RANKED: Champions' team-mates - is calamity Perez the worst of the 21st century?
RANKED: Champions' team-mates - is calamity Perez the worst of the 21st century?
Sergio Perez should be celebrating his new Red Bull contract in style, but the Mexican is attracting attention for all the wrong reasons as his slump continues.
The 34-year-old has endured a terrible spell of late, including Q1 exits and DNFs in Monaco and Canada, and somehow still finishing two places behind Max Verstappen in Austria despite the Dutchman’s collision, puncture, extra pit-stop, and 10-second time penalty.
READ MORE: Horner WARNS Ricciardo over uncertain F1 future
As Red Bull’s rivals continue to threaten Verstappen, Perez’s new deal is coming under intense scrutiny. He has five wins with the team, but his recent failings in such a dominant car had us thinking… is Perez the worst team-mate to a champion in 21st-century F1?
GPFans has ranked all ten team-mates to champions since 2000 by working out their average points deficit, as a percentage due to points system changes, to their title-winning partners.
With some editorial vibes-based decisions added to the fray, it’s an imperfect system, but we’ve ranked the champions’ team-mates from the great to the ugly below.
The great: Hamilton and Rosberg
It’s unsurprising that the only pair to both win the world championship as team-mates this century are the two who rank in the ‘great’ category.
Lewis Hamilton took the title in 2014 and 2015 ahead of his German team-mate, who amassed 83% and 85% respectively of the Brit’s points.
Though Rosberg did not substantially challenge his team-mate then, he comfortably finished second in both seasons and his strong hauls of points secured the team’s first two constructors’ championships.
Rosberg sacrificed virtually everything except racing for his crowning moment in 2016, when he triumphed over Hamilton by five points. Hamilton’s 380 points were 99% of Rosberg’s total, and with his dream realised, the German promptly retired as world champion.
Despite the devastation for Hamilton, he at least knows in his heart that he is the second best ever performing team-mate to a champion (Alain Prost lost the championship by half a point to Niki Lauda in 1974, having scored 99.3% of the Austrian’s tally).
The good: Barrichello, Massa and Bottas
No, Rubens Barrichello has not snuck into the ‘good’ category as sympathy for finishing behind team-mate Michael Schumacher for five title-winning seasons in a row (more on that later), nor for retiring from nine consecutive home races.
It’s his 2009 season against Jenson Button from which he garners the most credit. Achieving a solid 81% of the Brit’s title-winning total, 38-year-old Barrichello held his own and outscored second Red Bull driver Mark Webber to ensure Brawn’s constructors’ miracle.
Felipe Massa scored 85% of Kimi Raikkonen’s points in 2007. So, why is he not ‘great’? Well, that season, McLaren pair Hamilton and Fernando Alonso both outscored the Brazilian, meaning the British team would have taken the constructors’ title had they not been disqualified due to the ‘Spygate’ scandal.
Massa also suffers from not having won a championship himself; just another painful repercussion from the 2008 season. Maybe he should add this ranking to his lawsuit against F1 and the FIA.
READ MORE: Mercedes star BEGS for changes to keep F1 title battle open
Valtteri Bottas’ partnership with Hamilton was much less dramatic. Bottas started strongly, scoring 84% of Hamilton’s points total in 2017 to help fend off Ferrari, though that dropped to 61% in 2018. The Finn helped the Silver Arrows to the constructors’ title in all five seasons there, though finished runner-up only twice.
Bottas’ status is aided by outperforming Perez during the epic 2021 title fight between their team-mates. His record of making Q3 at every single weekend with the team also cannot be overlooked. His average points percentage to Hamilton in the Brit’s championship-winning seasons was a solid 72%, but his reputation will always suffer from not injecting more excitement into Hamilton’s post-2016 success.
The okay: Barrichello (again) and Webber
Always the bridesmaid… actually, Barrichello only managed to finish runner-up in 2002 and 2004, leaving Schumacher to do much of the heavy lifting to secure a quintet of constructors’ championships to pair with his Ferrari drivers’ titles.
Perhaps that was how the Scuderia liked it. They did, after all, demand Barrichello let Schumacher past for the win in Austria in 2002 despite the fact the German had already won four of the opening five races of the season.
Barrichello’s best season during Schumacher’s reign was in 2004, when he scored 77% of his team-mate’s points. At his 2001 worst, though, Barrichello scored 46% of the German’s total, the second-poorest ratio of the 21st century.
