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The Bahrain GP kickstarted a new era in F1 with Ferrari roaring to the top of the standings courtesy of an admirable 1-2 finish. In F1, however, if there is one rivalry that is above everything else, it is the rivalry between the two teammates.
It's often said that the first person you have to beat on the grid is your teammate. So, how did the teammates fare against each other and who had the upper hand at the Bahrain GP? Let's take a look.
2022 F1 Bahrain GP: Teammate rivalry
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell (1-0)
George Russell's start to life at Mercedes was pretty good considering everything. Although the young driver was slightly slower than Lewis Hamilton when it mattered, the gap wasn't too big.
Hamilton, on the other hand, did what he does best. He extracted the maximum possible performance from the car and scored a podium in the Bahrain GP.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen vs Sergio Perez (1-0)
Not much of a battle here! Max Verstappen has been the benchmark at Red Bull and that's not going to change anytime soon. The Dutch driver was the quicker of the two Red Bull drivers throughout the weekend.
Sergio Perez, however, might take solace from the fact that the gap between the two drivers wasn't as huge as it used to be last season.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc vs Carlos Sainz (1-0)
It's common knowledge that Charles Leclerc, when he's not making mistakes, performs at a higher level than Carlos Sainz. At the Bahrain GP weekend, the Monegasque was flawless.
Once Leclerc sealed pole position for the Bahrain GP, he never looked back and was clearly extracting more performance out of the car as compared to his teammate.
McLaren
Lando Norris vs Daniel Ricciardo (1-0)
The different strategies at play for both the McLaren drivers ultimately helped Daniel Ricciardo jump Lando Norris in the race as he finished 14th while Norris finished 15th.
Throughout the weekend, however, it was obvious that Norris was the faster driver in that McLaren, as Ricciardo came to terms with the new McLaren.
Alpine
Fernando Alonso vs Esteban Ocon (0-1)
Fernando Alonso qualified ahead of Esteban Ocon in what was an impressive display of speed by the Spaniard. During the Bahrain GP, however, it became evident that the setup that helped the Spaniard extract that lap time was not conducive for sustained speed during the race. Ocon was consistently the quicker driver throughout the race as he overtook Alonso thrice in the race.
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel/Nico Hulkenberg vs Lance Stroll (1-0)
It did not look good for Aston Martin when Nico Hulkenberg out-qualified Lance Stroll without any prior testing experience in a car that he had never driven before. Hulkenberg seemed to have better pace during the race but a mistake at turn 1 while trying to overtake Mick Schumacher dropped him behind Lance Stroll and he stayed there for the rest of the race.
Considering the German had no prior experience with these cars, did no testing on them whatsoever, and was not even race fit, it's hard not to say he was the more impressive of the two Aston Martin drivers.
AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly vs Yuki Tsunoda (1-0)
Yuki Tsunoda drove a superb race that went under the radar as he climbed his way from the back of the field into points for AlphaTauri. It is, however, hard to compare that to what Gasly was able to deliver in the same car.
The French driver put together a great qualifying session to reach Q3. Even in the race, he was on course to score solid points for the team before his AlphaTauri went up in flames. A great start to the season for Tsunoda but Gasly was the better of the two AlphaTauri drivers at the Bahrain GP.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas vs Guanyu Zhou (1-0)
If Valtteri Bottas had been told last season that he would qualify next to Lewis Hamilton at the Bahrain GP 2022, he would have accepted that result with both hands. Alfa Romeo seems to have produced a piece of handy midfield machinery and the points were a welcome surprise for the Finnish driver.
Meanwhile, Guanyu Zhou had an encouraging debut as he scored his first points in F1 and played second fiddle to his experienced teammate.
Williams
Alex Albon vs Nicholas Latifi (1-0)
Alex Albon was the unheralded star of the weekend for the team. He put together a lap that was almost a second quicker than his teammate, and even during the race, was the quicker and more established of the two drivers.
This was just the kind of race that kept Albon in the reckoning for a future Red Bull seat and does not shine a bright light over Latifi and his ceiling in the sport.
Haas
Mick Schumacher vs Kevin Magnussen (0-1)
The first race was a bit of a disaster for Mick Schumacher's reputation. The young German, with one of the most illustrious surnames in motorsport, had stated he was happy to have a benchmark like Kevin Magnussen alongside him at Haas.
What followed at Bahrain GP, however, was a completely dominating display by Magnussen as Schumacher was always a step behind. Magnussen made Q3 while his teammate was eliminated in Q2. Fast forward to the race, and the Dane finished fifth while Schumacher failed to score points. Partnering with Magnussen was supposed to provide the young German with a good benchmark. With the way the first race went, he needs to make major improvements.
