Lap In Front of Your Teammate Championship - Moss Cup

[Zenarcher]

Woah Brendon Hartley's looks have changed a lot over one year.

That's what I get for making the graphics too early in the morning, sorted it now

[Nessafox]

. I would have somehow preferred it if the FIA had just ruled that from 2020 onwards, all FIA-sanctioned motorsport series had to have at least 25 or even 50% female driver participation. But maybe the FIA is not as powerful as it pretends to be...

It's an interesting conundrum, that. I am a male nurse. Here in the UK, around 89% of nurses are female and therefore around 11% male (at least, pre-pandemic when I was a student nurse). If I were to go to a job interview for a nursing job, I would not want to be chosen to fill a quota of male nurses. I would want the best candidate to be chosen because they were the best fit for the job, even if that means I don't get chosen as much. I am against "positive discrimination " because it is still discrimination in another form. There are some places that will discriminate against male nurses and that is fine. I wouldn't want to work there anyway. (By the way, I have been told that Florence Nightingale was against male nurses because she thought men couldn't be nurturing enough!)

I like W Series, but it will take some years to prove itself. If it doesn't produce any F1/Indycar/WEC drivers by the end of the decade, then it will have failed in my mind. It's already great to see W Series driver Jessica Hawkins get another chance at BTCC though.

But i'm giving you the trans perspective and tell you that if positive discrimination didn't exist, we'd have nothing at all. Nada. So i see the tokenism it as useful transition situation until people get used to us being normal capable workforces.And that might take a few decades or more unfortunately. In the meantime, we can have as much principles as we want, but if we're not grabbing what little opportunities we got, we just die in the gutter. So i am pro positive discrimination, on the condition that it's a temporary measure and doesn't become tradition.

[dr-baker]

But i'm giving you the trans perspective and tell you that if positive discrimination didn't exist, we'd have nothing at all. Nada. So i see the tokenism it as useful transition situation until people get used to us being normal capable workforces.And that might take a few decades or more unfortunately. In the meantime, we can have as much principles as we want, but if we're not grabbing what little opportunities we got, we just die in the gutter. So i am pro positive discrimination, on the condition that it's a temporary measure and doesn't become tradition.

Thank you for adding a different perspective. So basically what you're saying is that there's a time and place for it, but it shouldn't ever become the normal?

[Zenarcher]

2020

Max Verstappen wins his 2nd championship! It was one of the most dominating seasons we've seen from a driver since 1999, Verstappen led 96% of laps over Albon. I checked Verstappen wasn't our youngest champion, Wehrlein beat him by just 1 month! But Verstappen is our youngest 2-time champ so at least Horner and Marko will be pleased to hear that.

Top 3

1. Verstappen
2. Russell
3. Ricciardo



Percentage of laps led over teammate,


In-text form including the number of laps,

1. Verstappen 728 = 96.2%
2. Russell 579 = 74.8%
3. Ricciardo 597 = 74.0%
4. Leclerc 585 = 73.1%
5. Hamilton 613 = 67.5%
6. Sainz 581 = 67.2%
7. Gasly 550 = 67.2%
8. Stroll 366 = 57.8%
9. Magnussen 340 = 55.7%
10. Raikkonen 453 = 51.8%
11. Giovinazzi 421 = 48.1%
12. Grosjean 270 = 44.2%
13. Perez 267 = 42.1%
14. Norris 283 = 32.7%
15. Kvyat 268 = 32.7%
16. Bottas 294 = 32.4%
17. Vettel 215 = 26.8%
18. Latifi 181 = 26.1%
19. Ocon 209 = 25.9%
20. Albon 28 = 3.7%

That's the end of this championship everyone at least until 2021 is over. Thanks for reading.

[Rob Dylan]

Thanks so much for posting this, it's been surprisingly revelatory, especially with regard to Hamilton. As far as I can see, the only driver he ever really dominated in terms of laps was Kovalainen...


I also love that you included the Russell-Bottas graphic in 2020 just to rub it in

[Nessafox]

But i'm giving you the trans perspective and tell you that if positive discrimination didn't exist, we'd have nothing at all. Nada. So i see the tokenism it as useful transition situation until people get used to us being normal capable workforces.And that might take a few decades or more unfortunately. In the meantime, we can have as much principles as we want, but if we're not grabbing what little opportunities we got, we just die in the gutter. So i am pro positive discrimination, on the condition that it's a temporary measure and doesn't become tradition.

