P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Just how much of an edge do the elite F1 drivers of recent decades have over their team-mates? Mark Hughes crunches the numbers
The qualifying match ups include team-mates of seven great drivers: Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Charles Leclerc. Percentages to pole positions are used to compare their best qualifying times to the fastest qualifying time, averaged for each season. Corrections for different fuel loads have been made for races from 2003-09 in the era of qualifying where cars ran in Q3. Qualifying is just one aspect of driver comparison, influenced by various factors like team status and engine differences. Not all team-mates have been outqualified throughout their careers, with Senna and Leclerc being the only two so far. The comparison of drivers’ performances over time highlights the evolution and complexities within Formula 1.
