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

Belgium Notables

• Setting the records straight. No driver had his best position ever, but some teams and drivers were higher up or lower down than usual:
  • best position for Prost since the French Grand Prix of 1999
  • best position for Fisichella since the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2000
  • worst position for Coulthard since the Austrian Grand Prix of 1998
  • worst position for Trulli since the Malaysian Grand Prix of 1999

• Frentzen. The 4.4 second gap between Burti and Frentzen is the largest since the French Grand Prix of 1999, when it was Frentzen again who outqualified his teammate by a vast margin; that time it was Damon Hill.

• Alonso/Marques. With Alex Yoong now confirmed to drive for Minardi at the upcoming Italian Grand Prix, it now looks like the title for this year's Qualifying Differentials Champion will go to either Michael Schumacher or Giancarlo Fisichella, since our rules clearly state that the teammates must compete with each other in at least 15 rounds. Sorry Fernando.

• Changes since Hungary: Despite the odd weather and big gaps between the teammates, the only change is that Villeneuve has now passed Panis in the BAR equation.

Belgian Differentials
---------------------
Slower          Diff.   Faster
Burti         > 4.667 > Frentzen
Button        > 1.919 > Fisichella
Panis         > 1.800 > Villeneuve
Barrichello   > 1.431 > M. Schumacher
Irvine        > 1.170 > de la Rosa
Marques       > 1.156 > Alonso
Bernoldi      > 1.009 > Verstappen
Coulthard     > 0.965 > Hakkinen
R. Schumacher > 0.887 > Montoya
Trulli        > 0.519 > Alesi
Heidfeld      > 0.252 > Raikkonen

Average Differentials Through Belgium
-------------------------------------
Slower        Diff.   Faster
Burti       > 2.855 > Frentzen
Marques     > 1.047 > Alonso
Barrichello > 0.631 > M.Schumacher
Button      > 0.597 > Fisichella
Montoya     > 0.386 > R.Schumacher
de la Rosa  > 0.284 > Irvine
Alesi       > 0.279 > Trulli
Bernoldi    > 0.181 > Verstappen
Coulthard   > 0.118 > Hakkinen
Panis       > 0.101 > Villeneuve
Raikkonen   > 0.068 > Heidfeld