The 2025 IndyCar Series season has come to an end and the final championship standings are now known. A strong finish is every driver’s ultimate goal, but the first step toward achieving that is beating their teammate or teammates. How did the various drivers perform compared to their teammates, both in qualifying and in the races? We dove into the data.

AJ Foyt Racing

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Santino Ferrucci / David Malukas	3-14	9-7

At AJ Foyt Racing, the qualifying duels were crystal clear: David Malukas completely outclassed Santino Ferrucci. Ferrucci managed to outqualify Malukas only three times.

In race conditions, however, things were much tougher for Malukas. During the first half of the season, Ferrucci finished ahead of him twice as often, while Malukas managed to edge out his teammate slightly more often in the second half. Still, Ferrucci appears to be the stronger racer of the two, as he frequently delivered impressive comeback drives. Malukas, on the other hand, more often slipped back from strong starting positions—sometimes due to strategy or outright pace, but also because of costly mistakes.

Andretti Global

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Colton Herta / Kyle Kirkwood	11-6	9-8
Colton Herta / Marcus Ericsson	11-6	15-2
Kyle Kirkwood / Marcus Ericsson	9-8	14-3

The real duel at Andretti Global was between Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood. In qualifying, Herta was the clear winner, but in the races it was extremely close, with their head-to-head battle ending 9–8 in Herta’s favor. Still, it was Kirkwood who claimed three victories this year, compared to none for Herta. On the other hand, Herta secured two pole positions, while Kirkwood managed just one.

Marcus Ericsson will need to take a hard look at himself over the winter to figure out what went wrong. In qualifying, his gap to his teammates was still within reason, but in the races Ericsson stood out for all the wrong reasons. Even switching to a different engineer during the season failed to turn things around. Finishing twentieth in the championship is a bitter disappointment for a driver at a top team. Ericsson can count himself fortunate to have a contract in place through 2026.

Arrow McLaren

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Pato O'Ward / Christian Lundgaard	11-6	11-6
Pato O'Ward / Nolan Siegel	13-4	13-3
Christian Lundgaard / Nolan Siegel	12-5	14-3

Despite strong resistance from Christian Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward remains the standout driver at Arrow McLaren. O’Ward is by far the most successful member of the McLaren trio, although Lundgaard has little to be ashamed of, often running close behind him. On ovals, however, Lundgaard still has room for improvement, though he is showing progress in that area.

The same cannot be said for Nolan Siegel. In qualifying, he may be showing some progress, but in the races he consistently slips down the order. At best, this is due to a lack of race pace, but all too often it’s the result of crashes—he ended 60% of his oval races in the wall. With only two top-ten finishes, it’s clear he’s not yet ready to drive for a top team. Still, it seems his family is paying enough for McLaren to think otherwise.

Dale Coyne Racing

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Rinus VeeKay / Jacob Abel	15-2	14-2

In many ways, Dale Coyne Racing could be considered a one-car team this year. Jacob Abel did race for the squad, but the young American still had so much to learn that the rest of the team saw little benefit from his presence.

As a result, Rinus VeeKay was often left to carry the load on race weekends, which slowed down the car’s development. This frequently led to difficult qualifying sessions, although he consistently outperformed his teammate. More often than not, the team only found a competitive setup by race day, forcing VeeKay into comeback drives. Even so, seven top-ten finishes—including a runner-up result in Toronto—represent an excellent outcome for a team that failed to record a single top-ten last season.

Abel gained valuable experience during his IndyCar rookie season, but he remained well behind VeeKay. If he gets a second season, he will need to show much more than he did this year.

Ed Carpenter Racing

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Alexander Rossi / Christian Rasmussen	10-7	10-7

With a major investment from new co-owner Ted Gelov, Ed Carpenter Racing was expected to take a big step forward this year. For much of the season, that breakthrough didn’t materialize, but toward the final stretch the team’s performance improved significantly. A victory and a fourth place in Nashville—marking the best race in the team’s history—were the clear highlights.

Alexander Rossi was brought in as the new team leader, tasked with guiding the squad to greater success. He outperformed teammate Christian Rasmussen 10–7 in both qualifying and race results. Yet surprisingly, Rasmussen emerged as the team’s moral victor. The Dane showed consistent progress throughout the season and was often quicker than his more experienced teammate in the closing rounds. With an aggressive driving style, he claimed victory in Milwaukee and even finished ahead of Rossi in the championship standings.

Chip Ganassi Racing

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Alex Palou / Scott Dixon	15-2	15-2
Alex Palou / Kyffin Simpson	17-0	15-2
Scott Dixon / Kyffin Simpson	12-5	13-4

In keeping with the theme of the IndyCar season, Alex Palou was also in a class of his own within his team. In both qualifying and race pace, he was far ahead of his teammates. The only times they finished ahead of him were when he was taken out of a race by another car (Detroit) or when the team gambled incorrectly on pit strategy (Toronto).

