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The 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP is finally behind us. Sunday's race saw both Red Bull and Max Verstappen maximizing their weekend in Baku. The reigning world champion managed to extend his lead in the championship. While Sergio Perez could not overtake his teammate in the race, he certainly overtook Charles Leclerc in the championship battle. The Monegasque's DNF dropped him from second to third in the Driver Standings. If Ferrari's reliability issues keep up, the championship might just boil down to an intra-team battle at Red Bull.
While the Austrian team's intra-team battle is certainly the most publicized one, it is not the only one brewing on the grid. In this piece, we delve into the teammate battles that are being waged and their results.
2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP: Intra-team battles
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell (1-7)
Winner: George Russell
Lewis Hamilton appeared to be in horrible shape after the race, a result of porpoising due to the car's extremely low ride-height. While the seven-time world champion has our sympathies for driving a car that has clear issues, one must remember that at the end of the day, performance is all that counts in F1.
While Hamilton showed good pace in the race, his struggles in qualifying meant that he once again crossed the line behind his teammate George Russell. This is the seventh race in which Hamilton has been beaten by his new teammate.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen vs Sergio Perez (7-1)
Winner: Max Verstappen
The Azerbaijan GP saw Max Verstappen dominate his teammate and title rival Sergio Perez once he took the lead. While many were optimistic about Perez bagging another win last Sunday after he outqualified the Dutchman, however, when it came to the race, Verstappen just had a lot more pace than him.
With the teammates currently sitting in the top two in the Driver Standings, it's going to be interesting to see how dynamics evolve inside the team as the season carries on.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc vs Carlos Sainz (7-1)
Winner: Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc won the teammate battle fair and square again. Carlos Sainz always seems to be behind the Monegasque in qualifying, and he often falls off the pace of the race leaders fairly early on Sunday.
McLaren
Lando Norris vs Daniel Ricciardo (7-1)
Winner: Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo finally crossed the checkered flag in front of Lando Norris at the Azerbaijan GP. The Australian has struggled mightily with the car since joining McLaren last year, but has always maintained that he still has the pace inside him.
Ricciardo had the edge over Norris in the Azerbaijan GP, probably due to running an alternate strategy. Regardless, he reminded the paddock what he could do in a car he's comfortable in.
Alpine
Fernando Alonso vs Esteban Ocon (3-5)
Winner: Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso is back to his old ways of being scorchingly fast and consistent, while Esteban Ocon might just be starting to face the consequences of a lack of consistency in his performances.
In Q1, the Frenchman was the quicker of the two Alpine drivers but when it mattered, he floundered. Ocon's weekend unraveled from there. While Alonso brought home a P7, Ocon could only score a single point in P10. This battle is going to be worth keeping an eye on.
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel/Nico Hulkenberg vs Lance Stroll (7-1)
Winner: Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel had a fantastic weekend in Baku and showed the grid that he still most certainly has got it. Lance Stroll has been made to look mediocre due to the German's stellar performances. The Azerbaijan GP was another example of this: Vettel was able to fight and attack cars in the top eight while Stroll was floundering in P14 before he retired. Vettel has just become all the more valuable for Aston Martin in the last few weeks as Stroll has no answer for his teammate's speed.
AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly vs Yuki Tsunoda (6-2)
Winner: Pierre Gasly
After getting snubbed by Red Bull, Pierre Gasly needed a good result. The Azerbaijan GP was a timely reminder to everyone on the grid of the French driver's talents. Yuki Tsunoda had a solid race as well, but he was a few-tenths off Gasly as usual. Gasly's strong performance will only help him in his quest to find a seat outside the Red Bull family.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas vs Guanyu Zhou (7-1)
Winner: Guanyu Zhou
Valtteri Bottas had a poor weekend as he struggled to even match his teammate's pace. Zhou showed stronger form in the Azerbaijan GP than his teammate and will be looking to continue the trend in Canada.
Williams
Alex Albon vs Nicholas Latifi (7-1)
Winner: Alex Albon
It's the same old story at Williams as Albon keeps outperforming Nicholas Latifi. If this trend continues, the team might look elsewhere to fill that second seat for next season.
Haas F1
Mick Schumacher vs Kevin Magnussen (3-5)
Winner: Kevin Magnussen
Mick Schumacher's lack of confidence at the Azerbaijan GP was apparent to everyone. He was around five tenths down on his teammate Kevin Magnussen. Schumacher looked woefully underconfident during the Azerbaijan GP weekend while Kevin Magnussen turned up and did a solid job, which he has been doing all season.
It will be interesting to see how these battles unfold next weekend at the Canadian GP.
