How do each team’s drivers compare this season?

In Formula 1 there is no greater competition than that between team-mates as both drivers look to prove their position within the team.

Some teams will have clearly defined first and second drivers, but others will allow their racers to compete on an equal footing. Here, the need to come out on top is even greater to gain the upper-hand not only in contract talks but to get crucial updates on their car first.

But who has put their team-mate firmly in the shade, and where are the closest intra-team battles on the grid to be found? Let’s take a look.

Red Bull — Max Verstappen vs Sergio Perez

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull was expected to continue its dominating run in 2024, following Max Verstappen’s winning streak last year. The Dutchman won 19 out of 22 races in 2023, but only managed to take the top step of the podium at half of the 14 races before the summer break.

As in 2023, he has outperformed his team-mate Sergio Perez in all areas this season, including out-qualifying him at every race this year. Perez started ahead of Verstappen at the Belgian GP, when the three-time world champion was given a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his engine quota, but he had still qualified behind Verstappen, who dropped from first to 11th as Perez inherited second place behind Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull confirmed shortly after Spa that it would retain the Mexican for the remainder of the year despite a difficult few months in which Perez has only outscored Verstappen once — at the Australian GP, when the three-time world champion retired on lap four after a brake failure.

While he did take four podium finishes in the first five races, Perez has over the last nine races been unable to finish higher than sixth. That run includes two retirements in Monaco and Canada and finishing 17th at Silverstone after a Q1 crash meant he started from the pitlane.

McLaren — Lando Norris vs Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 2nd position, Oscar Piastri, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, congratulate each other on the podium

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

McLaren has continued its upward trajectory during a 2024 season in which both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have taken their maiden wins — at the Miami and Hungarian GPs respectively. The pair have also collected a number of podium finishes and a further win for Norris in Zandvoort, lifting the Papaya team to second in the constructors’ championship, with a real prospect of catching Red Bull during the latter stages of the season.

Despite mistakes potentially costing Norris multiple race wins, the team remains confident that it can put together a challenge for the constructors’ title, which it has not won since 1998. Ahead of F1’s return from the summer break, team CEO Zak Brown stated: “I’d like to think all departments, which feed into performance, either directly or indirectly, are all world championship material”.

Norris still has a slim but not impossible chance of winning this year’s drivers’ championship after defeating Max Verstappen at Zandvoort, although in the aftermath of that victory the Briton labelled it “stupid” to increase focus on taking both titles.

The two McLaren drivers have been fairly evenly matched on results, although the more experienced Norris has dominated in qualifying — outperforming his Australian team-mate at 12 races. Norris has taken pole in Spain, Hungary and the Netherlands, but Piastri placed himself ahead of Norris at both the Saudi Arabian, Emilia Romagna and Monaco GPs. The pair have also had one front-row lockout at the Hungarian GP, where Piastri prevailed after tense team orders were issued to Norris.

Ferrari — Charles Leclerc vs Carlos Sainz

Podium: Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari

Photo by: Ferrari

Ferrari has seen mixed results over the 2024 season, dipping in form after a relatively strong start as others around it have improved. Carlos Sainz managed three podiums from the opening four races, famously returning from appendix surgery that caused him to withdraw from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to win in Australia.

Charles Leclerc managed a further two podiums in Saudi Arabia and Australia, and also claimed his first win at his home race in Monaco following previously difficult years around the Monte Carlo circuit.

But since then the team has only mustered three podium finishes, with Sainz inheriting third in Austria following the Verstappen-Norris tangle, while Leclerc was also gifted third at Spa by George Russell’s disqualification before matching that result at Zandvoort.

Leclerc leads his team-mate by 20 points in the championship, sitting in third, with Sainz fifth. Oliver Bearman finished seventh when subbing for the Spaniard in Jeddah, the Briton earning himself a race seat with Haas for 2025 in an effective debut.

Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W15

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Mercedes faced a difficult start to the season, with neither driver able to trouble the podium spots over a full grand prix distance for the first eight rounds. Despite being relatively evenly matched, George Russell consistently outperformed Lewis Hamilton through most of the early part of the season and demonstrated a strong qualifying performance compared to the outgoing seven-time world champion, who is moving to Ferrari next season.

But two Britons have enjoyed better fortunes since Canada, where Russell took pole and finished third. Hamilton has taken four podium finishes, including a ninth British Grand Prix win at Silverstone to end a drought dating back to 2021, and inherited victory at the Belgian GP when Russell’s car was disqualified for being underweight. Russell also took a win of his own at the Red Bull Ring after Verstappen and Norris collided, ending a run of disappointing results for Mercedes since his triumph at the 2022 Brazilian GP.

