Unbeatable Streak: How Lando Norris Dominates F1 Qualifying Against Teammates

Lando Norris claimed his seventh pole position for a grand prix this year in Las Vegas, meaning he is now tied with Max Verstappen for most poles this season. It also means he will continue his record of never being beaten by a teammate over a full season in qualifying.

Gaps Between Teammates

Oscar Piastri’s poor run of luck continued in qualifying where he was unable to complete his final lap in Q3 because Charles Leclerc went off in front of him. That cost Piastri a clear chance to out-qualify Norris, who took pole position despite making a costly mistake at the end of his lap.

The one-second gap between the pair was much larger than usual, entirely due to the changing conditions at the track; most other teammates were separated by even more.

| Team | Gap (s) | |------|---------| | Max Verstappen | 3.34 | | George Russell | 3.17 | | Charles Leclerc | 2.301 | | Nico Hulkenberg | 2.119 | | Pierre Gasly | 1.923 | | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 1.347 | | Lando Norris | 1.027 | | Fernando Alonso | 0.985 | | Liam Lawson | 0.492 | | Esteban Ocon | 0.107 |

Teammate Battles

With two rounds left, Norris has ensured he won’t be out-qualified by Piastri over a full season. Norris has won every season-long qualifying with one exception: 2019, his first season in F1.

Norris tied 10-10 with Carlos Sainz Jnr that year, then pipped him 9-8 in 2020. After Daniel Ricciardo joined, Norris firmly established the upper hand. He then beat Piastri as a rookie in 2023 and actually increased his margin over him last season. Piastri could still tie Norris this year, but has only out-qualified him once in the last seven grands prix.

Sainz has the same margin over his teammate in qualifying this year as Norris does. The Williams driver achieved his 10th Q3 appearance this year, two more than Alexander Albon.

• Fernando Alonso 21 – 0 Lance Stroll
• Max Verstappen 19 – 0 Yuki Tsunoda
• George Russell 19 – 3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli
• Charles Leclerc 17 – 5 Lewis Hamilton
• Isack Hadjar 14 – 5 Liam Lawson
• Pierre Gasly 10 – 4 Franco Colapinto
• Oliver Bearman 13 – 8 Esteban Ocon
• Carlos Sainz Jnr 12 – 10 Alexander Albon
• Lando Norris 12 – 10 Oscar Piastri
• Gabriel Bortoleto 11 – 10 Nico Hulkenberg

Streaks

Gabriel Bortoleto hit an impressive run of form at mid-season, consistently out-qualifying Nico Hulkenberg. However the rookie has had a tougher time in recent races on largely unfamiliar tracks: this was his fifth consecutive Q1 elimination.

| Rank | Driver | Streak | |------|--------|--------| | 1 | Fernando Alonso | 33 | | 2 | Max Verstappen | 28 | | 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | 4 | | = | Pierre Gasly | 4 | | = | Charles Leclerc | 4 | | = | Lando Norris | 4 | | 7 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 1 | | = | Esteban Ocon | 1 | | = | George Russell | 1 | | = | Liam Lawson | 1 |

| Rank | Driver | Streak | |------|--------|--------| | 1 | Lance Stroll | 33 | | 2 | Yuki Tsunoda | 20 | | 3 | Franco Colapinto | 4 | | = | Gabriel Bortoleto | 4 | | = | Lewis Hamilton | 4 | | = | Oscar Piastri | 4 | | 7 | Alexander Albon | 1 | | = | Isack Hadjar | 1 | | = | Oliver Bearman | 1 | | = | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 1 |

Q1 Eliminations and Q3 Appearances

| Rank | Driver | Streak | |------|--------|--------| | 1 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 5 | | 2 | Yuki Tsunoda | 2 | | 3 | Alexander Albon | 1 | | = | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 1 | | = | Lewis Hamilton | 1 |

| Rank | Driver | Streak | |------|--------|--------| | 1 | Lando Norris | 29 | | 2 | Oscar Piastri | 26 | | 3 | Charles Leclerc | 15 | | 4 | George Russell | 14 | | 5 | Isack Hadjar | 3 | | 6 | Pierre Gasly | 2 | | = | Liam Lawson | 2 | | 8 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 1 | | = | Fernando Alonso | 1 | | = | Max Verstappen | 1 |