Formula 1: Teammate battles becoming clearer heading into Monaco

Following the first five races of the 2019 Formula 1 season, the battles among the 10 pairs of teammates are starting to become clearer.

Five of the 21 races on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule are in the books, and the battles among teammates are becoming clearer.

Several of these battles are very close, several are lopsided, several are lopsided to the point where they really can’t even be considered “battles” at this point, and the complexion of several of them, even some of the lopsided ones, could change in the matter of a race or two.

Here is an early look at these battles, sorted by the gap between teammates.

Rank – Team: Gap – Gap Percentage – (Teammate Battle, Points)
1st – Red Bull Racing: +45 – 75.86% – (Max Verstappen over Pierre Gasly, 66-21)
2nd – Alfa Romeo Racing: +13 – 100% – (Kimi Raikkonen over Antonio Giovinazzi, 13-0)
2nd – Haas: +13 – 93.33% – (Kevin Magnussen over Romain Grosjean, 14-1)
4th – Racing Point: +9 – 76.47% – (Sergio Perez over Lance Stroll, 13-4)
5th – Ferrari: +7 – 52.89% – (Sebastian Vettel over Charles Leclerc, 64-57)
5th – Mercedes: +7 – 51.61% – (Lewis Hamilton over Valtteri Bottas, 112-105)
7th – McLaren: +2 – 54.55% – (Lando Norris over Carlos Sainz Jr., 12-10)
8th – Renault: 0 – 50.00% – (Nico Hulkenberg over Daniel Ricciardo, 6-6)
8th – Toro Rosso: 0 – 50.00% – (Alexander Albon over Daniil Kvyat, 3-3)
8th – Williams: 0 – 50.00% – (George Russell over Robert Kubica, 0-0)

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The 45-point lead of Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen over teammate Pierre Gasly is the only lead that does not have the potential to turn into a deficit in the next race, a maximum of 25 points are on the table for each driver in each race. This lead accounts for a whopping 46.88% of all leads combined.

However, it is highly unlikely that the 13-point lead of Rich Energy Haas’ Kevin Magnussen over teammate Romain Grosjean or the 13-point lead of Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen over teammate Antonio Giovinazzi will turn into deficits in the next race, as 13 points can only be made up in one race by at least a third place finish (15 points). Non-Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull Racing drivers have combined to earn just one podium finish in the last 38 races.

As far as drivers scoring the highest percentage of their teams’ points are concerned, Raikkonen, Magnussen and SportPesa Racing Point’s Sergio Perez are currently ahead of Verstappen in that category despite the fact that Verstappen has by far the biggest point gap over his teammate.

Of the three teammate battles that are tied, one, the battle among ROKiT Williams Racing teammates George Russell and Robert Kubica, will likely stay tied, as the odds that either one of these drivers will finish any race in the top 10 to score any points this season are extremely small. In fact, none of them have finished higher than any other drivers in any qualifying session or in any race all season long, and that may not change, either.

That said, these three teammate battles that are tied are still being led by one driver over the other as a result of their average finishing positions. The average finishing position of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg is 14.20, which is higher than that of teammate Daniel Ricciardo (15.20), while the average finishing position of Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Alexander Albon is 11.00, which is higher than that of teammate Daniil Kvyat (13.80). Russell’s average finishing position is 15.80, which is higher than that of Kubica (16.80).

For our preseason predictions for who the 10 winners of these teammate battles would be, click here.

Next. Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time. dark

Which drivers will ultimately prevail in the battles against their teammates when the 2019 Formula 1 season ends in early December? Will a lot change as far as these battles are concerned from now until then?

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