Note: This article uses the Teammate Performance Index I created, for more information see Introducing The Teammate Performance Index
I originally planned to write this post after seeing some murmuring on Carlos Sainz possibly losing his seat on Twitter. I wanted to show how Carlos did not deserve to lose his seat, by comparing his results to Charles Leclerc’s over the past three seasons. Leclerc, in my opinion, is one of the rising stars of F1 and will almost certainly be a world champion. Other than Verstappen, he is the most exciting young driver in the sport. Yet, Sainz has compared reasonably well to Leclerc, more than most people were expecting. Yet, Sainz did lose his seat. He did not deserve it, but can take some solace to the fact that he only lost his seat to F1’s statistically most successful and marketable driver. But, this article is not about Sainz’s replacement, this is to pay tribute to the fantastic job Carlos has done. So, with no ado, Sainz’s scores on the Teammate Performance Index.
| Leclerc | Sainz | |
| Wins | 3 | 2 |
| Poles | 16 | 5 |
| Podiums | 18 | 16 |
| Points (Excl. Sprints+FL) | 632 | 567.5 |
| Point Positions | 53 | 54 |
| Qualifying H2H | 43 | 23 |
| Race H2H | 39 | 27 |
| DNF/S/Q’s | 10 | 9 |
| Fastest Laps | 3 | 2 |
| Championships | 0 | 0 |
And converted to percentage.
| % | Leclerc | Sainz |
| Wins | 60% | 40% |
| Poles | 76.19% | 23.81% |
| Podiums | 52.94% | 47.06% |
| Points (Excl. Sprints+FL) | 52.69% | 47.31% |
| Point Positions | 49.53% | 50.47% |
| Qualifying H2H | 65.15% | 34.85% |
| Race H2H | 59.09% | 40.91% |
| DNF/S/Q’s [Flipped] | 47.37% | 52.63% |
| Fastest Laps | 60% | 40% |
| Championships | 50% | 50% |
| Average | 57% | 43% |
Sainz scores reasonably well against Leclerc. Whilst Leclerc has a clear speed advantage, as shown by his domination of Sainz in the pole statistics and qualifying head to heads, on every other measure, Sainz performs with 40% or higher. He has finished in the points more times than Leclerc and has scored 47% of Ferrari’s points over the time. Sainz’s overall average is 43%, far higher than a typical No. 2 driver.[1] This score firmly places Sainz into the category of an equal first driver.
By way of comparison, Leclerc’s first teammate, Sebastian Vettel, was a four-time world champion. Whilst past his prime by the time Leclerc was his teammate, Vettel was still considered one of the strongest F1 drivers, having taken ten wins in the previous two seasons and even seeming like a championship contender for the first half of both seasons. Yet, when Leclerc became Vettel’s teammate, he found himself humbled, as is shown by the statistics.
| Leclerc | Vettel | |
| Wins | 2 | 1 |
| Poles | 7 | 2 |
| Podiums | 12 | 10 |
| Points (Excl. Sprints+FL) | 358 | 271 |
| Point Positions | 28 | 23 |
| Qualifying H2H | 25 | 13 |
| Race H2H | 21 | 17 |
| DNF/S/Q’s | 7 | 5 |
| Fastest Laps | 4 | 2 |
| Championships | 0 | 0 |
Or in percentage terms.
| % | Leclerc | Vettel |
| Wins | 66.67% | 33.33% |
| Poles | 77.78% | 22.22% |
| Podiums | 54.55% | 45.45% |
| Points (Excl. Sprints+FL) | 56.92% | 43.08% |
| Point Positions | 54.90% | 45.10% |
| Qualifying H2H | 65.79% | 34.21% |
| Race H2H | 55.26% | 44.74% |
| DNF/S/Q’s [Flipped] | 41.67% | 58.33% |
| Fastest Laps | 66.67% | 33.33% |
| Championships | 50% | 50% |
| Average | 59.03% | 40.97% |
Vettel performed worse against Leclerc than Sainz on most metrics. Leclerc dominated Vettel in qualifying slightly more than he did to Sainz, but Vettel also falls back on points, only receiving 45% of the team’s points. Whilst slightly outperforming Sainz in race head-to-heads, Vettel had far more peaks and troughs than Leclerc. Vettel also faced a Leclerc who was new to Ferrari and had only spent one previous season in F1, whilst Sainz entered a Ferrari seen by many as Leclerc’s team. Yet, Vettel’s average was 41%, still less than Sainz would achieve.
Yet, Sainz is now embarking upon his final season with Ferrari. Their car looks beautiful and if testing is to be believed, it seems fast as well. Ferrari should count themselves lucky that they have two drivers performing at a similar level. If their gamble to sign Hamilton does not pay off, they may regret dropping Sainz in the future, especially if he ends up in a rival team. Because other teams are looking at the same statistics that we are and recognize that Sainz is incredibly talented. Be it Audi, Mercedes or Red Bull, they should all heavily consider signing Carlos.
[1] I am currently engaged in data collection for F1’s no 2s, expect to see that article in a month or so, but rest assured, most have far worse statistical results than Sainz.
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