How Close Are Formula 1 Teammates in Qualifying?

The Baseline Margin Between Matching Cars

In Formula 1, comparing teammates provides a useful comparison because teammates operate within the same team and car programme. Across the 24 Grands Prix of the 2024 season, evaluating F1 teammate qualifying margins 2024 showed that the median lap-time difference between teammates in the opening qualifying phase was 0.315 percent. On a representative 90-second lap, that equals a separation of roughly 0.284 seconds.

While finishing orders on the starting grid can make garage battles look like runaway victories or bitter defeats, physical lap-time deltas show that most teammates operate within fractions of a second.

Why Compare the First Round of Qualifying?

Qualifying is divided into three knockout rounds, but comparing times across an entire Saturday afternoon can easily distort the picture. Later rounds exclude eliminated cars and introduce differing tyre conservation tactics.

The first phase, Q1, offers a consistent window where all 20 cars participate, although traffic, track evolution, weather and car specifications can still affect individual runs. Measuring the fastest legal Q1 lap across 235 paired sessions in 2024 provides a consistent basis for comparison before later-round eliminations reduce the sample.

Gaps Vary Widely Across the Pit Lane

The closeness of garage battles was far from uniform across the grid in 2024. Ferrari posted the tightest intra-team qualifying margin, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. separated by a median delta of just 0.205 percent, splitting their Q1 head-to-head tally 12 to 11. McLaren sat close behind at a 0.221 percent median gap.

At the wider end of the grid, teams like Kick Sauber and Red Bull registered median margins exceeding half a percent, at 0.526 percent and 0.505 percent respectively. In Kick Sauber's case, Valtteri Bottas outpaced Guanyu Zhou in 21 of 23 paired sessions.

When Track Circumstances Skew the Numbers

Single-lap qualifying margins can range from razor-thin to massive based on immediate track conditions. At the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix, the gap between Bottas and Zhou was a single millisecond (0.001 seconds). In contrast, changing weather and track incidents can create enormous statistical outliers. At the damp 2024 British Grand Prix, Sergio Perez went off into the gravel while the asphalt dried, leaving him 7.006 seconds behind Max Verstappen.

Because red flags, drying tracks, traffic, and split upgrade packages can heavily impact an 18-minute session, a qualifying gap reflects execution on that specific lap rather than pure driver ability alone.

Official reference: Formula 1 official 2024 results and session records.