Qualifying battles in 2020: Verstappen king on Saturday, tight contest at McLaren

In 2020 GPblog kept track of the qualifying battles between the teams, but we also kept track of the time differences in that qualifying. That gives an even clearer picture of the relationships within the team. To show these proportions properly, the qualifying sessions for the Grand Prix of Steiermark and Turkey have not been included for the qualifying difference, because the differences here were not representative due to the circumstances. These results have been included in the qualifying battle.

Team: Mercedes

Drivers: Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas

Qualifying battle: 11-5

Qualifying Difference: 0.119s

Mercedes are a top team with two strong drivers. Lewis Hamilton is the leader within the team, but despite all the criticism Bottas manages to stay close to the Brit for an entire season on Saturday. The difference is not that big on average, so Bottas can look back on his qualifying with a little bit of satisfaction. The race is where he has left a big gap on Hamilton.

Team: Ferrari

Drivers: Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel

Qualifying battle: 13-4

Qualifying Difference: 0.487s

At Ferrari, the gap between the two teammates got bigger and bigger during the season. In the beginning, Vettel was still reasonably close, but the four-time world champion dropped off in the second half of the season. He has failed to prove his team wrong in his last year at Ferrari, which has an interesting line-up next year with Carlos Sainz and Leclerc.

Team: Red Bull Racing

Drivers: Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon

Qualifying battle: 17-0

Qualifying Difference: 0.597s

For a top team, the difference between Verstappen and Albon is far too big. Albon didn't beat Verstappen once and lost an average of almost six tenths per qualifying. That is simply too much and often prevents him from starting from P4. It is therefore not surprising that Albon's place is under discussion.

Team: McLaren

Drivers: Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris

Qualifying battle: 8-9

Qualifying Difference: 0.057s

The most interesting duel this year was again at McLaren, where it was again narrowly won by the Brit. He has that little bit extra on Saturday, but it doesn't make much difference. On average, Norris was 0.057s faster per qualifying. A negligible gap and an ideal situation for a constructor.

Team: Renault

Drivers: Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon

Qualifying battle: 15-2

Qualifying Difference: 0.261s

Daniel Ricciardo has won his duel with Esteban Ocon with flying colours and therefore leaves for McLaren with great confidence. Ocon, on the other hand, will start to doubt himself. If he also gets rid of Fernando Alonso, his future in F1 suddenly looks very different. However, the Frenchman didn't give much to Ricciardo, so who knows, Ocon might be able to find those two tenths in 2021.

Team: AlphaTauri

Drivers: Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat

Qualifying duel: 13-4

Qualifying difference: 0.212s

At AlphaTauri, Pierre Gasly has taken the reins firmly since his return from Red Bull Racing. Kvyat rarely has an answer, although he did hit back in the last few qualifiers. A gap of two-tenths is neat for a team and it will be interesting to see what Yuki Tsunoda can do against the talented Frenchman.

Team: Racing Point

Drivers: Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll

Qualifying battle: 10-4

Qualifying difference: 0.316s

At Racing Point, Perez has shown that he has still not forgotten how to race and that he has the speed to really excel. With Stroll and Vettel, Aston Martin has two drivers next season who lost the teammate duel in 2020, but for Stroll, it has to be said that he performed exceptionally in the rain in Styria and Turkey.

Team: Alfa Romeo

Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi

Qualifying battle: 8-9

Qualifying Difference: 0.060s

Antonio Giovinazzi has won the battle against Kimi Raikkonen at Alfa Romeo. The question is to what extent Kimi was still looking forward to the season because he suddenly lost the last three qualifying sessions by a wide margin. As a result, Giovinazzi narrowly wins the game and he also has a minimal difference on average compared to the experienced Finn.

Team: Haas

Drivers: Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean

Qualifying duel: 7-7

Qualifying Difference: 0.062s

In the last two qualifying sessions, it was a duel between Magnussen and Pietro Fittipaldi, but the original Haas driver duo was again evenly matched this year. Of the 14 qualifying sessions (Grosjean was unable to set a time in Steiermark), each won half and the average difference is also minimal. Grosjean was on average the fastest of the two, with a margin of 0.062s per qualifying.

Team: Williams

Drivers: George Russell and Nicholas Latifi

Qualifying match: 16-0

Qualifying Difference: 0.645s

The most embarrassing difference we see this season at Williams. Mr Saturday George Russell again dominated his teammate, and he even came close to beating Bottas when he replaced Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. 

This article was written and originally published by Tim on the Dutch edition of GPblog.com.