By: Rishi Mistry

Photo by Tomás Evaristo, on Unsplash

As we approach the final race of the 2023 F1 season on November 26th, many questions remain unanswered. The big question is: who will win 2nd place in the constructors championship? The two teams in the fight include Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team and Scuderia Ferrari F1 team. After the Las Vegas grand prix, they were split by 4 points, with Mercedes leading 392 to 388 points. Another battle to be finished on track is the battle for fourth in the constructors between McLaren and Aston Martin. Finally, what does Red Bull’s dominance mean for next season? 

The final race in Abu Dhabi is around the corner, and it will definitely be the one to watch. The battle we will be the most excited for is the battle for second in constructors between Mercedes and Ferrari. This is important for both teams as it proves that they are better then their competitors while granting them additional funds. After the Las Vegas grand prix, Mercedes had a disappointing result with their drivers finishing in 7th and 8th, only scoring 10 points. On the other hand, Ferrari had a great weekend with their drivers finishing 2nd and 6th, scoring 26 points with their driver Charles Leclerc who took second place on the final lap. Recently, Mercedes hasn’t been able to produce the results they are normally used to. Whilst, Ferrari have been on a recent point surge. With the momentum shifting towards Ferrari, who knows who will take 2nd in constructors. 4 points is a very small gap, and all 4 drivers will want to perform the best they can in order to support their team. 

Next up, who will finish 4th in the constructors championship? Currently, McLaren is ahead of Aston Martin by 11 points, with McLaren leading 284 to 273 points. At the third last race, the Brazilian grand prix, Aston Martin had a great race with their veteran driver Fernando Alonso finishing on the podium to secure 15 points for them. On the other hand, McLaren had a disappointing weekend with only 2 points along with their driver Lando Norris crashing out. McLaren had a horrible start to the season, but it all turned around at the British grand prix. They kept up the good performance and were able to achieve multiple podium winnings. However, Aston Martin experienced the total opposite. They had a great start to the season with lots of podiums, but started to slip after the halfway point. McLaren made an amazing comeback, however now they have to prove that they are still worthy of praise and prestige.. Despite recent struggles, Aston Martin were still able to place third in the Brazilian grand prix and were able to bring both cars into the points in Las Vegas. This will definitely be a close battle in the final race. 

Last but not least, what can we expect in 2024? This season hasn’t been the most fun one, mostly because it was absolutely dominated by Max Verstappen, the 3 time world champion. So far, he has won 19 out of the 22 races this season. He is a great driver that has probably had the most dominant season in F1 history. He broke the record for the most consecutive wins when he won 10 races in a row! He has also broken many other records such as the most wins in one season (previously held by Alberto Ascari 71 years ago). Most importantly, he has been able to produce the most points, currently having 549 points to his name, with more to come in Abu Dhabi. Red Bull just had such an amazing season, but how long can they keep this up? Mercedes were able to win 8 constructors championships in a row, and eventually lost in 2022 to Red Bull. Red Bull has had an incredibly dominant season, winning their second constructors in a row, but will other teams be able to catch up? Many fans have found this season boring as Red Bull was the constant winner for each race. Many fans hope to see other teams such as Ferrari, Mercedes, or McLaren to be able to challenge them in the 2024 season. We still have one race left for 2023. We’ll see you when the lights go out!


Works Cited

Hardy, Ed. “F1 Records Broken by Max Verstappen in 2023.” Autosport, 6 Nov. 2023,

www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-records-broken-by-max-verstappen-in-2023/10543882/#

~:text=F1’s%20most%20wins%20in%20a%20season*&text=But%2C%20amazingly%2C%20Red%20Bull%20and,to%2019%20for%20the%20season. Accessed 22 November 2023. 

Schofield, Mark. “Mercedes-Ferrari Fight TOPS F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Storylines.”

SBNation.Com, 20 Nov. 2023,

www.sbnation.com/2023/11/20/23967995/f1-news-mercedes-ferrari-abu-dhabi-grand-prx.  Accessed 22 November 2023.