With the world titles locked by Max Verstappen and Red Bull, the F1 season which ends on Sunday in Abu Dhabi still has a few slim stakes: which Mercedes or Ferrari will finish vice-champion? Will McLaren keep Aston Martin at bay for 4e place?
Ferrari or Mercedes behind Red Bull? Far behind Red Bull, which continues its solo ride thanks to a sovereign Verstappen, the fight for second place among the teams will be played out on Sunday between the eight-time world champion Mercedes and the reigning vice-champion Ferrari.
The “Silver Arrows” (392 points) are four points ahead of the Scuderia SF23 (388). But with 44 points to distribute before the final meeting of the season, the margin is very small.
And the advantage seems to be on Ferrari’s side since, since the improvements made at the beginning of September, the prancing horse team has regularly supplanted Mercedes, scoring on average 23.4 points per weekend, compared to 17.1 for its rival.
“They have shown good form recently, but we know we have not maximized our performance in the last few races,” retorted Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
On the other hand, if his counterpart Frédéric Vasseur was pleased with the performances recorded in Las Vegas last weekend (Charles Leclerc 2eCarlos Sainz 6e), the Frenchman tempers: “we know our car well and we know that it will not be as competitive in Abu Dhabi as in Las Vegas”.
McLaren vs. Aston Martin
Another battle, this time for 4e place of the manufacturers’ championship, will be one to watch on the Yas Marina track, at dusk of a largely night-time race.
McLaren (284 points) will indeed try to maintain its rank against Aston Martin (273), a position acquired at the cost of an incredible comeback since the British GP in August.
It’s quite simple: since the English round, McLaren’s progress has been diametrically opposed to that of Aston Martin, who performed much better at the start of the season.
Thanks to improvements made to the MCL60, McLaren, in great difficulty at the start of the year, returned to the forefront mid-season when Aston Martin began to mark time.
“We have had a roller coaster season. And look where we started from and where we are, it’s the result of the hard work of a lot of people,” said McLaren’s Briton, Lando Norris.
Over the first nine rounds of the year, the team based in Woking (England) had only scored 29 points, while Aston Martin had already scored 175.
The challenge for this 4e place is significant since the final ranking of the season determines the share of F1 revenues paid to the teams: the better they are classified, the higher their bonuses.