Formula One F1 - Qatar Grand Prix - Lusail International Circuit, Lusail, Qatar - October 8, 2023 Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in action during the race REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/ File Photo
DOHA (Reuters) - Ferrari 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 Saturday, 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 on Sunday.
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.
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz will be particularly keen to continue a run of three podiums in four races, and has nothing to lose as he prepares for a Ferrari farewell before making way for Mercedes' seven-times world champion Hamilton.
That could make life tricky for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc, who had plenty to say -- mostly unprintable -- over the radio in Las Vegas after being passed by his Spanish team mate and finishing fourth.
"I think they (McLaren) are going to be very strong in Qatar, so we’ve got to have a good weekend," said Leclerc, who is fighting Norris for second overall.
STRONG PERFORMANCE
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.
"We certainly benefited from the night-time cold in Las Vegas, but the layout in Qatar should be more favourable to the strengths of our car," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
McLaren's Oscar Piastri won the Qatar sprint last year and was second to Verstappen in the main grand prix, with Norris third.
"I'm really excited to see what we can do this time around," said Piastri.
Red Bull have been fighting one-handed due to Sergio Perez's lack of form and need the Mexican back to speed -- in his 280th start -- after he scored only nine points from his last six races.
On the plus side, Verstappen has had more success in sprints than any other driver.
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.
Last year's Qatar race was held in October and extreme conditions, with the grand prix turning into a three-stopper due to tyre issues. The kerbs have since been rounded off at seven of 16 corners and gravel strips added.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
