WANTS GOLD: McLaren ace Norris
BY Alan Balwin
Ferrari and McLaren, Formula One’s oldest rivals, take their constructors’ title fight into a penultimate round in Qatar on Sunday at 6pm with both battling to end years of waiting to be champions again.
After Red Bull’s Max Verstappen celebrated his fourth successive drivers’ title in Las Vegas last Saturday, the focus switches to a different desert and the hopes of Maranello and Woking.
McLaren could clinch their first constructors’ crown since 1998 on Sunday.
To do so, however, they must outscore Ferrari, the most successful team of all time who last won that title in 2008, by 21 points and end Red Bull’s slim hopes of another championship double.
Ferrari are 24 points behind McLaren, with Red Bull 53 adrift of the leaders and 103 still to be won – the amount expanded by the last sprint of the season which takes place on Saturday.
There will be only 44 points going to the following weekend’s finale at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina.
"Champion of the world!"
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 27, 2024
Celebrations for @Max33Verstappen in Qatar last season as he clinched a third world drivers' title 🏆![CDATA[]]>🏆![CDATA[]]>🏆#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/zNKNcJEJYq
Only three remain in contention...#F1 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/EhBWwF0ufn
— Formula 1 (@F1) November 27, 2024
The chances are it will go down to the wire with Ferrari taking more points than McLaren in three of the last four races including a mighty 55 point-haul from the sprint weekend in Texas.
The Doha heat could be much more to McLaren’s liking than chilly Las Vegas, however.
McLaren’s Lando Norris says: “We have full focus on what we need to achieve in the final two rounds.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will be out to stop Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri.