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The Imola GP chapter is closed for F1 as all that was to be said and done has already been taken care of. Max Verstappen has closed down the deficit to Charles Leclerc by 17 points this weekend and the championship seems to be heading towards an interesting chapter.
Before we close the book on the Imola GP, however, there is still one score that needs to be settled: the score that is arguably the most important one in the sport.
In F1, the first driver that you need to beat is your teammate and in this piece, we take a look at where each of these drivers stands in this battle.
2022 F1 Imola GP: Teammate rivalry
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell (1-3)
Winner: George Russell
Not many would have predicted that the battle of the Mercedes drivers would see George Russell hold such a commanding lead. The young British driver beat his illustrious teammate quite convincingly this weekend and now the points gap between the two drivers has increased to 21 points.
Will we see Lewis Hamilton plot a comeback? We should, but then what has truly gone according to the script this season anyway?
Red Bull
Max Verstappen vs Sergio Perez (4-0)
Winner: Max Verstappen
In one of the more amicable partnerships in F1, both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are doing exactly what they are expected to do. Perez is close enough to the Dutchman this season to act as his rear-gunner, but not too close so as to start challenging the team leader. Both the drivers know their role and are executing it perfectly.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc vs Carlos Sainz (4-0)
Winner: Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz needs a hug, a hand around the shoulder, and most importantly, bucketloads of luck. The Spaniard has been plagued with reliability issues, unforced errors, and bad luck as well.
If it wasn't for the tap from Daniel Ricciardo, Sainz could have had an impressive race, but as luck had it, that was not the case. Having said that, there's no denying who is the faster driver at Ferrari. And it's not Sainz, it's the championship leader.
McLaren
Lando Norris vs Daniel Ricciardo (4-0)
Winner: Lando Norris
If the 2021 season was bad for Daniel Ricciardo, the 2022 season is worse. Some strange elements have entered the game of the Australian in the last few races. He's not only slower than Lando Norris, who has been sublime this season, but he's also error-prone now.
Ricciardo was due a good result in the Imola GP and was in a prime position but nothing seems to be working for him. It will be interesting to see how, or if he can bounce back.
Alpine
Fernando Alonso vs Esteban Ocon (1-3)
Winner: Esteban Ocon
It's hard to judge the Imola GP weekend for both Alpine drivers. Disaster struck for Esteban Ocon with a gearbox issue in qualifying, and since then, he was trying to make up ground.
For Fernando Alonso, bad luck struck in the race when he had to retire after receiving damage to his sidepod. In this scenario, Ocon gets the point based on his display in the Alpine while Alonso didn't have the opportunity to do that.
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel/Nico Hulkenberg vs Lance Stroll (3-1)
Winner: Sebastian Vettel
A race where you drag an Aston Martin into points in the 10th position is supposed to be a good one. When your teammate does one better and drags the car into Q3 on Friday and then finishes the race in P8, however, it doesn't look that great.
Sebastian Vettel showed his class at the Imola GP and sadly for Lance Stroll, he had no answer to that.
AlphaTauri
Pierre Gasly vs Yuki Tsunoda (3-1)
Winner: Yuki Tsunoda
The Imola GP was all Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri. The Japanese driver was faster than Gasly in qualifying and the race. While the Frenchman spent the race fending off Lewis Hamilton, Tsunoda spent the race chasing down and overtaking Sebastian Vettel. A great weekend for the Japanese driver this one.
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas vs Guanyu Zhou (4-0)
Winner: Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas is enjoying life at Alfa Romeo at the moment, as he's dominating his Chinese teammate. Guanyu Zhou has not been at Bottas' level at any point in this season and his inexperience is quite evident in the races as well.
Bottas has now established himself as the team leader at Alfa Romeo after a string of dominant performances over his teammate.
Williams
Alex Albon vs Nicholas Latifi (4-0)
Winner: Alex Albon
Nicholas Latifi has become a predictable liability in F1 this season. The Canadian is some distance behind his teammate and it's almost predictable how he will fare in the races right now. This was another weekend of Alex Albon dominating his Canadian teammate. Albon's overtake on Lewis Hamilton was something by the way.
Haas
Mick Schumacher vs Kevin Magnussen (1-3)
Winner: Kevin Magnussen
Mick Schumacher put together a race at the Imola GP that resembled more like what you expected of Nikita Mazepin. The race had spins, unforced errors, no pace whatsoever, and a finish near the bottom of the standings. The Imola GP was a stern reminder to the German that there seems to be a clear gulf in his skillset and what's needed to make it to the top level in F1.
Also Check Out :-F1 Standings 2022
