Mercedes & Ferrari poised for Abu Dhabi showdown
Charles Leclerc’s impressive podium in Las Vegas means the two teams go into the season finale separated by just four points.
Throughout 2023, Ferrari has not been quick enough to hold 2nd in the championship, with the honour instead being shared by Aston Martin and Mercedes.
But in this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari has a chance to cause a shock upset and finish the year as runner-up behind Red Bull.
Mercedes is still officially the 2nd-placed team, but Ferrari has closed the gap down to just four points.
That is in large part thanks to Charles Leclerc’s sensational second place in the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur described as “one of the best drives of his career”.
Sainz came home in 6th in the same race, thus netting Ferrari a total of 26 points - significantly more than the 10 points Mercedes got for finishing 7th and 8th.
Mercedes had pace in Las Vegas, but their race was ruined by incidents. Lewis Hamilton was in the wars in the early laps, while George Russell lost places because of a penalty for causing a collision with Max Verstappen.
It marked the second poor weekend in a row for Mercedes, after they fell massively off the pace in Brazil because of fundamental setup issues.
Mercedes cannot afford another scruffy weekend.
If Ferrari scores a podium in Abu Dhabi, finishing 7th and 8th wouldn’t be enough for Mercedes to stay ahead in the championship.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said the team needs to “refocus” ahead of Abu Dhabi. Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin said the gap was so small that the battle would likely “come down to who scores the most [points in Abu Dhabi].”
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said he couldn’t wait for the showdown, remarking: “The fight for second is still on and we'll do everything we can to take it”.
Finishing 2nd in the constructors’ championship has always been the best-case scenario for either team in 2023, given the painstakingly obvious gap to the almighty Red Bull.
On Thursday last week, before the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Ferrari and Mercedes team bosses Fred Vasseur and Toto Wolff revealed they knew their cars weren’t up to scratch as early as pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Wolff said Mercedes now needed to do better after a “rollercoaster” 2023 season. “I hope we can end it on a more positive note,” he said.
Unlike 2022, Mercedes has failed to win a race this year.
Still, the team has managed to keep a championship edge over Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin by getting both cars consistently in the points.
Mercedes has held second place in the championship since Spain.
But that position is now threatened by a Ferrari car which has come alive in the second half of the year.
Ferrari went into the summer break trailing Mercedes by 56 points, but they’ve now closed that gap down to just four points after notably strong weekends in Italy, Singapore, Japan and Las Vegas.
The highlight of those races was undoubtedly Singapore, where Carlos Sainz scored a now-famous victory. It is still the only Grand Prix this year that wasn’t won by Red Bull.
While there are just four points between Mercedes and Ferrari, it’s probably worth saying that their Abu Dhabi showdown is largely symbolic in nature.
There won’t be any major silverware for the victor, but it is still a chance to determine which team officially goes in the history books as the runner-up to Red Bull.
It is also a chance to earn a bit more money because the victor will be entitled to slightly more prize money.
https://open.substack.com/pub/justinbur21/p/is-it-the-start-of-the-season-yet?r=2irxc8&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web