Red Bull and Ferrari aim to end season with flourish
THE titles are won and the pressure is off, but the Formula One season could yet have a sting in the tail for four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and triumphant Mercedes.
Resurgent Red Bull believe they can win the last two races, in Brazil this weekend and Abu Dhabi at the end of the month, while Ferrari are also eager to wrap up the year with a flourish.
“The last four races we’ve had the quickest car on a Sunday,” Red Bull boss Christian Horner said after Max Verstappen won in Mexico and Hamilton finished ninth to take the title. “Hopefully, Brazil can be a good track for us and why not in Abu Dhabi? It will be great to finish the season with at least one more victory.”
Verstappen excelled in the wet at Sao Paulo’s atmospheric Interlagos circuit last year, when his performance in racing from 16th to third in 15 laps drew comparisons with some of the greats. The Dutch 20year-old has now won two of the last four races, after a run of poor reliability, while Red Bull have scored more points than second-placed Ferrari since the end of the August break.
“As you would expect, I’m hoping for another damp race weekend as I don’t think we can be as competitive there in the dry, especially with the elevation changes on the straight,” Verstappen said.
Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo, also a winner this season in Azerbaijan, was hopeful, even though the circuit is not one of his favourites.
Hamilton has won nine times this year, including five of the last seven, and can still equal the career best of 11 in a season he achieved in 2014.
Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas is third overall and only 15 points behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, a four-time winner this year, with Mercedes determined to finish one-two for the fourth season in a row.