Which F1 world champion had the worst-performing teammate in his championship season?

Max Verstappen's lead over Sergio Perez is far from the biggest teammate deficit in F1.

Which F1 world champion had the worst-performing teammate in his championship season?

Max Verstappen (image via IMAGO), Emerson Fittipaldi (image via Laureus), Lewis Hamilton (image via IMAGO)

Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport. 20 of the best drivers from 10 teams go head-to-head to win the world title every season. However, sometimes a team might have massive disparity between its two drivers, especially during a title campaign. Max Verstappen‘s enormous lead over Sergio Perez at Red Bull is the latest example.

The driver pairing at Milton Keynes is separated by a colossal gap of 251 points. However, there have been several other instances in the sport’s history. Fans might expect Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello or the Mercedes pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas to be on the top of this list. However, the world champion with the worst-performing teammate was Emerson Fittipaldi.

Sean Kelly on X recalled that Fittipaldi won the 1972 championship with Lotus. The Brazilian driver was behind the wheel of the iconic John Player Special Lotus 72. Emerson Fittipaldi won four races and became the youngest F1 champion at the time. Unfortunately, Dave Walker who partnered the world champion failed to score a single point throughout the season, making him the worst-performing teammate for a world champion in F1.

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Sergio Perez far from the worst teammate in F1 history

Sergio Perez’s massive points deficit to Max Verstappen has been criticized by fans and pundits alike. However, there have been several similar teammate pairings in the past. Even former F1 world champion Niki Lauda suffered a similar fate in 1985. The Austrian driver could only manage 14 points compared to teammate and title winner Alain Prost‘s tally of 73.

Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen (image via IMAGO)

Red Bull’s Mark Webber gained a reputation for falling behind a young Sebastian Vettel at the start of the 2010s. The Austrian driver scored less than half of Vettel’s points tally in 2013 when the German driver won his fourth world title. As such, it can seen that Perez’s performance has been on similar lines to Webber ten years ago.

Certainly, it is disappointing to see a driver trail far behind their teammate in Formula 1. Be it Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez or Emerson Fittipaldi and Dave Walker. However, in a title campaign, teams usually focus on the lead driver in hopes of claiming the championship. This could be credited as a reason for the massive deficit between the drivers in the same team.

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