 Bortoleto
Qualifying H2H: Bortoleto 8-6 Hülkenberg
Average gap: Bortoleto -0.059s

Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg is the experienced hand who, after 239 races, finally stood on the podium for the first time in F1 at Silverstone after a masterful, impressive drive in the wet. But it’s his fellow team newcomer Gabriel Bortoleto, the rookie, who ends the opening portion of the year as the quicker of the pair.

There was always going to be a period of adjustment for Bortoleto upon his F1 graduation, especially as he lacked the vast amounts of private testing afforded to some of his peers. But since Sauber introduced an upgraded floor in Barcelona, the Brazilian has grown massively in confidence. From this race onwards, he was only outqualified by Hülkenberg once.

“He’s a young, bright, very fast guy,” Hülkenberg said of Bortoleto in Hungary. “He’s very dedicated, very focused. He works really hard. He definitely has the right attitude and he’s got the speed. For a rookie, seeing him that close as a teammate, is very impressive.”

Verdict: Against an established and quick teammate, Bortoleto has made a strong case for being F1’s best rookie of 2025 so far.

Williams

Points: Albon 54-16 Sainz
Qualifying H2H: Albon 8-6 Sainz
Average gap: Albon -0.072s

Ferrari incomer and four-time grand prix winner Carlos Sainz was always going to provide the toughest challenge Alex Albon has experienced to date at Williams — and Albon has answered it superbly.

But the points tally alone does not tell the full story of just how finely-balanced the battle has been at Williams. Several incidents have limited Sainz and bred some understandable frustration at times. Team principal James Vowles said in Hungary there’d been “fault on all sides” for Sainz’s form this year, and the challenge for Williams was to “provide the smooth platform where we are delivering so that he can deliver himself at the same time.”

That shouldn’t take anything away from just how good Albon has been. At the times when he’s needed a lap to squeeze into Q3, he’s made it happen – setting Williams up for a run at points. With better reliability, his haul could be even greater. “He hasn’t really put a foot wrong,” Vowles said.

Verdict: Sainz is closer than you might think, but Albon has made a statement against his first seriously quick teammate since he raced Max Verstappen at Red Bull.

Racing Bulls

Points: Hadjar 22-20 Lawson; 3 Tsunoda
Qualifying H2H: Hadjar 9-3 Lawson; Hadjar 1-1 Tsunoda
Average gap: Hadjar -0.150s (Lawson); Hadjar -0.197s (Tsunoda)

On one side of Red Bull’s early driver swap, Racing Bulls offered Lawson a warm welcome home, hopeful that its compliant car would help rebuild his confidence.

It took time, but Lawson finally returned to his previous pace in the season’s European leg before the summer break, after struggling to match newcomer Isack Hadjar until then. One thing that has stood out for Hadjar is his qualifying pace as a rookie, something the Frenchman admitted at Spa has surprised him too.

What was an increasingly one-sided battle in Hadjar’s favor has recently balanced out. But points-wise, Hadjar felt with better luck and execution, he might’ve been able to score more. He failed to cross the line inside a grand prix top 10 after Spain, although did score in the Belgium sprint race.

But the added leeway afforded to all rookies means, with the exception of his formation lap crash in Australia, Hadjar deserves an enormous amount of credit for his performances so far in F1. If Yuki Tsunoda’s struggles continue and he can return to regular points scoring over the season run in, he’ll surely have a strong case for being promoted to Red Bull for 2026.

Verdict: Hadjar is already the benchmark Lawson is clawing to match.

Ferrari

Points: Leclerc 151-109 Hamilton
Podiums: Leclerc 5-0 Hamilton
Qualifying H2H: Leclerc 10-4 Hamilton
Average gap: Leclerc -0.182s

Lewis Hamilton knew Charles Leclerc would be an impressive, rapid teammate at Ferrari. The gap between them at the summer break mark should not come as a complete surprise.

Both drivers have been hamstrung by the tricky SF-25 car that can’t be run at an optimum ride height, requiring some extreme setup choices to get it into a quick window. Hamilton recently claimed he’d started out doing more experimenting, only to gravitate toward Leclerc’s setup as the season wore on.

That theory is supported by the closing gap between the two drivers, notably from Miami onwards. Hamilton was more than three-tenths adrift on average through the first five races, only to narrow the margin to just half a tenth from Miami through Silverstone.

But two miserable outings in Belgium and Hungary knocked Hamilton’s confidence. He even called himself “useless” at the latter after Leclerc claimed Budapest pole.

Verdict: Hamilton had been getting closer, but Leclerc remains a step ahead.

Alpine

Points: Gasly 20-0 Colapinto; 0 Doohan
Qualifying H2H: Gasly 6-2 Colapinto; Gasly 5-1 Doohan
Average gap: Gasly -0.256s (Colapinto); Gasly -0.362s (Doohan)

Alpine’s turbulent season has yielded few bright spots so far. But one can certainly be the form of Pierre Gasly, who has taken a troublesome car further up the field than it has any right to be at times.

