Formula 1: Each driver’s teammate battle history
By Asher Fair
As the 2021 season nears, let’s take a look at how have the 17 experienced Formula 1 drivers on this year’s grid fared against their teammates in years past.
The 2021 Formula 1 season is set to see several faces in new places, including one completely new driver lineup and six with one driver who stayed put alongside a newcomer. Just three teams retained the exact same lineup from 2020 to 2021.
Of the 20 drivers who competed in the 2020 season, just 16 are set to return in 2021, with Red Bull’s Alexander Albon, AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat and Haas teammates Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean no longer in the sport. But only three of the 2021 season’s 20 drivers are rookies.
That is because two-time champion Fernando Alonso is set to return after retiring following the 2018 season.
The three rookies are the Haas pair of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
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Before the 2021 season and thus the 10 teammate battles commence, let’s take a look back at the history which the 17 experienced drivers on this year’s grid have when it comes to dueling their teammates in season-long battles in the driver standings.
Here is a list (sorted by win percentage) of each driver’s teammate record as well as each driver’s most recent win and most recent loss.
NOTE: In seasons when a driver had more than one teammate, the win-loss tally is based on the season-long point total. Tiebreakers are not used in this list.
- Charles Leclerc (3-0)
- Most recent win: over Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari in 2020
- Most recent loss: N/A
- Fernando Alonso (14-1-2)
- Most recent win: over Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren in 2018
- Most recent loss: against Jenson Button at McLaren in 2015
- Lewis Hamilton (11-2-1)
- Most recent win: over Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes in 2020
- Most recent loss: against Nico Rosberg at Mercedes in 2016
- Sebastian Vettel (11-3)
- Most recent win: over Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari in 2018
- Most recent loss: against Charles Leclerc at Ferrari in 2020
- Sergio Perez (7-3)
- Most recent win: over Lance Stroll at Racing Point in 2020
- Most recent loss: against Nico Hulkenberg at Force India in 2014
- Max Verstappen (4-2)
- Most recent win: over Alexander Albon at Red Bull in 2020
- Most recent loss: against Daniel Ricciardo At Red Bull in 2017
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (4-2)
- Most recent win: over Lando Norris at McLaren in 2020
- Most recent loss: against Nico Hulkenberg at Renault in 2018
- Pierre Gasly (2-1)
- Most recent win: over Daniil Kvyat at AlphaTauri in 2020
- Most recent loss: against Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2019
- Daniel Ricciardo (6-3-1)
- Most recent win: over Esteban Ocon at Renault in 2020
- Most recent loss: against Max Verstappen at Red Bull in 2018
- Kimi Raikkonen (9-8-1)
- Most recent win: over Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo in 2019
- Most recent loss: against Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari in 2018
- NOTE: Tied with Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo in 2020
- Valtteri Bottas (4-4)
- Most recent win: over Felipe Massa at Williams in 2016
- Most recent loss: against Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in 2020
- Nicholas Latifi (0-0-1)
- Most recent win: N/A
- Most recent loss: N/A
- NOTE: Tied with George Russell at Williams in 2020
- Lance Stroll (1-3)
- Most recent win: over Sergey Sirotkin at Williams in 2018
- Most recent loss: against Sergio Perez at Racing Point in 2020
- George Russell (0-1-1)
- Most recent win: N/A
- Most recent loss: against Robert Kubica in 2019
- NOTE: Tied with Nicholas Latifi at Williams in 2020
- Antonio Giovinazzi (0-1-1)
- Most recent win: N/A
- Most recent loss: against Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo in 2019
- NOTE: Tied with Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo in 2020
- Lando Norris (0-2)
- Most recent win: N/A
- Most recent loss: against Carlos Sainz Jr. at McLaren in 2020
- Esteban Ocon (0-3)
- Most recent win: N/A
- Most recent loss: against Daniel Ricciardo at Renault in 2020
The series-best streak entering the 2021 season belongs to Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who has won six consecutive teammate battles. But those six battles were all at Force India/Racing Point.
Now at Red Bull, he will have to face Max Verstappen, who has won his teammate battles three years in a row. Lewis Hamilton is the only active driver aside from Perez to be on a streak of more than three, having won his most recent four.
But perhaps the most misleading record on this list is George Russell’s mark of 0-1-1. He dominated both Robert Kubica in 2019 and Nicholas Latifi in 2020, but Williams’ lone point during that two-year span came when Kubica was promoted to 10th place from 12th via penalties to the two Alfa Romeo drivers.
In addition to dominating his teammates in machinery that is nowhere near being top 10 equipment, Russell has also notably yet to lose a Williams qualifying battle in 37 attempts, the third longest streak in Formula 1 history.
The chances of such a feat are 1 in 137,438,953,472 (0.00000000072759576%). That’s 137.4 billion, with a “B”. That’s almost — almost — a whopping 0.5% of the U.S. national debt!
Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time. dark. Next
Which 10 drivers will prevail to win this year’s teammate battles? ESPN is set to broadcast the 2021 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix live from Bahrain International Circuit beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET this Sunday, March 28.