Atlas F1 Magazine:  Qualifying Differentials 2001

Qualifying Differentials 2001

By Marcel Borsboom, Netherlands
Atlas F1 Magazine Writer

For the fourth year running, Atlas F1 is going to keep an eye on the battle between teammates throughout the season with a simple measurement: we compare the qualifying times of each driver against his teammate's result. After every Grand Prix, we will show how teammates have fared up against each other, and where they are overall since the beginning of the season. At the end of the season, the World Champion of Qualifying Differentials will be elected - the driver who was most beaten by his teammates, in seconds. Only those who participate in at least 15 of the 17 rounds are eligible for the coveted crown; and for those who made the efforts and participated in all 17 races, the best and worst result will be scrapped.

With eight qualifying sessions completed for 2001, the differentials are on a roll! Let's see which drivers deserve bragging rights.

Canada Notables

Setting the records straight. Sensation Kimi Raikkonen set his best qualifying position in Canada - seventh - while eventual race winner Ralf Schumacher equalled his previous best of second on the grid.

Brazil. The Canadian Grand Prix was not generous to the Brazilian fans. All five Brazilian drivers were outqualified by their respective teammates, in some cases by quite a margin (such as Rubens Barrichello and Ricardo Zonta).

de la Rosa/Irvine. For the first time this season, Eddie Irvine was outqualified by his teammate. The honour befell Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa, but it was a lucky one indeed: de la Rosa placed his car ahead of the Ulsterman by a mere one thousandth of a second.

Alonso/Marques. The Minardi duo was left out of the Qualifying Differentials table this week, since Fernando Alonso was disqualified due to a technical infringement and was forced to start from the back of the grid, one position down from where he initially qualified.

Changes since Monaco: no changes in the pecking order were registered.

Canadian Differentials
----------------------
Slower        Diff.   Faster
Barrichello > 0.978 > M.Schumacher
Zonta       > 0.869 > Trulli
Montoya     > 0.826 > R.Schumacher
Bernoldi    > 0.672 > Verstappen
Burti       > 0.575 > Alesi
Hakkinen    > 0.556 > Coulthard
Button      > 0.411 > Fisichella
Heidfeld    > 0.290 > Raikkonen
Villeneuve  > 0.264 > Panis
Irvine      > 0.001 > de la Rosa

Average Differentials through Canada
------------------------------------
Slower        Diff.   Faster
Marques     > 1.129 > Alonso
de la Rosa  > 0.683 > Irvine
Burti       > 0.595 > Alesi
Montoya     > 0.587 > R.Schumacher
Button      > 0.513 > Fisichella
Barrichello > 0.372 > M.Schumacher
Frentzen    > 0.233 > Trulli
Bernoldi    > 0.161 > Verstappen
Raikkonen   > 0.085 > Heidfeld
Villeneuve  > 0.081 > Panis
Coulthard   > 0.027 > Hakkinen

The average gap between teammates in Canada was 0.544s - slightly higher than last year's, when the gap was 0.449s. This is a drastic improvement from the gap in Monaco two weeks before, where the gap was 0.839s, and slightly higher than the gap in Austria two weeks before that, where the gap was 0.436.

More in comparison: the gap in Spain was 0.480s; 0.715s at the San Marino Grand Prix; 0.25s in Brazil; 0.588 in Malaysia; and 0.852 in Australia.