Teammate qualifying duels: Perez again no challenge for Verstappen

F1 News

4 September 2021 at 18:55
Last update 4 September 2021 at 19:48
  • GPblog.com

After the qualifying session at sunny Zandvoort, where Max Verstappen cashed in on the tenth pole position of his career, it is now time to take stock of the mutual qualifying duels between the teammates. Who came out on top this Saturday, and who had to acknowledge the superiority of their teammate?

For Verstappen, victory over teammate Sergio Perez was already a fact at the end of Q1. Bad timing combined with traffic on the track resulted in a disappointing sixteenth starting position for the Mexican.

For the second weekend in a row the mutual duel at McLaren is won by Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian secured a tenth starting position today, and seems to be proving that he feels more comfortable with the British team every weekend. He can also count himself lucky that Lando Norris had a rather messy qualifying, and as a result got stuck on twelfth place.

Ocon takes lead

Another remarkable duel, that between the two Alpine drivers, was decided in favour of Esteban Ocon today. This has given the Frenchman and brand new race winner an advantage over team mate Fernando Alonso. Whether he will be able to maintain this better starting position in the race over his much more experienced team-mate remains to be seen.

Qualifying duels after Zandvoort

Red Bull: Verstappen - Perez 12-1

Mercedes: Hamilton - Bottas 10-3

McLaren: Ricciardo - Norris 5-8

Ferrari: Leclerc - Sainz 10-3

Aston Martin: Vettel - Stroll 8-5

Alpine: Alonso - Ocon 6-7

AlphaTauri: Gasly - Tsunoda 13-0

Alfa Romeo: Giovinazzi - Raikkonen 8-4

Williams: Russell - Latifi 13-0

Haas: Schumacher - Mazepin 11-2