Thank you for adding a different perspective. So basically what you're saying is that there's a time and place for it, but it shouldn't ever become the normal?

Exactly. To be more specific, work should be done and never stopped being done so it won't be necessairy to become the normal.

[James1978]

The biggest shock I can see there from 2020 is Stroll ahead of Checo. I'm guessing a lot of that would have been the early part of the season.

Anyway this whole thing has been ultimately fascinating!

[Zenarcher]

We have Mercedes dominating to thank for this idea, seeing Hamilton against Rosberg and Bottas finishing 1-2 all the time and noticing Hamilton is mostly always ahead. So I checked the stats when he was against Rosberg it was very close 50/50 but with Bottas, Hamilton clearly was ahead in front. I thought it was interesting and probably indicates how good a driver is in terms of race pace at least against their own teammate.

So as you do I then went and did it for the whole of F1 , I actually started it about a year ago it's taken a long time but it's worth it since these stats might help people in the future.

Did anyone stand out? Ayrton Senna stood out the most from memory, he was probably the easiest driver to count the laps from because he was pretty much always in front, Alberto Ascari, Dan Gurney, Ronnie Peterson, Jochen Rindt and Michael Schumacher all deserve a mention too but I might have missed out on a few but these ones I clearly remember making me think wow impressive stuff .

On the current grid, Vettel and Alonso have done well and recently Verstappen has been dominating teammates like some of the all-time greats.

Thanks so much for posting this, it's been surprisingly revelatory, especially with regard to Hamilton. As far as I can see, the only driver he ever really dominated in terms of laps was Kovalainen...


I also love that you included the Russell-Bottas graphic in 2020 just to rub it in

Glad to hear you enjoyed it! Yeah Hamilton hasn't really dominated a teammate other than Kovalainen, but he has done well against Alonso, Button and Rosberg three real-life champions but did lose out to Button in 2011 and Rosberg in 2014 although it was very close.

The biggest shock I can see there from 2020 is Stroll ahead of Checo. I'm guessing a lot of that would have been the early part of the season.

Anyway this whole thing has been ultimately fascinating!

Always time for one more graph Yeah, your right Stroll gained a bit of a lead on Perez early on with Perez catching up later in the year but Stroll did stay ahead for the entire season apart from the first race. Good to know you found it interesting I had no idea anyone else would since I like pretty much any stats stuff in F1.

[Rob Dylan]

With a little disrespect to Senna, I feel like this series has also given off the impression that his teammates were basically nowhere all the time. Dominating your teammate is one thing, but that performance gets exaggerated when you're alongside Michael Andretti or Johnny Dumfries. Whilst I don't rate Hamilton too highly personally, I still think he's often had strong teammates to go against. It's very suggestive when Hamilton has no titles at all whilst Senna has..... how many ?

[Zenarcher]

With a little disrespect to Senna, I feel like this series has also given off the impression that his teammates were basically nowhere all the time. Dominating your teammate is one thing, but that performance gets exaggerated when you're alongside Michael Andretti or Johnny Dumfries. Whilst I don't rate Hamilton too highly personally, I still think he's often had strong teammates to go against. It's very suggestive when Hamilton has no titles at all whilst Senna has..... how many ?

Yeah, a large number of champions here won it all thanks to having a teammate who wasn't too great, that was the fun part of it though that anyone could win it, Webber even ended up with 6 titles! . Senna won 4 times, thanks to Dumfries, Nakajima, Berger and Andretti. He remained unbeaten even against Prost, it was close in 1988 Senna was 59% ahead but in 1989 Senna managed to be ahead of Prost by 79%.

[Zenarcher]

Since we've reached the halfway point of the season and are taking a break, I've done a quick rundown of how 2021 is shaping up so far.

Red Bull - Verstappen has dominated Perez so far, putting him significantly ahead of Hamilton in the championship standings. Perez has only managed 25 laps ahead of Verstappen, compared to Albon's 28 laps last year. However, Perez still has plenty of time to improve on Albon's result.

