Which F1 drivers will beat their team mates in 2023? · RaceFans

Before any of the 20 drivers on this season’s Formula 1 grid can hope to become world champion, they must first beat the driver in the opposite garage to them before they can worry about the other 18 opponents.

Unlike most team sports, a driver’s team mate is often their biggest rival in Formula 1. The only competitor in equal machinery means they become a driver’s best benchmark by which to measure their own performance.

Heading into 2023, there are some fascinating match ups throughout the field. From all-new partnerships to other pairings where one driver is eager to settle the score after losing out in 2022. But which ten drivers do you foresee coming out on top at the end of this season against their team mates?

Red Bull: Max Verstappen vs Sergio Perez

Two seasons of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez together at Red Bull has produced the results Red Bull were likely hoping for when they first signed Perez for 2021. Verstappen is now a double world champion and Perez helped the team secure their first constructors’ championship crown since 2013.

Perez fared a bit better in year two against Verstappen than his first year with the team, but Perez was not close to threatening Verstappen for the title, taking just two wins across the year compared to Verstappen’s record-setting 15 victories.

Last year: Verstappen was overwhelming favourite to beat new team mate Perez in 2021, earning 93% of the vote, and last year you backed the world champion even more with 96% – the biggest margin on the grid. Verstappen ultimately proved most of you correct, dominating the championship.

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Ferrari: Charles Leclerc vs Carlos Sainz Jnr

The score between the two Ferrari team mates now sits at 1-1 after two seasons together. Carlos Sainz Jnr finished ahead on points in his first season with Charles Leclerc at Maranello, but Leclerc began 2022 as the clear quicker driver, taking two wins from the first three races.

While Sainz found more of a rhythm as the year went on, he was unable to catch Leclerc by the end of the season, who only just held off Sergio Perez to take second in the championship.

Last year: After 86% of you picked Leclerc to beat Sainz in 2021, only for Sainz to finish ahead on points, last year’s poll was a much closer affair. But you again backed Leclerc with 54% of the vote, with a small majority of you ultimately…