Qualifying Differentials

	by Marcel Borsboom, Netherlands

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 five qualifying session completed for 2000, the differentials are once again on a roll! Let's see which drivers deserve bragging rights. Spain Notables De la Rosa. The local Spaniard put in his best ever qualifying performance - the first time he qualifies within the top 10 - only to find out later that he is demoted to the end of the grid due to fuel irregularities. Therefore, due to his time being disqualified, de la Rosa and teammate Jos Verstappen are excluded for this week's Qualifying Differentials (Verstappen's gain). Barrichello. Despite being outqualified by Michael Schumacher by more than four tenths of a second, Rubes Barrichello is so far maintaining a close gap to his experienced teammate and is currently the closest-ever teammate Schumacher had in F1, as far as qualifying differentials are concerned. The excuses: Timing was everything in this qualifying session, and with track temperature changing drastically in the closing minutes, no one other than Mika Hakkinen were able to better their own time, let alone their position. Changes since Britain: other than some extending the gap over their teammate and some closing it down, no changes were noted in the overall averages since the last race. The average gap between teammates in Spain was relatively low: 4.80s. This compared to the average in Britain, which was 0.725s; the average at San Marino, which was 0.654s; 0.455s in Brazil; and 0.874s in Australia.

Marcel Borsboom	© 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated.
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