Mercedes - Bottas has been underperforming compared to his regular performance against Hamilton; on average, he has led 32% of laps ahead of Hamilton since 2017, but he has been 14 percent off his usual performance this year. Hamilton is presently in second place, but he is a huge 14% behind Verstappen.

Williams - Despite Latifi cutting into Russell's lead in Hungary, Russell is still having his best year in F1 and might finish second in the championship this year.

McLaren - Norris is having his strongest season in F1 yet, performing roughly 50% better than the previous two years. On the other hand, Ricciardo is experiencing his worst year since 2018, when he was beaten by Verstappen by a similar margin.

AlphaTauri - At the moment, Gasly has a comfortable lead against Tsunoda. The hype surrounding Tsunoda at the start of the season appears to have worn off now, as he is clearly outmatched by Gasly. However, he is still a rookie with little testing prior to the start of the season, so I hope he will gradually improve.

Haas - Schumacher was one of the favourites to win this year, but he's currently 6th in the standings halfway through the season. He does, however, have a big lead over Mazepin and may easily turn things around in the second half.

Alfa Romeo - Last year, the two drivers were nearly 50/50, with Raikkonen having a little advantage over Giovinazzi, but so far in 2021, Raikkonen has a clear lead most of the time.

Ferrari - Between the two drivers, Leclerc currently holds the lead. Sainz is presently performing better than Vettel did against Leclerc last year. Although in 2019, Vettel came closer to matching Leclerc 50/50.

Alpine - Alonso got off to a rocky start but has since picked up the pace and has steadily narrowed the gap to Ocon. However, Ocon had such a good start to the season and his win in Hungary, while being ahead of Alonso for the majority of the race, has helped him maintain his lead.

Aston Martin - Vettel, like Alonso, was a little behind his teammate at the start of the season but has steadily caught up, so it may go anyway by the end of the year.



Current standings

1. Verstappen 544 = 95.6%
2. Hamilton 449 = 82.3%
3. Russell 463 = 79.2%
4. Norris 495 = 79.0%
5. Gasly 433 = 77.4%
6. Schumacher 420 = 75.2%
7. Raikkonen 442 = 70.9%
8. Leclerc 373 = 68.1%
9. Ocon 326 = 59.2%
10. Stroll 329 = 56.2%
11. Vettel 256 = 43.7%
12. Alonso 224 = 40.7%
13. Sainz 174 = 31.8%
14. Giovinazzi 181 = 29.0%
15. Mazepin 138 = 24.7%
16. Tsunoda 126 = 22.5%
17. Ricciardo 131 = 20.9%
18. Latifi 121 = 20.7%
19. Bottas 96 = 17.6%
20. Pérez 25 = 4.3%

[Zenarcher]

A reminder to any new readers that laps are only counted when both drivers are racing.

2021

Max Verstappen wins his 3rd championship! The last time a driver won both the real F1 title and this one was Sebastian Vettel back in 2013. No one came close enough to give Max Verstappen a challenge this year he once again dominated.

Top 3

1. Verstappen
2. Hamilton
3. Russell



Percentage of laps led over teammate,


In-text form including the number of laps,

1. Verstappen 1006 = 91.4%
2. Hamilton 932 = 84.3%
3. Russell 915 = 83.1%
4. Gasly 779 = 80.8%
5. Norris 834 = 69.6%
6. Leclerc 775 = 67.7%
7. Schumacher 593 = 64.8%
8. Raikkonen 659 = 62.2%
9. Alonso 627 = 55.6%
10. Stroll 623 = 54.4%
11. Vettel 522 = 45.5%
12. Ocon 500 = 44.3%
13. Giovinazzi 399 = 37.7%
14. Mazepin 322 = 35.1%
15. Sainz 369 = 32.2%
16. Ricciardo 364 = 30.3%
17. Tsunoda 184 = 19.1%
18. Latifi 185 = 16.8%
19. Bottas 173 = 15.6%
20. Pérez 94 = 8.5%

[James1978]

Stroll beating Vettel is a bit of a shock!

[Zenarcher]

Here are the current championship standings after the first three races of 2022. During the midseason break, I'll post another update.