Aston Martin — Fernando Alonso vs Lance Stroll

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

Lance Stroll has given team-mate Fernando Alonso more of a run for his money after a difficult 2023 where he was consistently outperformed by the two-time world champion. Following a surprisingly strong start to last year, where Alonso scored six podiums in the first eight races, Aston Martin has slipped back on the grid in 2024.

It has not been able to produce the same progressive upgrades to its car as the competition, resulting in the team sitting fifth in the constructors’ championship. Alonso has taken just one top-five finish — at the Saudi Arabian GP — while Stroll has managed six top 10 finishes in the first 15 races. Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has blamed car development for the team’s drop in performance, saying the team has gone through a “technical restart” over the summer break.

RB — Daniel Ricciardo vs Yuki Tsunoda

Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team VCARB 01, Yuki Tsunoda, RB F1 Team VCARB 01

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Yuki Tsunoda consistently surpassed the performance of his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo at eight of the opening nine races in 2024, solidifying RB’s decision to retain the Japanese driver next season. RB CEO Peter Bayer has revealed that Tsunoda is still in contention for a promotion to Red Bull if he continues to consistently perform, despite speculation that Perez’s seat could go to Ricciardo if the team were to fire or demote the Mexican driver.

Ricciardo has faced mounting pressure to perform and has struggled for consistency, despite some impressive qualification performances. The Australian has remained at RB following the summer break despite speculation that Liam Lawson would be given a chance after his strong cameo outings in 2023.

Haas — Nico Hulkenberg vs Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1 Team, Nico Hulkenberg, Haas F1 Team, on stage at a fan event

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

Nico Hulkenberg has remained the more dominant Haas driver relative to his team-mate Kevin Magnussen, with the German driver scoring 22 championship points to his team-mate’s five. Hulkenberg has achieved five top-10 finishes in 2024 compared to the two of Magnussen.

The Dane found himself on the verge of a race ban after collecting 10 penalty points from the first six races — some of which were picked up for aggressive defence aimed at helping Hulkenberg to secure points early on in the season.

Both drivers are set to leave Haas at the end of the year, with Hulkenberg announcing a move to Sauber in 2025 in April and Magnussen being dropped last month after Haas signed Bearman and Esteban Ocon.

Alpine — Pierre Gasly vs Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A524, leads Pierre Gasly, Alpine A524

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Alpine has struggled badly in 2024, with both drivers starting the first few races at the bottom of the grid. Pierre Gasly has stated that he supports the team’s decision to revamp its car concept, despite the struggles which resulted in senior technical figures departing on the eve of the season. The drivers have yielded points on just nine occasions between them.

Ocon’s controversial crash with Gasly at the Monaco GP preceded the team’s announcement that the two parties would split at season’s end. Third driver Jack Doohan will be promoted to replace the Frenchman at the team, which appointed Oliver Oakes as its new principal as former boss Flavio Briatore’s influence expands.

Williams — Alex Albon vs Logan Sargeant

Logan Sargeant, Williams FW46, leads Alex Albon, Williams FW46

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Alex Albon continued to outperform Logan Sargeant during their second season together at Williams. Sargeant’s poor performance had meant he was already due to be replaced in 2025, with Williams announcing the signing of Sainz at the start of the summer break. Both drivers faced a rough return to the season at the Dutch GP with Sargeant not participating in qualifying after a firey FP3 crash and Albon being disqualified after his floor failed FIA checks.

Following Sargeant’s latest damaging accident, Williams has elected to replace him with rookie Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the season. The American only managed to out-qualify and finish higher than his team-mate during two of the three Sprint races and never beat the Thai-British driver in race qualifying. Both drivers struggled with an overweight car at the beginning of the year, but Albon managed to take two points at both the Monaco and British GPs.

Albon has been reassured that Williams will continue to make progress into 2024, saying he was «happy we’re getting the foundations in place».

Sauber — Valtteri Bottas vs Zhou Guyanu

Zhou Guanyu, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44, Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Sauber is the only team yet to score any points in the 2024 season as it prepares to become the factory Audi squad in 2026. Zhou Guanyu did finish in the top 10 for the Chinese sprint race, but this was still out of the points. Valtteri Bottas has consistently out-qualified Zhou at most of the races this year, but the Chinese driver has finished higher at five races.

Both Sauber drivers’ contracts are set to expire at the end of the season and the team has already announced the signing of Hulkenberg for 2025. It is not yet known whether Sauber will retain one of its current drivers next year, or if both drivers will be looking for a new F1 seat — although the change in management with Jonathan Wheatley and Mattia Binotto taking over from Andreas Seidl is likely to have reset driver talks.