Why a team mate is a driver�s biggest rival

Each Formula One team has two race drivers. The fact that these drivers are working for the same team and the same boss and representing the same sponsors suggests that they are working together towards the aim of team success. Even the term team mate suggests this. In reality a team mate is a driver�s deadliest rival � in most teams at least. Because motor sport in general, and Formula One in particular, is so machinery-dependent it�s not strictly possible to compare the individual performances of drivers from different teams. Is the guy who�s winning a mega-star in a competent car or a competent driver in a superlative car? And is the guy he�s beating actually a far better driver?
Everyone has their opinions, but no-one really knows for sure. But because team mates drive the exact same car, any differences in their respective performances are assumed to be down to those drivers and nothing more. Myths are often destroyed when a new team mate arrives in a team and puts the incumbent driver�s performance into a new perspective. Either the new guy regularly beats the guy with the big reputation, or he arrives with a big reputation himself but is seen off by the incumbent driver who wasn�t previously as highly rated. All this has a direct bearing on the salary a driver can command the following year; it can also affect the status of the team that he drives for in the future. Once a driver has been consistently out-performed by a team mate, it is rare that his Formula One career ever fully recovers. Formula One is a dog-eat-dog world.