With the last race of the season coming up this Sunday at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, what is left to decide in the World Driver’s Championship and the World Constructors Championship!? Red Bull successful wrapped up both championships with races to spare so the winners are not in doubt going into the final race, however it’s still all to play for further down in the championship.
With Hamilton failing to score points in the penultimate race of the season in Vegas, Sergio Perez has secured second in the WDC with Hamilton remining being him in third. Unlike the Constructors Championship wherever position matters, after 3rd place in the Drivers’ Championship, there are no prizes or money on offer, so they are competing for personal pride and Instagram bragging rights!
Spaniards Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso are tied on 200 points in fourth and fifth places respectively, with the Ferrari driver officially ahead of his Aston Martin countryman by virtue of his race win in Singapore. McLaren’s Lando Norris is five points back from Alonso with Charles Leclerc close behind. George Russell remains comfortably in front of Oscar Piastri and Lance Stroll, the Canadian could still switch places with the Aussie if Stroll scored big and Piastri does not. The other close battle is for 11th and 12th places which are occupied by Alpine team-mates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon who are separated by just four points after the latter’s fine drive to fourth in Las Vegas. There are 12 points separating the drivers between 14th and 21st with Liam Lawson outscoring Logan Sargent to come 20th despite only driving in 4 races this season. However, every full-time driver has already scored points this year too, something that doesn’t always happen in a season!
Mercedes and Ferrari head to Abu Dhabi in a fight for what is a distant second-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship for the second successive season. Four points separate the two historical giants with Mercedes’ 392 points playing Ferrari’s 388. Only champions Red Bull and sixth-placed Alpine are absolutely guaranteed to finish in the places they start the weekend. Although it’s relatively small consolation for Mercedes and Ferrari, given their grander ambitions in F1, finishing second compared to third does come with a useful additional prize-money boost, which is thought to be around $10m.
McLaren remain strong favourites for fourth but their difficult outing in Vegas has given Aston Martin, who finished fifth and ninth last weekend, an outside shot at overhauling them in the last round. McLaren’s advantage is 11 points. Williams also look well set for seventh in what would be their best placing since 2017. AlphaTauri would need to score at least seven points to overhaul them, which they haven’t done since June 2022.
However, AlphaTauri do have a useful five-point cushion over Alfa Romeo, whose advantage over last-placed Haas is four points. Despite a good start to the season, Haas have scored just one point in the last 12 events.
Where will everyone finish the 2023 season, tune into Sundays race to find out!
Written by Cesca.
The Fastest Sector 