The long-running storyline, stretching back before the season even commenced, surrounded Alpine’s second seat. It felt like a matter of when, not if, Jack Doohan would be replaced by Franco Colapinto, and this occurred at Imola. There, Colapinto crashed in qualifying on debut for his new team, setting the tone for a difficult period for the Argentine driver.

Colapinto has admitted he’s not driving with the same kind of ease and confidence as he did at Williams last year, which is evident in the pace gap to Gasly.

He’s been a marginal improvement on Doohan, though the Australian was cutting the gap ever-so-slightly before being dropped after Miami. But it’s hardly the kind of form either party would’ve expected given all the hype around Colapinto in the past 12 months.

Verdict: Colapinto hasn’t delivered a huge improvement over Doohan in the second Alpine, but has been given more time.

Aston Martin

Points: Alonso 26-26 Stroll
Qualifying H2H: Alonso 14-0 Stroll
Average gap: Alonso -0.336s

Fernando Alonso’s reputation for dominating teammates throughout his F1 career has shown zero sign of waning, even as he turned 44 in the middle of his 22nd F1 season. Alonso won the Aston Martin Saturday qualifying head-to-head 19-5 last year, but is currently on for a season sweep against Lance Stroll.

It’s been a strange season thus far for Aston. The green team went from a double Q1 exit at Spa to getting both cars into Q3 and within a tenth of pole just one week later in Hungary on the summer break’s eve. But Alonso has consistently remained competitive and with a bit more luck and better reliability would have more points to his name.

Stroll has managed to snatch points on occasion, but also struggled to take advantage of the team’s biggest opportunity. This came at Silverstone, when he ran third after the early wet chaos before he faded to seventh.

The qualifying pace gap to Alonso has come down gradually since Canada, yet Stroll remains a decent chunk behind his teammate, even with 180 race starts over nine F1 seasons himself.

Verdict: Alonso remains Aston’s clear leader.

Mercedes

Points: Russell 172-64 Antonelli
Wins: Russell 1-0 Antonelli
Podiums: Russell 6-1 Antonelli
Qualifying H2H: Russell 13-1 Antonelli
Average gap: Russell -0.406s

Russell’s defeat of Hamilton in their final season as teammates at Mercedes proved he was more than ready to step up as team leader, a role he has embraced fully this year alongside 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli.

Mercedes always anticipated there’d be a gap between the two drivers given their respective career points. This is Antonelli’s first F1 season and only his fourth in single-seaters overall, a fact that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Antonelli was showing signs of progress toward Russell’s pace early in 2025, including snaring an impressive sprint race pole in Miami. But Mercedes’ Imola rear suspension upgrade bruised Antonelli’s confidence and left him lacking his natural feel for a car. This caused a downward spiral in results that he’s been very open in discussing.

Russell was better at dealing with Mercedes’ drop in performance (not helped by the Barcelona front-wing rule changes), causing the gap to grow. He ended 2025’s first act a long way clear of his young teammate, having arguably performed better than ever in his F1 career so far this year.

Verdict: The gap between experienced Russell and rookie Antonelli isn’t a surprise, but needs to fall through the second half for the latter’s sake.

Red Bull

Points: Verstappen 187-7 Tsunoda; 0 Lawson
Wins: Verstappen 2-0 Tsunoda/Lawson
Podiums: Verstappen 5-0 Tsunoda/Lawson
Qualifying H2H: Verstappen 12-0 Tsunoda; Verstappen 2-0 Lawson
Average gap: Verstappen -0.540s (Tsunoda); Verstappen -0.913s (Lawson)

Unsurprisingly, Red Bull has the most lop-sided intra-team battle in F1 this season so far. Little has been done to dispel the image of it being a one-car team, where only Verstappen’s immense talents are capable of taming Red Bull’s RB21 — a model that even the Dutchman has struggled to get comfortable with this season.

Lawson’s rough preseason and Red Bull debut races were enough to urge the team to take action post-China, putting the more experienced Tsunoda in the car from Japan onwards. But even Tsunoda has struggled with the RB21 compared to Verstappen, suggesting the issue had less to do with Lawson’s inexperience.

The numbers do suggest Tsunoda has been making progress, as he closed the gap from Miami onwards. The +0.163s margin between him and Verstappen in Hungary was the smallest it has been, yet that was the difference between being eliminated in Q1 and reaching Q3.

F1’s super-compressed field in 2025 means Tsunoda will need to find at least a couple more tenths to be a Q3 regular like Verstappen — and strengthen his case to be kept here on for 2026.

Verdict: Tsunoda, while an improvement on Lawson, remains adrift from Verstappen.

(Top image: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto/Getty Images)