-
Grid Median Gap
0.315%
235 Paired Q1 Sessions -
Tightest Team
0.205%
Ferrari (Sainz / Leclerc) -
Widest Team
0.526%
Kick Sauber (Bottas / Zhou) -
Tightest Delta
0.001s
Bahrain GP (1 ms / 0.0011%)
The 0.315 percent benchmark: three-tenths across the garage
Across the 24 Grands Prix of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, teammates were separated by a median lap-time margin of 0.315 percent under concurrent, shared qualifying conditions. On a representative 90-second circuit, that margin translates to just 0.284 seconds between two drivers pushing the same chassis, engine, and tyre allocation to the physical edge. Formula 1 teammates operate closer together than conventional finishing positions suggest, but that closeness is unevenly distributed across the pit lane.
Formula 1 Teammate Qualifying Margins (2024 Season)
Median Intra-Team Lap-Time Percentage Margins in Q1
All 24 Grands Prix · Common scale 0.0%–0.6% · Faster driver lap denominator
Source: F1DB v2026.15.1 / FIA Official Timing Classifications. Grid-wide median is 0.315% (n=235). Excludes 5 unpaired sessions.
| Constructor | Paired Sessions (n) | Median Gap (%) | Mean Gap (%) | Min Gap (%) | Max Gap (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferrari | 24 | 0.205% | 0.245% | 0.041% | 0.754% |
| McLaren | 24 | 0.221% | 0.330% | 0.033% | 1.427% |
| Haas | 24 | 0.275% | 0.355% | 0.016% | 1.336% |
| RB | 24 | 0.287% | 0.367% | 0.002% | 1.779% |
| Alpine | 23 | 0.296% | 0.549% | 0.004% | 5.549% |
| Aston Martin | 24 | 0.298% | 0.330% | 0.035% | 0.863% |
| Mercedes | 24 | 0.339% | 0.431% | 0.009% | 2.277% |
| Williams | 21 | 0.470% | 0.529% | 0.012% | 2.468% |
| Red Bull | 24 | 0.505% | 0.849% | 0.018% | 7.670% |
| Kick Sauber | 23 | 0.526% | 0.689% | 0.001% | 1.942% |
Continuous percentage margins versus binary scorecards
Understanding teammate parity requires distinguishing lap-time deltas from binary head-to-head tallies. While our focused multi-season study of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell (What Makes a Fair Formula 1 Teammate Comparison?) examined 68 qualifying sessions through win–loss records, and our separate analysis of Mercedes’ season (How Did Hamilton and Russell Split Mercedes’ 2024 Results?) assessed Sunday finishes, this grid-wide investigation examines continuous physical margins. Binary scores hide whether a driver qualified ahead by one thousandth of a second or seven tenths; percentage deltas reveal the true mechanical deficit.
A standardized denominator: why Q1 is the fairest test
To establish an uncompromised benchmark, this study measures each driver’s single fastest legal lap in the first phase of qualifying (Q1). Because Q2 and Q3 exclude eliminated cars and introduce varied tyre preservation strategies, Q1 provides the only championship session where all 20 drivers share concurrent, shared track conditions under the same ambient weather window. Sprint qualifying and non-championship sessions are excluded. Across 240 potential constructor-events, exactly 235 yielded paired times. Five incomplete sessions—such as Logan Sargeant’s chassis withdrawal in Melbourne or Pierre Gasly’s post-session technical disqualification in Baku—are excluded rather than replaced with estimated times or starting grid positions.
