Down to the wire: Alpine v McLaren
Just 13 points separate the two midfield giants as we head towards the final four races of the year.
With four races left in 2022, it’s still anyone’s guess whether Alpine or McLaren will emerge as the unofficial champion of the Formula 1 midfield.
Back in Singapore, Alpine had a double retirement while McLaren had one of its best weekends of the year.
Finishing 4th and 5th, McLaren took home 22 points and moved ahead of Alpine in the Constructors’ Championship, six races after Alpine had first overtaken them.
But the advantage didn’t last.
Just a week later, in Japan, it was Alpine who had their best weekend of 2022 - finishing 4th and 7th - while McLaren was all out of luck, mustering only a solitary point.
Alpine leapfrogged back ahead in the championship.
Two midfield giants scrapping it out
Both teams want the coveted 4th spot in the Constructors’ Championship. In recent seasons, it has become the coveted spot of the midfield leader. Whoever prevails is often credited with being the “best of the rest”.
Here’s how it’s played out in recent years:
McLaren took the honour last year and in 2019 too.
In 2020, it went to Racing Point, who also won it in 2017 and 2016, albeit then under the guise of Force India.
Renault, which was the predecessor to Alpine, nabbed the spot in 2018.
With just four races to go, it’s difficult to say with certainty who is going to take it out this year.
Only 13 points separate Alpine from McLaren, though the lead has see-sawed throughout the year.
Alpine snatched the early advantage, leading the way for the first two races of the season until McLaren moved ahead and held down the fort for eight races.
It wasn’t until their home race in France that Alpine took back the lead. They would hold it for six races, until the switcharoo events of Singapore and Japan.
Advantage to Alpine?
At this stage of the season, most people think the momentum is with Alpine. The French team seem to be widely acknowledged as the quicker of the two.
That said, Alpine hasn’t been as consistent, with six retirements this year compared to McLaren’s three.
Then again, McLaren has clearly struggled in 2022 with Daniel Ricciardo, whose performances have been some way behind his young-gun teammate, Lando Norris.
After Japan, Norris told The Race he did not know how McLaren was continuing to fight with Alpine.
“They’re so much quicker than us,” he said. “They are another league to us at the minute.”
Alpine driver Fernando Alonso did not share Norris’ sense of one-sidedness.
Just ahead of the race in Singapore, he told Autosport the fight would remain “very tight” until the end of the year.
“There's going to be a couple of weekends they are faster, a couple of weekends that we are faster,” Alonso said.
The interesting backdrop
The fight between the two midfield behemoths has come amid political tension.
Just a few months ago, Alpine and McLaren were embroiled in a fight over Oscar Piastri.
Alpine intended to promote the young gun Australian to replace Fernando Alonso, but it turned out that McLaren had already nabbed him to replace Ricciardo.
McLaren may have prevailed in that drama, but Alpine’s stunning Japanese Grand Prix has given them the upper hand on the track.
The battle over fourth will continue this coming weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in the United States. After that, there will be just three more races to fight it out - in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.
How things are shaping up in the championships
Max Verstappen is confirmed as this year’s Drivers World Champion.
Just one point separates Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc in 2nd and 3rd.
Five points separate George Russell and Carlos Sainz, who are 4th and 5th.