Gasly, Leclerc, and Bottas appear to be the favourites to win at the moment, but it's still early in the season so things will change. Could our three-time champion Verstappen be challenged this season? At the moment, it appears to be the case. This year, I'm going to pick Bottas to win.

1. Gasly 100 = 99.0%
2. Leclerc 106 = 98.1%
3. Bottas 148 = 98.0%
4. Albon 113 = 88.2%
5. Verstappen 120 = 84.5%
6. Magnussen 90 = 78.9%
7. Norris 105 = 70.0%
8. Russell 98 = 59.3%
9. Alonso 75 = 50.3%
10. Ocon 74 = 49.6%
11. Hamilton 67 = 40.6%
12. Ricciardo 45 = 30.0%
13. Schumacher 24 = 21.0%
14. Pérez 22 = 15.4%
15. Latifi 15 = 11.7%
16. Zhou 3 = 1.9%
17. Sainz 2 = 1.8%
18. Tsunoda 1 = 0.9%

I didn't include Stroll, Hülkenberg, or Vettel because Hülkenberg was only filling in for Vettel, but also Stroll and Vettel have only raced together once so far. Here are their stats,

Stroll (against both Hülkenberg & Vettel) 83 = 64.8%
Vettel 9 = 40.9%
Hülkenberg 36 = 33.9%

[Zenarcher]

A look at how the championship is looking at the mid way point of the 2022 season,

Alfa Romeo - Bottas is currently having a fantastic season and leads this championship. Zhou, is currently in last place, so let's hope he has better ending to the year.

Williams - Russell led 83% of the laps last season ahead of Latifi, and so far, Albon is doing good enough to match that with 82%.

McLaren - Norris vs Ricciardo are almost the same as last season. Norris has led 72% of the time so far, continuing to outpace Ricciardo.

Red Bull - Verstappen, a three-time champion of the Lap in Front of Your Teammate challenge and last years overall winner, is currently in fourth place. In comparison to last season, Perez has improved and is leading 20% more laps.

Mercedes - Hamilton is experiencing his worst run since Rosberg defeated him in 2014. Hamilton led 48% of the laps that year, compared to 36% so far in 2022. Russell may become the third driver to defeat Hamilton, joining Button and Rosberg as the only others who have managed to do so. But I have a feeling Hamilton might improve, and by the end of the season might be more split 50/50.

Ferrari - Leclerc is performing around where he did against Sainz last time, while Sainz is having a marginally better season, that is whenever things are going smoothly for him.

AlphaTauri - Similar to Perez, Tsunoda is having a better season and leads 18% more of the time ahead of Gasly compared to last year.

Aston Martin - Speaking of drivers who have improved, Vettel who surprisingly lost to Stroll in 2021 has made a turnaround and is currently more laps ahead of Stroll.

Haas - Magnussen has the lead over Schumacher, although Schumacher has been able to catch up lately thanks to some recent excellent driving.

Alpine - Alonso and Ocon are again split 50/50 like in 2021. The lead is currently held by Alonso, but it frequently changes.

Percentage of laps led over teammate,


In-text form including the number of laps,

1. Bottas 403 = 85.3%
2. Albon 431 = 81.9%
3. Norris 450 = 72.3%
4. Verstappen 377 = 71.8%
5. Russell 386 = 63.8%
6. Leclerc 281 = 63.5%
7. Gasly 330 = 62.3%
8. Vettel 314 = 62.3%
9. Magnussen 279 = 57.5%
10. Alonso 294 = 51.6%
11. Ocon 275 = 48.3%
12. Schumacher 206 = 42.4%
13. Tsunoda 199 = 37.6%
14. Stroll 190 = 37.6%
15. Sainz 161 = 36.4%
16. Hamilton 219 = 36.1%
17. Pérez 148 = 28.1%
18. Ricciardo 172 = 27.6%
19. Latifi 95 = 18.0%
20. Zhou 69 = 14.6%

[Zenarcher]

2022

Alex Albon wins his first championship! The winning streak of Max Verstappen, who has been successful since 2019, has ended. Albon, Bottas, and Norris, were closely contested throughout the majority of the year.



Top 3

1. Albon
2. Bottas
3. Norris

Percentage of laps led over teammate,



Some extra content, de Vries and Hulkenberg don't qualify for the championship since they must complete at least half of the season, see rule 6 on page 1.


