McLaren v Ferrari is Formula One's big fight now
· RNZFerrari and McLaren, Formula One's oldest rivals, take their constructors' title fight into a penultimate round in Qatar this weekend 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 weekend, the focus switches to a different desert and the hopes of Maranello and Woking.
McLaren - the team of past champions Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen and Lewis Hamilton - could clinch their first constructors' crown since 1998.
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.
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.
"We have full focus on what we need to achieve in the final two rounds. The track and conditions in Qatar should suit us more than last weekend so I'm excited to see what we can do," said McLaren's Lando Norris.
McLaren were helped in Las Vegas by a Mercedes one-two, denying Ferrari a much bigger score, and another strong performance by winner George Russell, and Hamilton cannot be ruled out.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri won the Qatar sprint last year and was second to Verstappen in the main grand prix, with Norris third.
The midfield battle is also on a knife-edge with Haas (sixth), Alpine (seventh) and Red Bull's RB (eighth) separated by only four points after Las Vegas, and millions in prize money at stake.
That is the focus for RB's Liam Lawson.
"It's a weekend where we need to score some points to be in for the fight for P6, so we'll be making sure we maximise the car as much as we can."
In 2023, Lawson spun out of the sprint race and finished last of the runners in the feature race.
Qatar Grand Prix
The Qatar Grand Prix is the penultimate round of the 24-race season, which also features the sixth and last Saturday sprint of 2024.
- Lap distance: 5.419km. Total distance: 308.611km (57 laps)
- 2023 sprint winner: Oscar Piastri (Australia) McLaren
- 2023 pole position: Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Red Bull One minute 23.778 seconds.
- 2023 winner: Verstappen
- Race fastest lap (2023 layout): Verstappen 1:24.319
- Start time: 0500 Monday NZ Time/1900 local
Motorsport in Qatar
The circuit has hosted MotoGP since 2004, becoming a night race in 2008.
Qatar has a 10-year deal to host Formula One from 2023 after a debut in 2021, won by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton. There was no race in 2022 because of the country hosting the soccer World Cup.
Verstappen won his third title in Qatar last year in the Saturday sprint.
The Lusail layout was resurfaced last year and is fast and flowing with 16 medium and high-speed corners and no heavy braking. The main straight is more than one km long and is the sole DRS zone.
F1 Championship
Verstappen clinched his fourth successive title in Las Vegas last Saturday. He is the sixth driver to win four championships and only the second, after Sebastian Vettel, to win his first four consecutively.
Two of Verstappen's titles have been won on a Saturday, rather than the usual Sunday.
McLaren's Lando Norris is 21 points clear of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in the battle to finish overall runner-up, with a maximum 60 points remaining.
McLaren lead Ferrari by 24 points in the constructors' standings with 103 points to be won.
McLaren can clinch their first constructors' crown since 1998 if they score 21 points more than Ferrari, who last won the title in 2008, and kill off Red Bull's slim chances. Otherwise the battle goes down to the final race in Abu Dhabi.
- Reuters