Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (WAM)
As Max Verstappen wrapped up his fourth consecutive F1 Drivers’ title under the bright lights in Las Vegas, the focus had already shifted to the more fierce, three-way battle for the Constructors’ crown.
McLaren’s lead of the championship, which it held for the first time since 2014 following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September, was gradually whittled away by Ferrari’s consistent scoring.
A one-two finish for drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the United States Grand Prix, followed by Sainz’s victory and Leclerc’s podium in Mexico, was rounded out by third and fourth places in Las Vegas. All the while, Lando Norris’s second place in Mexico was the only podium success for McLaren in the last four races since the British driver’s victory in Singapore.
McLaren’s sixth and seventh place finishes in Las Vegas, helped by Mercedes’ dominance covering the Ferrari duo, left just a 24-point gap to the ‘Prancing Horse’, ahead of the penultimate race weekend in Qatar.
Ahead of last weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz predicted the Italian squad would struggle due to the high-speed corners and flowing nature of the Lusail International Circuit. However, Ferrari’s Leclerc managed a second-place finish, with Sainz placing sixth – a better team points haul than McLaren’s Norris and Piastri could manage. The result has slashed McLaren’s led to just 21 points ahead of this weekend’s nail-biting finale in Abu Dhabi, with the British team clinging on to the hope of securing its first constructors’ crown since 1998.
