Verstappen sees Perez getting closer, Stroll faces embarrassment in Japan

6 April at 10:36

Editor

A driver's first and biggestt opponent is his teammate. With exactly the same equipment, your teammate is the one you want to beat first. How do the duels between the drivers stand after qualifying in Japan? Here is the complete overview of all internal duels.

There are a number of drivers who have not finished a single qualifying session ahead of their teammate in 2024. Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, Alexander Albon, Yuki Tsunoda and Valtteri Bottas beat their teammate every time this season.

How the battle between teammates stand?

Sergio Perez did make a better impression this weekend by getting closer to Verstappen. As a result, the average gap is narrowing slightly. The same cannot be said for Guanyu Zhou, who so far has to leave the biggest gap to his teammate. In Japan, Lance Stroll also suffered a major blow. The Canadian got eliminated in Q1 with a gap of almost eight tenths on his teammate.

Lewis Hamilton managed to qualify ahead of George Russell for the first time this season, making that duel more exciting. Carlos Sainz won again from Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris is closing a gap on his younger teammate. Qualifying beast Nico Hulkenberg also struck again, beating Kevin Magnussen by a wide margin.