In this series of articles we will take a look at how team mates fared against each other in the teams that finished seventh through to ninth in the Championship. Were Holmqvist right to ditch both of their drivers before the mid-point of the season, and which driver had the most convincing win over his team mate in 2017? LopezElroy Wagner joined from Franklin in what was a huge steal for the Swiss squad, to be partnered once again by team stalwart James Harding. Harding was forced to miss the race in France after participating in practice however and experiencing after-effects from his accident at the previous race in China, handing a last-minute debut to Viktor Östberg. The Swede will also take Hardings seat in 2018 as the Australian finally leaves the team, but was it the right decision?
This is highlighted in the average qualifying gap which stands at a whopping 1.145 seconds in Wagners favour. Two races where the gap was greater than four seconds - Austria and a wet Belgium - really did not help, but Harding was never in the race, and the gap never went below a second all year. Östbergs sole qualifying was some 2.360 seconds off Wagner but it was a track he had never raced at before in a car he had only driven once at the previous round in China during practice. The results across the season show Wagners dominance, and save for a scruffy weekend in the United States he would have had a clean sweep. Östberg fought back well in France to finish just one place behind Wagner, despite starting the race thirteen, and that result alone proves he is probably a better bet going forwards than Harding. AMRFelix Beyer had the joy of obliterating his team mate in 2016 when he was paired with Lewis Ellington - despite the Brit being rated - but in 2017 he had to contend with Will Hoskins, the driver who went toe-to-toe with Enrique Ruiz and nearly came out on top. Hoskins departs after just one season and will be replaced by rookie Dmytro Kovalenko for 2018, but how did Beyer fare against one of the best drivers to not yet win a title? Not particularly well is the answer. The young Dutchman complained from early on that the car just did not suit him, and that was evident. Hoskins obliterated him in every category; 14-4 in qualifying, 11-3 in races and 33 points to Beyer's 9. Hoskins best result of fourth was nowhere near matched by Beyer who still looks for that elusive first podium, only managing a best of seventh in China, one of just three points scoring races. In light of the 14-4 qualifying scoreline, you would be forgiven for assuming the average qualifying gap would be slightly larger. At 0.545 it is still bigger than any driver would want, but it is not far off some others. The most obvious factor that points to Beyer not enjoying the car was his sudden lack of pace in the wet. The Dutchman has always previously excelled but was beaten this year in every wet qualifying by Hoskins. The year started off strong as Beyer firmly put Hoskins in the shade in Australia, but the Brit quickly turned it around. At no other point in the season did Beyer whitewash a weekend, and his confidence will surely be knocked. He has been given another chance however - and quite rightly so based on previous performances - but will need to up his game against Kovalenko, as another season like this could find his drive under threat. HolmqvistHolmqvist started 2017 with the same line-up they ended 2016 with of Aron Einarsson and Kiara Thunder, but finished it with a totally different pair of drivers in Lewis Ellington and Hugh Dwyer. They will start 2018 with a different pairing again of Will Hoskins and Tumo Kinnumen, but has all of the change been positive?
The average qualifying gaps got larger with every change. Einarssons to Thunders was 0.206, while Ellington increased that to 0.247 in his two races. When Dwyer was put alongside, that went up again to 0.319. The results go to show that changing drivers was indeed the right call, or at least getting rid of Einarsson was to maximise their points score. Thunder was never given a proper chance to prove herself but it is tough to argue she would have done better than Dwyer. For next season the team reunite Hoskins and Kinnumen and have Koenigsegg on-board. Two respected and race-winning drivers will comfortably be the best line-up the team has ever run.
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