For several years now, Atlas F1 kept an eye on the battle between teammates with a simple measurement: comparing the qualifying times of each driver against his teammate's. The new qualifying format has made the comparison somewhat difficult - potentially, every driver could be running with a different fuel load. Moreover, with only one lap each, small errors could divert the results of any comparison significantly. But, we believe that over an entire season all these factors even out and the overall qualifying differentials between teammates remains the best tool to compare the natural capabilities of the drivers. So, with a few new charts and several observations - it's time to see who's hot and who's not...

With two qualifying sessions completed for 2003, the differentials are once again on a roll! Let's see which drivers deserve bragging rights.

Australian Notables

• The more things change, the more they stay the same... No, we're not talking about an all-Ferrari front row, but with all the regulations and vast change in qualifying format you'd think the first edition of Qualifying Differentials would look much different than the last one of 2002, right? It seems not, however. Mark Webber, our 2002 QD champ, is once again topping the charts - despite moving to a new team and driving against a new teammate. Let's see if he can keep his crown for the second year in a row!

• Setting the Record Straight: Olivier Panis's fifth place was the best ever starting position for Toyota, as was 14th for Mark Webber and 10th for Fernando Alonso - both drivers having previously only raced with Minardi.

• The rookies: All four rookies that joined Formula One this year - Cristiano da Matta in Toyota, Antonio Pizzonia in Jaguar, Ralph Firman in Jordan and Justin Wilson in Minardi - were outqualified by their teammates.

Driver              Fri    Sat    Change
Frentzen            13       4     + 9
Montoya             10       3     + 7
R.Schumacher        16       9     + 7
Heidfeld            12       7     + 5
M.Schumacher         4       1     + 3
Panis                8       5     + 3
Fisichella          14      13     + 1
Webber              15      14     + 1
Pizzonia            19      18     + 1
Firman              17      17     =  
Wilson              20      20     =  
Barrichello          1       2     - 1
Verstappen          18      19     - 1
Trulli               9      12     - 3
Alonso               7      10     - 3
Button               5       8     - 3
Villeneuve           3       6     - 3
da Matta            11      16     - 5
Coulthard            6      11     - 5
Raikkonen            2      15     -13