Mark Webber suffered a similar fate to Barrichello, losing out four times in a row to title-winning team-mate Sebastian Vettel from 2010-2013.
The Australian’s record against Vettel ranged from the sublime (95%, 2010) to the sad (50%, 2013), with ratios of 66% (2011) and 64% (2012) between. The team still achieved four constructors’ titles in a row, but Webber’s demise against Vettel ultimately led to his retirement from the sport.
The bad… and ugly: Fisichella, Kovalainen, Perez
Giancarlo Fisichello boasts the unwanted record of the worst season and average against a team-mate in their title-winning years, a measly 44% in 2005.
He improved to 54% a year later, but was still utterly outclassed by a supremely skillful young Spaniard. Then again, Alonso is hardly the only champion listed to be a genius behind the wheel.
In 2008, Heikki Kovalainen was nowhere near the dramatic title race his team-mate won, finishing a seventh as Ferrari won the constructors’ title. Though Hamilton has gone on to become arguably the greatest to ever drive an F1 car, 2008 was just his second season in the sport, which doesn’t boost Kovalainen’s case. The Finnish driver stumbled to 54% of Hamilton’s total, with one win to the Brit’s five.
And finally, to Perez. The Mexican is averaging 54% of Verstappen’s points, and his floundering 2024 season is bringing that down every week.
This season and last, he has managed just 50% of Verstappen’s tally, but 2021 remains his worst season to date in this metric, when he scored 48% of the Dutchman’s points. This was not exactly helpful for his team-mate chasing his maiden title, though Perez’s most memorable moment that year was holding Hamilton up in the controversial Abu Dhabi finale.
Every week he seems to be under more pressure and sinking to a new low. Still, it could be worse. In 1972, David Walker scored a grand total of zero points as team-mate Emerson Fittipaldi raced to the title.
No driver in modern-day F1 will match that ‘feat’, but if Red Bull have any early exit clauses in Perez’s contract, they must be hovering over them much earlier than expected.
READ MORE: Hamilton set for SURPRISE Paris Olympics showing
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
NASCAR Qualifying Today: YellaWood 500 start times, schedule and how to watch live
- 33 minutes ago
Geri Horner finds new way to thrive as STUNNING campaign emerges
- Today 05:00
F1 and IndyCar champion name drops ICONIC US tracks in favorite circuit debate
- Today 03:00
Ricciardo tipped for STUNNING NASCAR move as 'offers' revealed
- Today 01:00
Horner admits REGRET over new Ricciardo deal
- Yesterday 23:00
NASCAR star tipped for presidential medal following relief efforts
- Yesterday 21:00
F1 Race Calendar 2024
-
GP CHINA
19 - 21 Apr
Max Verstappen
-
GP USA
3 - 5 May
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
17 - 19 May
Max Verstappen
-
GP MONACO
24 - 26 May
Charles Leclerc
-
GP CANADA
7 - 9 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP SPAIN
21 - 23 Jun
Max Verstappen
-
GP AUSTRIA
28 - 30 Jun
George Russell
-
GP GREAT BRITAIN
5 - 7 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP HUNGARY
19 - 21 Jul
Oscar Piastri
-
GP BELGIUM
26 - 28 Jul
Lewis Hamilton
-
GP NETHERLANDS
23 - 25 Aug
Lando Norris
-
GP ITALY
30 Aug - 1 Sep
Charles Leclerc
-
GP AZERBAIJAN
13 - 15 Sep
Oscar Piastri
-
GP SINGAPORE
20 - 22 Sep
Lando Norris
- GP USA 18 - 20 Oct
- GP MEXICO 25 - 27 Oct
- GP BRAZIL 1 - 3 Nov
- GP USA 22 - 24 Nov
- GP QATAR 29 Nov - 1 Dec
Shock RETIREMENT rumours causes Red Bull star to apologise in X-rated post
Huge development revealed as Perez F1 RETIREMENT rumors spread
Red Bull legend claims Perez 'facing' AXE just like Ricciardo
Perez's father rushed to hospital after son's Baku crash
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Franco Alejandro Colapinto
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Oliver Bearman
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- AWS Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860
Realtimes | Publishing Network
Copyright (©) 2017 - 2024 GPFans.com
Realtimes | Publishing Network