F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Mercedes ready for Abu Dhabi showdown with Ferrari: ‘Let’s race!’

Mercedes and Ferrari are only separated by four points ahead of F1’s season finale next weekend in Abu Dhabi, but Toto Wolff is looking forward to his team’s showdown with the Scuderia.

Although marred by Carlos Sainz’s on-track encounter in Las Vegas with a water valve cover on Thursday, Ferrari displayed a solid pace all weekend, with poleman Charles Leclerc coming close to winning F1’s Saturday night battle in the streets of Sin City.

For Mercedes however, the chips didn’t fall the right way, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell concluding their day just seventh and eighth.

"Lewis got hit twice and George had a mistake. That race summarises our season," rued a frustrated Wolff.

"A quick car that is able to fight for a podium. Lewis was doing [Charles] Leclerc’s times as well in free air. But then obviously he was involved in two accidents, and then George with Max, [so] you can’t win, you can’t be in the front."

Read also:

Overall, the Brackley squad was outscored in Vegas by its Maranello rival by 16 points, which allowed the latter to close in within four points of the runner-up spot in F1’s Constructors’ standings.

It now all boils down to a straight fight between the two teams in Abu Dhabi.

"We're going there on pretty much equal points, we have a proper race director, so that should be fine," Wolff said, with a veiled reference to the 2021 controversial shootout in Yas Marina between Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

"Then let's race, it's all down to the last weekend.

"[Ferrari] are very quick, they've done a good job, I think we could have been on par [in Las Vegas], but the result shows something different so let's race.”

Wolff admitted that after a season in which Mercedes’ under-performed its expectations once again, fighting for P2 isn’t a proposition that particularly revs up the Austrian.

"To be honest it's good to have P2 as a positive to finish the season, but P2 or P3 doesn't make me particularly cheer anyway,” he said.

After last weekend’s extravaganza in Las Vegas, F1 teams packed their crates through the night before embarking on the long 15-hour trek to Abu Dhabi where they will wrap up their 2023 campaign.

But F1’s grueling schedule will get even worse in 2024, as Las Vegas will form the first leg of an arduous final triple-header that will take them from Nevada directly to Qatar and then to Abu Dhabi.

"Now we're on a roll in complete autopilot," commented Wolff.

"You don't know anyway where you're waking up, on what timezone you are and where the toilet is in a hotel room. Let's just get it done!"

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.

Recent Posts

Sao Paulo GP: Saturday's action in pictures

Saturday's proceedings were cut short due to a heavy rain storm rolling into Sao Paulo…

1 hour ago

Sao Paulo GP qualifying postponed after repeated delays

The FIA has postponed Saturday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying session due to adverse weather…

2 hours ago

McLaren: Team orders always ‘make life difficult for ourselves’

McLaren's successful 1-2 finish in the Brazilian Sprint race came with a dose of complexity,…

4 hours ago

Verstappen demoted to P4 following VSC infringement in Sprint

Max Verstappen has been demoted from third to fourth in the final standings of Saturday’s…

5 hours ago

Norris thanks Piastri for handing Sprint win, but not ‘proud’

Lando Norris secured victory in Saturday's Sprint event in Sao Paulo thanks to a McLaren…

6 hours ago

São Paulo GP: Norris handed sprint win by Piastri

McLaren clinched a valuable 1-2 sweep of the São Paulo sprint race, with polesitter Oscar…

7 hours ago