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The 2022 F1 season is on our doorsteps now and we felt this was the perfect time to give our take on arguably the most important rivalry in the sport. There is this famous saying that in F1, the first person that you have to beat is your teammate. While this might be a cakewalk for quite a few drivers this season, there are certainly some spicy battles that are worth keeping an eye on this season.
Having said that, let's jump straight into it and make our predictions on who we think is going to have the upper hand in the battle of the teammates.
Haas F1:
Mick Schumacher vs Kevin Magnussen
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First up, we have the teammate battle at Haas between Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen. This is purely a battle between youth and experience.
Kevin Magnussen is bringing with him a ton of experience. Experience not only in F1 but at Haas as well. The last few years at Haas did not paint the Dane in a great light, but it had a lot more to do with the car than the driver. Talking about Magnussen, he is a solid performer and should be able to extract a lot more from that Haas than what Nikita Mazepin was eventually going to do.
On the other hand, we have Mick Schumacher. The German did have a decent first season with the team. If we ignore the crashes that he inadvertently had in that Haas, that was a pretty good season. In his second season in F1, Schumacher is now well entrenched within the team and finally has a suitable benchmark to compare himself with.
If we compare the two drivers then while Magnussen does hold the edge over Schumacher in terms of experience. The German, being a former F2 and F3 champion, seems to have something special about him, and hence gets our backing to beat Magnussen this season. We don't think he will blow the doors off his teammate and dominate him as he did against Mazepin but overall, Mick Schumacher beats Kevin Magnussen.
Verdict : Mick Schumacher
Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas vs Guanyu Zhou
At Alfa Romeo, we have two drivers on contrasting career trajectories. On one side, we have Bottas, who is coming down from the high of driving for Mercedes. On the other hand, we have Zhou making his debut in F1.
Not many people know much about Zhou and have already tagged him as a pay driver. If someone has followed Formula 2, however, then it is clear that the Chinese driver is no slouch. He has gone up against drivers like Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda and beaten them on merit on multiple occasions. What Zhou lacks is his inability to stay consistent because of which he didn't win a title in the junior categories.
Talking about Bottas, it's fair to say that the new environment is going to be a shock to him. At the same time, however, with Lewis Hamilton not in the other car, he gets an opportunity to showcase his skills against a lower benchmark.
During the F1 season, when the two drivers go head-to-head, while Zhou might surprise Bottas a few times, overall Bottas will hold a definitive edge and establish himself inside the team.
Verdict: Valtteri Bottas
Williams
Alex Albon vs Nicholas Latifi
At Williams, Alex Albon is replacing his friend George Russell. For the team, it's going to be a very young combination of Albon and Nicholas Latifi with both the drivers not having too many seasons under their belt.
Talking about Albon, this is his F1 season to shine and prove himself. He was outscored by Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso. He was then comprehensively beaten by Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Now, at Williams, he has the opportunity to express himself and show what kind of talent he is.
This F1 season is important for Latifi to establish himself within the team. For once, a very difficult benchmark in the form of George Russell is out of the picture. Latifi will now be looking forward to battling Albon and trying to take over the role of the lead driver within the team.
If we have to compare though, Albon does seem to have the edge. Both were teammates in the same car in F2 and Albon held the edge even then. Even in F1, Latifi getting so comprehensively outpaced speaks volumes for Russell, but it also indicates an intrinsic lack of speed. For this season, although we don't expect Albon to dominate Latifi as Russell did, we do expect the Red Bull academy driver to beat him.
Verdict: Alex Albon
Aston Martin
Sebastian Vettel vs Lance Stroll
Moving to Aston Martin, then this one is surely going to be a high-stakes battle. Both drivers have something to prove this F1 season. Sebastian Vettel will be keen to show that he can dominate his less fancied teammate, just like a 4-time world champion should. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll will be looking to prove himself and show the world that he's not just on the grid because of his father's money.
Vettel had a rocky start at Aston Martin last F1 season. As the season progressed, however, he was slowly able to establish himself within the team and became more and more comfortable. Is he the same driver that romped to four titles at Red Bull? No, he isn't, and it does appear that he has lost a slight step or two since then.
Stroll, on the other hand, has shown flashes of brilliance throughout his F1 career but the rest of it has been littered with mistakes. The only word Stroll would be focusing on is "consistency" because that seems to be what is missing in the final package.
This F1 season, if we have to make a pick, we're backing Sebastian Vettel to beat Lance Stroll.