Scott Dixon may not have had much to challenge Palou’s outright speed, but at 45 years old he continues to perform at an elite level. He proved that not only with his victory at Mid-Ohio but also with his third-place finish in the championship.

Rookie Kyffin Simpson is not yet able to match the pace of his experienced teammates. Like Nolan Siegel, Simpson finds himself in a top car thanks to substantial family backing. Unlike Siegel, however, he is clearly showing progress. He broke into the top ten more often—six times this season—including a breakthrough first IndyCar podium with a third-place finish in Toronto. That’s a remarkable step forward compared to his debut season, when he failed to record a single top-ten result.

Juncos Hollinger Racing

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Conor Daly / Sting Ray Robb	13-4	13-4

Juncos Hollinger Racing was entirely reliant on pay drivers this year, but in the case of Conor Daly, that turned out not to be an issue. The American shone particularly on the ovals, where he scored four top-ten finishes in six races, highlighted by a fifth place in Nashville.

On road and street courses, Daly was less competitive, but he still comfortably outperformed teammate Sting Ray Robb. Robb initially showed signs of progress with a ninth-place finish at Long Beach but faded afterward. Now, after three seasons in the IndyCar Series, he remains little more than a backmarker.

Meyer Shank Racing

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Felix Rosenqvist / Marcus Armstrong	9-8	8-9

The combination of technical support from Chip Ganassi Racing and arguably the strongest driver lineup in the team’s history propelled Meyer Shank Racing to its best season ever. Marcus Armstrong adapted surprisingly quickly to his new surroundings and proved to be a serious challenger to his more experienced teammate, Felix Rosenqvist.

In qualifying, Rosenqvist held a slight edge, but Armstrong often came out on top in the races. Notably, in the second half of the season Armstrong was more frequently the higher finisher of the two. Even so, it was Rosenqvist who placed higher in the championship, taking sixth overall with just eight more points than Armstrong in eighth.

This year, Meyer Shank Racing truly had the ideal driver pairing, with both competitors extracting the maximum from their cars.

Prema

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Callum Ilott / Robert Shwartzman	12-5	9-8

Prema’s first season in the IndyCar Series was always meant to be a learning year, and the team delivered on that goal. The opening phase of the season was plagued by teething problems, but results gradually began to come in. The standout highlight was, of course, Robert Shwartzman’s Indy 500 pole position, though perhaps even more important were the performances in the races. Callum Ilott finished in the top five in four of the last five events, a huge boost for the team.

Looking at the head-to-head battle between Ilott and Shwartzman, it’s no surprise that the more experienced Ilott frequently had the upper hand in qualifying. What is more surprising is how close Shwartzman ran to him in the races. In the end, Ilott narrowly won the duel, but the fact that Shwartzman, as a rookie, was able to push his teammate so closely is highly encouraging.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Graham Rahal / Louis Foster	8-9	10-7
Graham Rahal / Devlin DeFrancesco	13-4	12-4
Louis Foster / Devlin DeFrancesco	11-6	7-10

A disappointing season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team showed plenty of speed in qualifying, but in the races, their performance dropped off significantly. The season’s highlight was undoubtedly Louis Foster’s pole position at Road America. However, despite qualifying in the top ten six times, Foster never finished in the top ten. The team’s only three top-ten finishes came from Graham Rahal.

In qualifying, Foster edged out Rahal slightly more often, but in the races, Rahal’s experience usually made him the highest-finishing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver.

Then there was Devlin DeFrancesco, who has yet to score a top-ten finish in his IndyCar career. This season, he again made very little impact. His highlight was a fifth-place starting position at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, yet he still finished behind both teammates. That he frequently ended up behind his teammates was often due to their own issues or because they struggled even more with their cars.

Team Penske

Duel	Qualifying	Race
Josef Newgarden / Scott McLaughlin	7-10	8-9
Josef Newgarden / Will Power	9-8	6-11
Scott McLaughlin / Will Power	10-7	7-10

2025 was Team Penske’s worst season since 1999. The team’s three cars were slow, a crisis erupted over illegally prepared cars for the Indy 500, three key personnel were dismissed, bad luck struck frequently, and the drivers made too many mistakes. It wasn’t until the end of the season that Penske appeared to get things back on track, scoring two wins in the final three races.

In qualifying, Scott McLaughlin was notably the fastest Penske driver, though the gaps between teammates were small. Will Power was the team’s strongest performer in the races over the course of the season, both in head-to-head battles and in the IndyCar championship. Ironically, Power was replaced at the end of the season.