A few days after letting the drivers’ crown slip away, won in Las Vegas by the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), McLaren will try to console itself this weekend in Qatar by pocketing the constructors’ title in F1 against Ferrari.
The British team, which has no time to feel sorry for itself and dwell on the mistakes that helped “Mad Max” win a fourth consecutive title Saturday night on the Strip, will have to stick to its guns and watch in his mirrors.
“After a complicated weekend in Las Vegas, here we are in Qatar where the track conditions are more favorable to our car so we will try to maximize all opportunities. Our goal remains very clear, to win the championship, but the fight is tighter than ever so every point will count and we will do everything to finish the job,” underlined Andrea Stella, boss of the team based in Woking, England.
The Scuderia is indeed finishing the season on a high and while a ninth constructors’ crown, the first since 1998, seemed assured for McLaren after the Singapore Grand Prix at the end of September, the gap has greatly reduced.
Ferrari has no room for error
“On paper, the route in Qatar does not highlight our strengths. We have closed the gap to McLaren but now is not the time to do maths. The only thing we can do is do everything perfectly to ensure that Charles [Leclerc] et Carlos [Sainz] can extract the maximum performance from the car,” said the French boss of the Scuderia, Frédéric Vasseur.
McLaren, in slight loss of speed, has seen its advantage disappear by 51 points during the last four races and now only has 24 lengths ahead of the Ferraris while 60 points remain to be distributed, including 36 this weekend at Lusail International Circuit (5419 km), which will host the sixth and final sprint of the season.
“We should be stronger this weekend than in Las Vegas so we are very focused and ready to give our all in this battle for the constructors’ crown,” explained Oscar Piastri.
Last year, the Australian won his first success in F1 in the sprint, before finishing second in the Grand Prix behind Verstappen, while his teammate Lando Norris finished twice on the third step of the podium.
Norris must contain Leclerc
The Briton, who must digest his failure in the race for the drivers’ title, will also not be able to rest on his laurels to secure second place because the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) came back to 21 lengths. Even if this cushion of points remains comfortable two weekends before the end of the season, the McLaren driver will not be allowed to relax.
“We know very well what we have to do over the last two weekends, so the objective will be to bring home as many points as possible,” said Norris.
Another issue will animate the bottom of the table this weekend as the fight rages for sixth place in the constructors’ standings between Haas (50 points), Alpine (49) and Racing Bulls (46).
After its unexpected double podium under the deluge in Brazil, the French team had moved up from ninth to sixth place, but its American competitor regained its position last weekend in Las Vegas so Red Bull’s little sister reduced the number. gap. The issue may seem trivial, but it is not that much since one better place in the championship is equivalent to almost 10 million euros in additional earnings.
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