The 2017 Formula One season has been over for some time now and it’s time that we compare the teammates and their performance throughout the duration of the season. The McLaren driver lineup featured a depressing car, but boasted the talent of double World Drivers’ Champion Fernando Alonso and talented young rookie Stoffel Vandoorne. How did the duo compare?
It may shock you, but the pair were actually very close throughout the season, albeit mostly due to the lackluster performance of the car beneath them. Alonso gained a narrow advantage over his teammate in the season, but not really by much. The Spaniard collected more points and had a higher average finishing position (excluding races in which he did not finish).
Meanwhile, Vandoorne suffered less retirements than his teammate (largely a lucky statistic) and was able to equally out race his teammate. However, it’s important to note that there were only seven races in the season that saw both McLaren cars cross the finish line. Of these seven races, Alonso finished higher up the order than Vandoorne in five of them.
The statistic that clearly shows Alonso is the quicker driver is the qualifying performance. This stat is more about pure pace and performance than luck and reliability from the car. Alonso qualified higher than his teammate a staggering 16 times!
