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I think it’s about time for the teammate head to heads, starting with the three teams at the back of the grid and moving my way up. So who was the better driver at HRT, Marussia and Caterham last year?
Pedro de la Rosa v Narain Karthikeyan – HRT
|
Champ Pos |
Best Finish |
2nd Best Finish |
Best Qual |
Worst Finish |
Worst Qual |
Retirements |
|
| DLR |
25 |
17 (x4) |
18 (x3) |
21 (x4) |
22 |
24 (x2) |
4 |
| KAR |
24 |
15 |
18 (x2) |
22 (x2) |
23 |
24 (x13) |
7 |
Just some simple stats first, and in every stat but their best finish de la Rosa is superior to Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan’s best finish came at the Monaco Grand Prix, which de la Rosa retired from on the first lap after being hit by Maldonado.
|
Times ahead of teammate in |
Average |
|||||||
|
Qual |
Race |
Fastest Lap |
Qual Pos |
Race Pos |
Distance |
Stops |
km per Stop |
|
| DLR |
17 |
9 |
10 |
22.5 |
19.1 |
4934.949km |
34 |
91.388km |
| KAR |
3 |
0 |
8 |
23.5 |
20.2 |
4578.707km |
32 |
88.052km |
Yet again de la Rosa is ahead in every way, and quite surprisingly in the nine races that both have finished Karthikeyan hasn’t beaten de la Rosa a single time. The only place that Karthikeyan even comes close is their fastest laps. In qualifying de la Rosa is on average 0.638 seconds faster than Karthikeyan, quite a distance.
Timo Glock v Charles Pic – Marussia
|
Champ Pos |
Best Finish |
2nd Best Finish |
Best Qual |
Worst Finish |
Worst Qual |
Retirements |
|
| GLO |
20 |
12 |
14 (x3) |
19 |
22 |
24 |
1 |
| PIC |
21 |
12 |
15 (x2) |
20 (x2) |
20 (x6) |
24 (x2) |
5 |
A bit more even than at HRT but with Glock edging ahead, his experience probably helped to finish above rookie Pic. Glock’s best finish came in Singapore, where Pic finished 16th, and Pic’s best finish came in Brazil, where Glock finished 16th.
|
Times ahead of teammate in |
Average |
|||||||
|
Qual |
Race |
Fastest Lap |
Qual Pos |
Race Pos |
Distance |
Stops |
km per Stop |
|
| GLO |
13 |
8 |
11 |
21.3 |
17.1 |
5604.204km |
39 |
94.987km |
| PIC |
7 |
5 |
8 |
21.85 |
17.8 |
5435.049km |
36 |
97.054km |
Again it’s a lot closer than at HRT, with Pic slightly better on tyres, averaging 97km on each set while Glock managed 95km on his. However Glock is ahead of Pic in every other stat.
Heikki Kovalainen v Vitaly Petrov – Caterham
|
Champ Pos |
Best Finish |
2nd Best Finish |
Best Qual |
Worst Finish |
Worst Qual |
Retirements |
|
| KOV |
22 |
13 (x2) |
14 (x3) |
16 (x2) |
23 |
22 |
1 |
| PET |
19 |
11 |
13 |
19 (x9) |
19 (x3) |
23 |
2 |
At Caterham Petrov seems to have the advantage in the races but Kovalainen slightly better in qualifying. Kovalainen has made it into Q2 twice in 2012, in Bahrain and Europe, finishing behind Petrov in both races despite the better qualifying positions.
|
Times ahead of teammate in |
Average |
|||||||
|
Qual |
Race |
Fastest Lap |
Qual Pos |
Race Pos |
Distance |
Stops |
km per Stop |
|
| KOV |
13 |
7 |
10 |
19 |
16.5 |
5918.474km |
52 |
82.201km |
| PET |
7 |
10 |
9 |
19.8 |
16.2 |
5379.574km |
43 |
85.390km |
Further proof of exactly what I said just above, Kovalainen is the better qualifier but Petrov is the better racer. Incredibly close with everything at Caterham, especially the averages, and Petrov is just an average of two tenths down on Kovalainen in qualifying, not bad for his first year at the team.
That’s it for today, more teammate head to heads will be coming up within the next few weeks, Toro Rosso and Williams will be next.
It would be interesting to have further analysis as far as Caterham is concerned, because I don’t think Petrov was a better racer than Kovalainen. For six times out of the 10 races he finished ahead, Kovalainen had some problems:
China: Kovalainen loses two laps in the pits whereas he was ahead.
Bahrain: Maldonado punctures Kovalainen’s tyres who was ahead, he rejoins 40 seconds behind Petrov and finishes 10 seconds off the Russian.
Valencia: Kovalainen was ahead of Petrov before losing KERS and being hit by Vergne.
Hockenheim: Kovalainen was ahead when his front wing broke on its own.
India: Kovalainen was ahead when he lost KERS.
Brazil: Caterham used two different strategies in order to maximise their chances to get back tenth, it worked out for Petrov, but Kovalainen was faster despite his 5 pitstops.
Some good points, and it kind of shows in the fastest lap column, Kovalainen is just slightly ahead of Petrov there. Though the fastest lap isn’t really the best comparison during races, especially with the Pirelli tyres and no refueling.
However, it is worth to note that although he was often behind, Petrov was most often just behind Kovalainen. That way, he achieved what Trulli was no longer able to do, since the Italian veteran frequently finished 30 seconds off Kovalainen.