Verdict: Sebastian Vettel
Alpine
Fernando Alonso vs Esteban Ocon
The two Alpine drivers had a close enough rivalry last F1 season. While Fernando Alonso did seem to edge it in the end, there wasn't much of a gap. This F1 season, the battle is going to be even closer because Esteban Ocon has shown a tendency to make incremental improvements every season.
Will that help him beat Alonso in the standings? If Alonso was in his 30s, we would have said no. Let's be fair, however, Alonso is in his 40s now, and although he still has a lot to give, it's not the same as his prime years.
If we have to talk about a freak result, a race win, or something, then Alonso might be the man to do it, but throughout the F1 season, Ocon is winning this one.
Verdict: Esteban Ocon
Alpha Tauri
Pierre Gasly vs Yuki Tsunoda
Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will go up against each other yet again this season. While Tsunoda does appear to have his fitness up to par right now, Gasly has been on an exponential growth curve in the last few seasons.
Gasly has youth, experience, and the motivation of a future Red Bull seat on his side, while Tsunoda seems to ooze talent whenever he drives the car.
This F1 season, the battle is going to be much closer than what we had last season. Gun to the head, however, if we have to make a prediction, then we feel Gasly is still going to be the better driver.
Verdict: Pierre Gasly
McLaren
Daniel Ricciardo vs Lando Norris
Now, this one is going to be interesting. We haven't seen Daniel Ricciardo struggle so much even against Max Verstappen. That's exactly why we're going to put down the much emphatic defeat of Ricciardo against Lando Norris to the fact that the Australian was never comfortable with the car.
Coming into this F1 season. one crucial limiting factor for the Australian is the fact that he has missed the F1 pre-season test in Bahrain entirely. Now, if you're a driver that, well, struggled because you were not accustomed to the car you had last season, losing an entire test to COVID is possibly the worst possible thing that could have happened to you.
Having said that, this is still a 23-race calendar and Ricciardo will have enough time to bounce back if he can. Now, the most important part of that statement is "if he can".
If there is one thing obvious at McLaren, then that is the fact that the tide is running in favor of Lando Norris. The team has signed him up for a multi-year deal and with the way he drove last F1 season, the team looks at him as its future.
While for this F1 season, in the battle between the two McLaren drivers, we do feel that it won't be the same one-way traffic just like last season and the battle is going to be much closer.
Who will come out on top? Our pick is Lando Norris, as the young driver is still on a learning curve and should make another step forward in his racing.
Verdict: Lando Norris
Ferrari
Carlos Sainz vs Charles Leclerc
Another spicy battle will be between the two Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. When Sainz was picked up by Ferrari, it did appear that he would prove to be an able deputy for Leclerc. Probably to the surprise of everyone, including the team, however, Sainz had some pretty impressive moments in the Ferrari and ended up beating Leclerc in the standings.
Leclerc is aware of that and will be looking to cut down on the mistakes that cost him a lot of points last season. In the battle between these two drivers, especially a battle that could potentially even be for the F1 title, we are going with Leclerc. He is the better qualifier and racer of the two and this season we do feel that he will be able to cut down on his errors. If that Ferrari car is as good as it seems, he might even be in contention to win the title.
Verdict: Charles Leclerc
Red Bull
Max Verstappen vs Sergio Perez
With all due respect to Sergio Perez, this one is probably going to be one of the more one-sided battles of the entire F1 season. Perez is a fantastic driver without a doubt. Max Verstappen, however, is on his way to etch his name in the pantheon of greats.
While we do feel that Perez might put together a much-improved performance compared to last season, he won't be too much of a headache for Verstappen in any which way.
Verdict: Max Verstappen
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton vs George Russell
Coming finally to Mercedes, let's face it, this one is going to be interesting. Lewis Hamilton is a seven-time F1 world champion and a grand prix elite. George Russell, on the other hand, is an upstart that is looking to make his mark in the sport.
Hamilton is, in all probability, in his second-last season in F1. His contract expires at the end of next season and it doesn't look certain that he will be extending it. Russell, on the other hand, is seen as the successor to Hamilton in Mercedes.
While Hamilton has the experience, breathtaking speed, unparalleled racing ability, and years of proven class, Russell has youth, hunger, and to add to it, an exceptional proven talent.
For the 2022 F1 season, although a very controversial choice, we feel Russell is going to have the upper hand at Mercedes. It's not going to be a clear-cut winner out of the two as both will keep going back and forth throughout the season. When it is all said and done, however, we feel it will be Russell, the hungrier driver, that is going to take over from the Mercedes F1 legend.
Verdict: George Russell