In-text form including the number of laps,

1. Albon 840 = 83.2%
2. Bottas 743 = 79.2%
3. Norris 909 = 77.2%
4. Verstappen 874 = 75.3%
5. Leclerc 575 = 60.0%
6. Gasly 611 = 58.3%
7. Alonso 640 = 58.0%
8. Vettel 586 = 55.2%
9. Schumacher 566 = 55.0%
10. Russell 601 = 50.4%
11. Hamilton 590 = 49.5%
12. Magnussen 462 = 44.9%
13. Stroll 474 = 44.7%
14. Ocon 463 = 41.9%
15. Tsunoda 437 = 41.6%
16. Sainz 383 = 39.9%
17. Pérez 286 = 24.6%
18. Ricciardo 268 = 22.7%
19. Zhou 195 = 20.7%
20. Latifi 169 = 16.7%

More info,

Williams: Albon's overall result against Latifi was probably not all that surprising. Albon, with 83%, has managed to match Russell's best performance against Latifi, which was 83% in 2021.

Alfa Romeo: In the first half of the season, Bottas held a lead over Zhou of 85%; by the end of the season, that lead had reduced to 79%.

McLaren: This was technically only Ricciardo's second worst season, as he led just 22.7% of laps ahead of Norris, but his worst year is still 2018 where he led 22.5% of laps against Verstappen. Norris had an even stronger season than 2021 and led even more laps ahead of Ricciardo. Although it can be difficult to compare drivers, you could assume that Norris is performing somewhat to a similar level of Verstappen (although impossible to know for sure, since stats usually don't tell the full story), which would help to explain why he has been carrying the McLaren team for the past 2 years.

Red Bull: Verstappen led 16% less of the time this year, even though Verstappen is still far ahead, I believe Perez has improved now that he's gotten used to Red Bull.

Ferrari: Similar to 2021, Leclerc finished ahead of Sainz, however Sainz did slightly better this time.

AlphaTauri: Tsunoda led 19% of laps ahead of Gasly in 2021 but this year that increased to 42%, Tsunoda is another driver who had a better year although he was still beaten by Gasly in the end.

Alpine: Alonso and Ocon were very evenly matched in 2021, and that trend continued in the first part of this year. At the halfway point of the season, Alonso held a 52% lead, but by the end of the year, that percentage had risen to 58%.

Aston Martin: In 2021, Stroll was able to finish ahead of Vettel. Although they were still close again this year, Vettel improved enough to defeat Stroll.

Haas: Magnussen led 58% more laps than Schumacher did at the halfway point of the season, but that situation has since reversed; by the time the season was through, Schumacher had led 55% more laps than Magnussen.

Magnussen led 279 laps in the first half of the season and 183 in the second. For Schumacher, it was 206 in the first half and 360 in the second. Schumacher did, therefore, have a better second half of the season, at least in terms of the number of laps he was able to complete in front of his own teammate.

Mercedes: By the middle of the season, with 64% of the laps led, Russell had a fairly comfortable lead over Hamilton. But after the summer break Hamilton went on a charge and led 156 more laps in the second half of the season than Russell and after the American Grand Prix had overtaken Russell.

Russell, on the other hand, only narrowly managed in regaining the lead in the final few races, but overall, the battle was quite close between the two drivers, and Russell did a fantastic job given that it was his first year with Mercedes.

First Half of Season: Russell 386 & Hamilton 219
Second Half of Season: Russell 215 & Hamilton 371

[Zenarcher]

2023 season after the first three races,

1. Alonso 129 = 98.4%
2. Tsunoda 159 = 98.1%
3. Albon 80 = 89.8%
4. Norris 92 = 76.0%
5. Verstappen 112 = 67.8%
6. Zhou 110 = 67.4%
7. Gasly 82 = 55.7%
8. Sainz 49 = 55.0%
9. Hamilton 65 = 52.4%
10. Magnussen 80 = 50.6%
11. Hulkenberg 78 = 49.3%
12. Russell 59 = 47.5%
13. Leclerc 40 = 44.9%
14. Ocon 65 = 44.2%
15. Bottas 53 = 32.1%
16. Pérez 53 = 32.1%
17. Piastri 29 = 23.9%
18. Sargeant 9 = 10.1%
19. de Vries 3 = 1.8%
20. Stroll 2 = 1.5%

