Only one active Formula 1 driver has won every battle against his teammate in the driver standings since entering the sport.
Another Formula 1 season scheduled to come to an end this weekend at Yas Marina Circuit with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the 22nd race on the schedule.
Entering the 2021 season, there were seven new teammate pairings for the 2021 season, with only three teams, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes and Williams, bringing back both of their drivers from 2020 for another season in 2021.
At the seven teams with new drivers, six retained one of their two drivers from last year.
Excluding the three rookies, including the all-new Haas pairing of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin as well as AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, only one of the 17 drivers in the sport entered the year undefeated in teammate battles in the season-long driver standings throughout his career.
That driver is Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc beat Marcus Ericsson at Alfa Romeo Sauber in the 2018 season, his rookie season, and then beat Sebastian Vettel in back-to-back seasons at Ferrari, before Vettel signed with Aston Martin for the 2021 season and was replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr.
All of the other 16 drivers have lost at least one teammate battle throughout their career entering the 2021 season.
Here is a list (sorted by win percentage) of each driver’s teammate record.
NOTE: In seasons when a driver had multiple teammates, the season-long point total against all teammates is what the win-loss tally is based on. Ties in points are listed as ties and not broken.
- Charles Leclerc (3-0)
- Fernando Alonso (14-1-2)
- Lewis Hamilton (11-2-1)
- Sebastian Vettel (11-3)
- Sergio Perez (7-3)
- Daniel Ricciardo (6-3-1)
- Max Verstappen (4-2)
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (4-2)
- Kimi Raikkonen (9-8-1)
- Valtteri Bottas (4-4)
- Pierre Gasly (1-1)
- Nicholas Latifi (0-0-1)
- Lance Stroll (1-3)
- George Russell (0-1-1)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (0-1-1)
- Lando Norris (0-2)
- Esteban Ocon (0-3)
Technically, Nicholas Latifi hadn’t lost a teammate battle entering 2021, but the Williams driver didn’t score any points last year as a rookie and ended up tied with George Russell at 0-0. We’ll classify a tie as a half-win, half-loss.
Sergio Perez entered the 2021 season on a series-best streak of six consecutive teammate battles won. But now at Red Bull, that streak is set to end, as Max Verstappen has clinched a better finishing position, giving him a four-year streak.
Lewis Hamilton entered the year as the only driver between those two in terms of his streak, having won his most recent four teammate battles. That streak extended to five over Valtteri Bottas.
As for Leclerc, he can move to 4-0 this weekend, though that battle is still not over. He holds an 8.5-point lead over Carlos Sainz Jr. heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Can he pull it off to ensure that he will enter the 2022 season as the only unbeaten non-rookie? This race is set to be broadcast live from Yas Marina Circuit beginning at 7:55 a.m. ET this Sunday, December 12. Make sure to begin your free trial of FuboTV now so you don’t miss any of the action!