Red Bull boss Christian Horner and Max Verstappen don’t have everything their own way (Picture: Getty Images)
The fight for the Formula One drivers’ world title may be over but the battle of the teams is very much alive. With two rounds to go – Qatar this weekend, and Abu Dhabi next – just 53 points lie between McLaren (608), Ferrari (584) and holders Red Bull (555), and there are 88 points up for grabs.
Mercedes were one-two in Las Vegas but whatever happens next they will finish a lonely fourth. Red Bull, having their most lacklustre year since 2019, will need extremely good luck to have any chance of retaining the title for a third straight year.
But if Ferrari can outscore McLaren there is a chance they could take the title for the first time since 2008. It has been an even longer drought for McLaren. Twenty-six years of hurt. Last time McLaren were constructors’ champions, Titanic was in cinemas.
It’s been a very arduous comeback but all credit to the team led by Zak Brown and Andrea Stella; since Lando Norris’ win in Miami in May they have been the class of the field.
If Ferrari can’t catch them, the Italian team still go into 2025 with a fantastic foundation from which the incoming Lewis Hamilton may benefit. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Wache has said his team may not be in a great position. ‘I’m not confident for ’25 because the others are very quick,’ he said.
Max Verstappen’s team started the season strongly but by the end of June were on the back foot. Max says he’d have been champion earlier in a McLaren or a Ferrari, and that’s almost certainly true.
Several senior engineers exited Red Bull this summer, with others soon to go. This has had a destabilising effect and there is big pressure on Wache to prove he can build a winning machine without Adrian Newey.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez has again struggled in 2024 (Picture: Getty Images)
Of course, the biggest reason for Red Bull not being higher in the table is they are almost a one-car team. Verstappen has contributed 403 points to Sergio Perez’s 152. That’s an even bigger percentage gap than that between Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. The Mexican hasn’t graced the podium since April. He has not won a race since April 2023, in fact, and has six Q1 eliminations this season.
Even were he to win this weekend, it should not be enough to save Perez his seat. Yet there remains no clear contender who could do a better job. There is a lot of excitement around Williams’ Franco Colapinto but he only has five points to show for his fledgling grand-prix career thus far.
Promoting Liam Lawson or Yuki Tsunoda from the junior RB team is an option, but one that set back the careers of Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.
Valtteri Bottas is available and a safe pair of hands, but says he isn’t expecting a call because ‘some people there don’t really like me for some reason’. That seems to be an issue for Red Bull. I still don’t know why they didn’t sign Carlos Sainz Jr when they had the chance. Perhaps Verstappen vetoed it?
As well as the fight for the constructors’ prize, we’re going to see drivers down the grid fighting for their careers, and in Hamilton’s case his legacy at Mercedes.
Second in Vegas from P10 was phenomenal but George Russell was first from P1. Lewis (left) needs to beat his team-mate in Qatar and ride into his final appearance for Mercedes on a high.
Lewis Hamilton will want to leave Mercedes on a high (Picture: AP)
Cadillac get revved up to join the grid
Cadillac are expected to join the F1 grid in 2026. Liberty Media and the other teams were against an 11th team when it was going to be an Andretti-led General Motors-backed squad with customer power.
Now it’s going to be a full works GM entry, branded Cadillac, with in-house hybrids manufactured from 2028 and has the backing of F1 bosses.
It has left former F1 driver Michael Andretti on the sidelines.
His father, 1978 world champion Mario, will be a director of the new team.
He told Motorsport.com there may have been ‘personal’ issues between his son and F1’s owners, saying: ‘I still don’t understand but it seemed like it came down to that. Michael decided to step aside.’
I’m told by sources Michael may simply have rubbed the paddock up the wrong way. A seat is expected to go to 24-year-old Californian Colton Herta.
More surprise exits at FIA
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem surprised the paddock when his F1 race director was axed and F2/F3 man Rui Marques promoted from the Las Vegas GP onwards.
Now he’s done the same thing with Marques’ successor and F1’s most senior steward. Janette Tan, who was previously Marques’ deputy and was appointed race director for the supporting F2 and F3 series starting this weekend, has left before she’d even got her feet under the table.
Tim Mayer, who’s been an F1 steward for 15 years, has gone too. As yet, no explanation has been offered by the FIA as to why.
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