Tsunoda 159 vs de Vries 3
Alonso 129 vs Stroll 2
Verstappen 112 vs Pérez 53
Zhou 110 vs Bottas 53
Norris 92 vs Piastri 29
Gasly 82 vs Ocon 65
Albon 80 vs Sargeant 9
Magnussen 80 vs Hulkenberg 78
Hamilton 65 vs Russell 59
Sainz 49 vs Leclerc 40

[Zenarcher]

2023

Alex Albon wins his second championship! Not even Verstappen could stop him this year.



Top 3

1. Albon
2. Verstappen
3. Alonso

Percentage of laps led over teammate,



In-text form including the number of laps,

1. Albon 956 = 96.5%
2. Verstappen 1051 = 86.5%
3. Alonso 952 = 83.5%
4. Norris 830 = 72.9%
5. Hamilton 771 = 64.4%
6. Leclerc 634 = 59.3%
7. Hulkenberg 652 = 59.0%
8. Ocon 608 = 54.7%
9. Bottas 617 = 52.0%
10. Zhou 568 = 47.9%
11. Gasly 502 = 45.2%
12. Magnussen 453 = 40.9%
13. Sainz 434 = 40.6%
14. Russell 425 = 35.5%
15. Piastri 307 = 27.0%
16. Stroll 187 = 16.4%
17. Pérez 164 = 13.4%
18. Sargeant 34 = 3.4%

More info,

Williams: In 2022, Albon delivered a great performance for Williams, leading 83.2% of laps ahead of Latifi. The following year, in 2023, he upped his game further by leading a remarkable 96.5% of laps ahead of Sargeant, marking it as Albon's most outstanding season to date. Although he did have a rookie as a teammate it will be interesting to see if Sargeant can close the gap in 2024.

Red Bull: In 2021, Perez experienced his most challenging season at Red Bull, leading only 8.5% of laps ahead of Verstappen. Although he displayed progress in 2022, leading 24.6% of laps, the improvement wasn't particularly noteworthy. In 2023, there has been a slight regression as he led 13.4% of laps. Verstappen has had a stellar year, ranking it as his third-best with an impressive 86.5%, behind his exceptional performances in 2020 (96.2%) and 2021 (91.4%).

Aston Martin: Alonso dominated the lead, commanding 83.5% of laps ahead, leaving Stroll trailing at 16.4%. This season stands out as Stroll's weakest in his career, surpassing the previous low set in 2019 (35.2%) when he partnered with Perez. 2023 stands as Alonso's fourth-best season, a remarkable achievement given his age of 42.

McLaren: Norris continues to perform greatly, maintaining a lead of 72.9% of the time, representing only a slight 6.3% decline from 2022. Piastri managed 27.0%, but he's navigating the learning curve as a rookie. In a comparative context, during Norris's rookie season in 2019 against Sainz, he led for 36.0%, a figure that slightly dropped to 32.7% in 2020 when facing Sainz again. It wasn't until Norris's third season that he truly hit his stride. The upcoming season in 2024 will be intriguing to see if Piastri can narrow the gap further.

Mercedes: Hamilton's performance in 2022, particularly in the second half as mentioned a year ago, indicated he was ahead of Russell. In 2023, the gap between the two drivers widened further. Hamilton led for 64.4% of the season, showcasing a significant increase of 14.9%. Conversely, Russell's performance dipped to 35.5%, marking his least impressive season to date. To provide context, Bottas's average over five years at Mercedes against Hamilton stood at 28.8%.

Ferrari: Leclerc has consistently been ahead of Sainz, achieving percentages of 67.7% in 2021, 60.0% in 2022, and 59.3% in 2023. The competition this year was closer than it appears. Sainz led ahead of Leclerc for a significant portion of the season, and for the majority of 2023, the two drivers were closely matched. It was only towards the end that Leclerc managed to reclaim the upper hand.

