McLaren VS Ferrari
With just 1 round to go in a 24 Race Season, just the 21 points separate McLaren and Ferrari in the fight to be crowned Constructors’ World Champions! The early part of the year suggested that Ferrari were the biggest fight to Red Bull, the middle part of the year very much made it McLaren’s to lose, but with 1 weekend to go, anything is possible! I mean, both teams have won 5 Races each, all four drivers are incredibly talented, and you’ve got the added story that is Carlos Sainz trying to win in his final Race for the Scuderia! Realistically, McLaren should get the job done, I mean Ferrari need a 1-2 and McLaren to finish at best 4-5 (without Lando or Oscar getting the Fastest Lap), but I guess you just never know in Formula 1!
One Last Goodbye
Along with Carlos Sainz leaving Ferrari for Williams and Nico Hulkenberg going from Haas to Kick Sauber, this weekend also most likely sees the end of certain drivers’ Formula 1 careers! Firstly, Kevin Magnussen, a driver that’s had a very up-and-down career, scoring a Podium on debut, taking a Pole Position in Sao Paulo in 2022, but also having his fair share of incidents! Either way, it’s been fun to watch K-Mag over the years, whether that be at McLaren, Renault, or Haas! Zhou Guanyu is also leaving after a three-year stint with Alfa Romeo/Kick Sauber, I mean, he did well in his Rookie Season, scoring points on debut and proving a lot of people wrong, but this year has been pretty bad for Zhou, minus his brilliant P8 in Qatar! And finally, Valtteri Bottas, a fan favourite, a guy that has really come into his own personality-wise since leaving Mercedes, but it’s a shame that his final season may see him fail to score a single point (through no fault of his own)! However, Valtteri has still had a great career, he’s won 10 Races, taken 20 Pole Positions, 67 Podiums, on his day he could beat Lewis Hamilton, and he was also very rapid both at Williams and his first half of the season at Alfa Romeo in 2022! There are also rumours about this potentially being Sergio Perez’s last weekend, but we’ll have to wait and see on that!
A Desert Debut for Doohan
Earlier in the week, Alpine announced that Esteban Ocon won’t get a farewell at a team he’s been at for 5 years after all! I can go on about how wrong this is, especially when Esteban won for them and had a really cool special helmet for this weekend, but I’d like to believe that this is only going to fire Ocon up even more next year when he joins Haas! However, what this does mean is in comes Jack Doohan to make his Formula 1 debut! Jack is a driver I rate very highly, he’s previously finished second in FIA Formula 3 (in 2021) and after Invicta Virtuosi fixed his damaged chassis, Doohan was 100% the best driver in the second half of last year’s Formula 2 Season! Again, there are reasons why this isn’t maybe as exciting or special as it could’ve been, but from Jack Doohan’s point of view, this is a massive opportunity for him, even though he has kind of been thrown right into the deep end!
The Fight for P6
My absolute favourite Championship battle of 2024 heads to the final round of the year as Alpine, Haas, and Visa Cash App RB all look to finish P6 in the Constructors’ Standings! Now, it’s worth mentioning that VCARB are 13 points off P6, so the odds of them getting up there are very slim, but it’s worth mentioning that Yuki Tsunoda does have a good track record around this circuit! However, with just 5 points separating Alpine and Haas, the fight very much is on there! Alpine should do it, they’ve got the quicker car and the advantage, but we’ve seen this year that different results can happen, and there is no ruling out that Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen could both score double points, meaning Pierre Gasly (and Jack Doohan) need to be up there too! It hasn’t been a good year for Alpine, but 6th is where they really should be at the moment so that’s at least something whilst no matter what happens, this has been a terrific year for Haas and by far their best since 2018! Oh, and there’s also only a point separating Hulkenberg and Gasly in the fight for P10 in the Drivers’ Standings so watch out for that too!
Lewis’ Last Mercedes Dance
After 245 Races with Mercedes, this weekend marks Lewis Hamilton’s final outing with the Silver Arrows! A stint that has lasted 12 Seasons, resulting in 6 World Championships, 84 Race Wins, and a whole host of Formula 1 Records! I mean, you also have to consider that Lewis’ original team McLaren were powered by Mercedes engines, so he’s pretty much been with them in some way since the very beginning! I remember Hamilton a bit when he was at McLaren, but the very first F1 Game I got was F1 2013 which happened to be Lewis’ first year with Mercedes! I then watched Hamilton dominate the sport, firmly expecting him to win basically every weekend, and having some titanic battles with the likes of Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen! Now, 2024 hasn’t been the farewell year that Lewis or Mercedes would’ve hoped for, his basically set to finish 7th in the Championship, but that doesn’t mean for one second that Hamilton won’t give it his absolute all to end his 12-year stint on a high! Whatever happens, Lewis Hamilton will always be remembered for his stint at Mercedes!
My Predictions for Yas Marina Qualifying
Charles Leclerc
George Russell
Carlos Sainz
Lando Norris
Max Verstappen
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