| Rank | Constructor | Paired (n) | Median Gap | Mean Gap | Primary Pairing (Q1 Head-to-Head) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ferrari | 24 | 0.205% | 0.245% | Leclerc 12 – 11 Sainz (Bearman 0–1 Leclerc) |
| 2 | McLaren | 24 | 0.221% | 0.330% | Piastri 13 – 11 Norris |
| 3 | Haas | 24 | 0.275% | 0.355% | Hülkenberg 13 – 9 Magnussen (Bearman 1–1 Hülkenberg) |
| 4 | RB | 24 | 0.287% | 0.367% | Tsunoda 12 – 6 Ricciardo / Tsunoda 4 – 2 Lawson |
| 5 | Alpine | 23 | 0.296% | 0.549% | Gasly 13 – 9 Ocon (Gasly 1–0 Doohan) |
| 6 | Aston Martin | 24 | 0.298% | 0.330% | Alonso 15 – 9 Stroll |
| 7 | Mercedes | 24 | 0.339% | 0.431% | Russell 16 – 8 Hamilton |
| 8 | Williams | 21 | 0.470% | 0.529% | Albon 12 – 0 Sargeant / Albon 8 – 1 Colapinto |
| 9 | Red Bull | 24 | 0.505% | 0.849% | Verstappen 22 – 2 Pérez |
| 10 | Kick Sauber | 23 | 0.526% | 0.689% | Bottas 21 – 2 Zhou |
| Round | Grand Prix | Constructor | Drivers Involved | Recorded Q1 Times | Exclusion Reason / Circumstance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | Kick Sauber | Bottas / Zhou | Bottas 1:29.179 / Zhou No Time (NC) | Zhou FP3 crash; late pit exit saw him take chequered flag before starting flying lap. |
| 3 | Australia | Williams | Albon / Sargeant | Albon 1:17.130 / Sargeant Withdrawn | Albon crashed in FP1; team withdrew Sargeant to reassign chassis. Single car entered. |
| 7 | Emilia Romagna | Williams | Albon / Sargeant | Albon 1:16.524 / Sargeant No Time (NC) | Sargeant completed 8 laps; both flying lap times deleted for track limits (Turns 9 and 19). |
| 15 | Netherlands | Williams | Albon / Sargeant | Albon DSQ / Sargeant Did Not Enter | Sargeant FP3 fire/crash. Albon qualified on track (1:11.503) but DSQ for illegal floor width. |
| 17 | Azerbaijan | Alpine | Ocon / Gasly | Ocon 1:44.504 / Gasly DSQ | Gasly set 1:43.088 on track but DSQ post-session for fuel mass flow breach. |
| Category | Round & Grand Prix | Constructor | Faster Driver (Lap) | Slower Driver (Lap) | Delta | Gap (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tightest #1 | R01 Bahrain | Kick Sauber | Bottas (1:30.756) | Zhou (1:30.757) | 0.001s | 0.0011% |
| Tightest #2 | R24 Abu Dhabi | RB | Lawson (1:23.733) | Tsunoda (1:23.735) | 0.002s | 0.0024% |
| Tightest #3 | R02 Saudi Arabia | Alpine | Ocon (1:29.475) | Gasly (1:29.479) | 0.004s | 0.0045% |
| Tightest #4 | R06 Miami | Mercedes | Russell (1:28.159) | Hamilton (1:28.167) | 0.008s | 0.0091% |
| Tightest #5 | R11 Austria | RB | Tsunoda (1:05.563) | Ricciardo (1:05.569) | 0.006s | 0.0092% |
| Widest #5 | R14 Belgium | Kick Sauber | Bottas (1:55.531) | Zhou (1:57.775) | 2.244s | 1.9423% |
| Widest #4 | R21 São Paulo | Mercedes | Russell (1:29.121) | Hamilton (1:31.150) | 2.029s | 2.2767% |
| Widest #3 | R21 São Paulo | Williams | Albon (1:29.072) | Colapinto (1:31.270) | 2.198s | 2.4677% |
| Widest #2 | R12 Great Britain | Alpine | Ocon (1:34.557) | Gasly (1:39.804) | 5.247s | 5.5490% |
| Widest #1 | R12 Great Britain | Red Bull | Verstappen (1:31.342) | Pérez (1:38.348) | 7.006s | 7.6701% |
Constructor rankings: Ferrari and McLaren set the pace
Scuderia Ferrari fielded the grid’s tightest intra-team contest, recording a median teammate gap of just 0.205 percent across 24 Grands Prix. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. traded fastest Q1 times with near-perfect symmetry (12 to 11 in Leclerc’s favor). McLaren ranked second at 0.221 percent, where Oscar Piastri led Lando Norris in 13 of 24 Q1 outings. Haas (0.275 percent), RB (0.287 percent), Alpine (0.296 percent), and Aston Martin (0.298 percent) all bunched tightly below the three-tenths threshold. Conversely, Mercedes sat at 0.339 percent, Williams at 0.470 percent, Red Bull Racing at 0.505 percent, and Kick Sauber at 0.526 percent, where Valtteri Bottas outpaced Guanyu Zhou in 21 of 23 paired sessions.
Outliers and weather swings: from 1 millisecond to 7 seconds
Although constructor medians describe typical Saturday performance, distribution tails highlight the fragility of single-lap qualifying. In the season opener at Bahrain, Bottas edged Zhou by 0.001 seconds—a delta of 0.0011 percent. At the opposite extreme, Silverstone produced the season’s largest disparity when Sergio Pérez beached in the Copse gravel during damp conditions, stranding him 7.006 seconds (7.670 percent) behind Max Verstappen as the circuit rapidly dried. Rain-affected sessions at Interlagos and Spa produced similar statistical spikes, demonstrating why median metrics provide a far more robust standard of central tendency than arithmetic means pulled upward by red flags or tyre temperature misjudgments.
Methodological boundaries: execution versus innate capability
These empirical margins measure session execution rather than innate driver talent. A qualifying delta reflects multiple confounding variables: track evolution across an 18-minute window, asymmetric aerodynamic upgrade packages, tow benefits at high-speed tracks, and out-lap traffic congestion. Furthermore, qualifying pace alone does not dictate Sunday outcomes. As demonstrated in our companion study (What Can Qualifying Actually Predict About Sunday?), starting performance accounts for only part of Grand Prix execution, reminding analysts that lap-time correlation must never be confused with driver causality.