Haas: Hulkenberg and Magnussen experienced a closely contested start, with Magnussen maintaining the lead. However, as Hulkenberg, who had been absent from a full-time F1 seat since 2019, reacquainted himself with the dynamics, he effortlessly surpassed Magnussen in the later stages. This season marked Magnussen's second-weakest performance, with only his rookie season in 2014 (33.5%) proving worse when he competed against Button.

Alpine: Over the two years partnered with Alonso as his teammate, Ocon consistently held an impressive average of 43.1% laps ahead. Therefore, this year's performance, where he led 54.7% of laps ahead of Gasly, wasn't a surprise, although I was expecting Ocon to do a bit better. 2023 marked Gasly's second-weakest performance, with only 2019 being worse when he teamed up with Verstappen.

Alfa Romeo: In Zhou's rookie season, he secured a 20.7% lead against Bottas. However, this year marked a significant improvement for Zhou, as he increased his lead by 27.2%, finishing 2023 ahead of Bottas for 47.9% of the time. While Bottas maintained his status as the stronger driver, the gap between them notably diminished. The upcoming 2024 season promises further improvement from Zhou, it will be interesting to see if Zhou can continue to improve in 2024.

AlphaTauri: Tsunoda continued to demonstrate notable improvement this year. In his debut season in 2019, he led for 19.1% of the time, and this figure significantly rose to 41.6% in 2022. In 2023, with three different teammates, he led overall for an impressive 76.2%, making it his best season to date. However, as he wasn't up against Gasly, his former teammate, it remains difficult to precisely gauge the extent of his improvement in direct comparison.

de Vries led for 15.0% of the time before being replaced by Ricciardo mid-season. However, during Ricciardo's temporary absence due to injury, Lawson stepped in and led for 23.8%. It's important to not read too much into this specific figure, given the temporary nature of Lawson's role during Ricciardo's recovery. During Lawson's debut race under challenging weather conditions, he completed the race but couldn't surpass Tsunoda in terms of laps led. In Italy and Singapore, Tsunoda failed to complete a single lap making any meaningful comparison impossible. However, in Japan, where both drivers were closely positioned on the track and frequently swapped places, it was Lawson who led the most laps. In their last race together, Tsunoda led the most laps, but Lawson held the lead during the early stages of the race. Only three races allowed for a proper comparison between the two, with one of them being when Lawson was called up with little notice and preparation time.

Ricciardo led for 35.5% of the time against Tsunoda, bearing in mind that he was making a comeback from injury. In the past two seasons, his average against Norris was just 26.5%. Given these circumstances, accurately assessing Tsunoda's performance in 2023 proves to be a challenging task.

[Rob Dylan]

Hulkenberg and Magnussen the most interesting to me, considering just how much better in quali Nico ended up being than Kevin the whole year round. It seemed like the German just had something in the bag and almost a permanent advantage (at least that's how I remember it). For him to be 7th overall is therefore quite surprising.

[Zenarcher]

We're 8 races into the 2024 season and this is how the championship is shaping up so far,

1. Verstappen 100%
2. Tsunoda 92.6%
3. Albon 84.4%
4. Ocon 79.1%
5. Russell 71.7%
6. Norris 68.8%
7. Alonso 68.7%
8. Leclerc 64.4%
9. Hulkenberg 62.8%
10. Zhou 60.3%
11. Bottas 39.6%
12. Magnussen 37.1%
13. Sainz 35.5%
14. Stroll 31.2%
15. Piastri 31.1%
16. Hamilton 28.2%
17. Gasly 20.8%
18. Sargeant 15.5%
19. Ricciardo 7.3%
20. Pérez 0.0%

Verstappen 339 vs Pérez 0

I had to double-check to make sure this was correct and it is, Perez has yet to complete 1 full lap ahead of Verstappen.

Previous years for comparison after the first 8 races,

2021
Verstappen 473 vs Pérez 26

2022
Verstappen 324 vs Pérez 119

2023
Verstappen 369 vs Pérez 116

And the rest,

Tsunoda 355 vs Ricciardo 28
Albon 267 vs Sargeant 49
Ocon 270 vs Gasly 71
Russell 308 vs Hamilton 121
Norris 325 vs Piastri 147
Alonso 291 vs Stroll 132
Leclerc 272 vs Sainz 150
Hulkenberg 245 vs Magnussen 145
Zhou 234 vs Bottas 154