Which drivers contributed the most points to their teams in F1 2021?

The 2021 Formula 1 season was one of the most exciting in history, and its outcome had to wait until the last lap, when Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton.

After completing the longest year in the 71 seasons in the category, with 22 Grand Prix, it’s time to see which drivers contributed the most to their teams. Many of them made their debut in their teams, such as Sergio Pérez at Red Bull, Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, Fernando Alonso, who returned after two seasons out of F1 with Alpine, Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin or Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren. And others made their debut in the Great Circus, such as Yuki Tsunoda, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Except for the two Haas, they were all facing more experienced teammates with the single-seater, since the 2021 car was very similar to that of the previous season. The end of the year was the finishing touch to an epic course, where Formula 1 visited new circuits, such as Losail or Yeda, in addition to debuting the modification at Yas Marina.

Now, how were the internal duels of the teams? Who was the driver who contributed the most in the total sum of their teams? Here is the answer.

No color in the two best teams in F1 2021

Since Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton battled for the title in 2016, Mercedes has not had another year in which its two drivers reached the end of the season with a minimum points difference, since the seven-time world champion has always occupied the role of leader and Valtteri Bottas that of squire.

In 2021, the Englishman was the man who carried the weight of the sum of points and, after completing the 22 races, he added 63.16% of the total (613.5) of the Silver Arrows. Bottas only contributed 36.87%.

Something similar is experienced at Red Bull, where Max Verstappen has surpassed Sergio Pérez, his new teammate after Alex Albon , by a greater margin. The Dutchman won the world title with 395.5 points, which represents 67.55% of the team’s total, compared to 190 for the Mexican (32.45%).

But those performance differences were not only seen in the teams fighting for the championship, they were also in the middle, with numbers that turned out to be abysmal.

For example, in Alfa Romeo, veteran Kimi Raikkonen has carried 76.92% of the team’s points, compared to only 23.08% obtained by Antonio Giovinazzi for a total sum of 13 points. AlphaTauri experienced a similar situation with Pierre Gasly being the architect of up to three times more points than his teammate Yuki Tsunoda in the total of 142 that Faenza’s team achieved.

The most even teams in F1 in the 2021 season

The success of a team in the constructors’ championship depends on having two drivers who contribute a similar amount in the table, a situation that this year had an important weight in the middle of the grid and in the fight for third, fourth and fifth position in the team world championship.

Ferrari took the last place on the podium of the general classification of teams thanks to a great end to 2021. The Maranello team added an update to the hybrid system in their power unit and managed to overcome the advantage that McLaren had.

The Italians benefited from Carlos Sainz’s 164.5 points in his first season dressed in red (50.85% of the total) and Charles Leclerc’s 159 (49.15%). That allowed a sum of 323.5 points, in addition to being the most even pair of drivers on the grid in 2021.

At Woking there was no doubt that Lando Norris was the number 1 driver this year. The Briton added 58.18% of the team’s points against only 41.82% for Ricciardo , a newcomer and whose total was inflated by the victory in Italy.

In Alpine, not even Esteban Ocon’s win in Hungary prevented Alonso from contributing the most to the team, and George Russell’s podium finish in the ‘non-Belgian GP’ put him far ahead of Nicholas Latifi at Williams, although without that race everything would be very even there.

Although this order could change for 2022 with the introduction of the new technical regulations and tip the balance more evenly, it is important for each of the drivers who were below their teammate to reduce the deficit so as not to receive a mental blow influence the next year.

Driver results by points percentage in 2021 after 22 F1 races: