With five races gone, there are three drivers whitewashing their team-mates in the race-day battles. One of those, surprisingly, is Mercedes’ George Russell.
Lewis Hamilton finished five places and 59 points above Russell in last year’s championship, but since his move to Ferrari, it’s the former Williams driver who has taken charge. Hamilton has regularly cited poor set-up choices as the reason for his struggles, but Nico Rosberg has called that an ‘excuse’.
Elsewhere, Max Verstappen leads Sergio Perez 4-0 in a continuation of his dominance. Verstappen retired from the Australian Grand Prix with a brake issue but has beaten Perez in every straight fight.
Pierre Gasly, who failed to finish in Saudi Arabia because of a gearbox issue, trails Esteban Ocon by the same margin at Alpine. It’s worth noting, however, that Ocon enjoyed the first crack at the team’s new upgrades in China.
Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Lance Stroll, Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen have all beaten their teammate in just one Grand Prix. But the battles are tightest at Sauber and RB.
Helmut Marko shocked by one intra-team battle this season
Writing in his column for Speedweek, Red Bull director Helmut Marko expressed his ‘surprise’ at Carlos Sainz’s advantage over Leclerc. Sainz is, of course, leaving the team at the end of the year to make way for Hamilton.
While the two drivers are locked at 2-2 in qualifying, Sainz has tended to come home ahead in the races. Despite missing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix through illness, he’s only seven points behind his teammate in the standings.
Marko admits he didn’t expect the battle at Ferrari to pan out in this manner. He’s previously said that Red Bull will ‘have to’ consider offering Sainz a 2025 seat.
“Then comes Carlos Sainz, who was always ahead of Charles Leclerc at Ferrari except for China,” he wrote. “Also in qualifying. That surprised me. Even in qualifying, Sainz drives very aggressively and won impressively in Australia.”
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz got too close for comfort in China
As Marko says, Sainz has adopted an ‘aggressive’ approach this year. That’s not particularly surprising, because now he has nothing to lose.
That’s paid off for the 29-year-old, who’s been one of the standout drivers of 2024 as he looks to impress potential suitors. Prior to the Chinese GP, he’d maintained a 100% podium record.
But Sainz must also make sure he doesn’t go overboard. He’s fought with Leclerc on track on a few occasions this season, getting the better of the hampered Monegasque at the season-opener in Bahrain.
They went wheel-to-wheel again in the sprint race in Shanghai, and it led to Leclerc running wide at the hairpin. The 26-year-old was unhappy with his teammate’s conduct, but Nico Rosberg heard that they quickly resolved things after the race.
The five-time race winner has lacked confidence in the SF-24 but delivered an improved showing as he finished ahead of Sainz in both races and edged him in Saturday’s qualifying session too. It promises to be a fascinating battle to watch for the remainder of the season.
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