Formula 1’s $20 million battle will eclipse Ferrari versus McLaren

Nico Hulkenberg’s performance in qualifying may have been affected by a penalty of three places on the grid, but the pace of “in the sweet spot” Haas in Abu Dhabi means the team remains a threat in the fight for sixth place in the constructors’ championship There is a potential prize money swing of over $20 million at stake.

There will likely be a bigger draw on Sunday than in the actual McLaren vs. Ferrari constructors’ title fight, if only because in this duel the team that is ahead in the overall standings will have a much bigger lead and will have a better position on the grid and look faster .

Hülkenberg’s penalty drops him from fourth to seventh on the grid, but even if the starting position is worse, that doesn’t change the fact that the Haas was really fast this weekend. Falling behind Alpine spearhead Pierre Gasly, who now starts fifth, is a blow, but Hulkenberg could still prevail in the midfield battle in tomorrow’s race.

This was not a ‘qualifying special’ from Hulkenberg, because although he set a time that was just 0.291 seconds off pole position (a 0.352% gap compared to the team’s previous best of 0.605% at Silverstone, where he was qualified sixth), the pace should be reflected as the front runner in the midfield for the race.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu said: “It’s not like we’re making a big compromise one way or another” when it comes to single-lap or long-distance speed. This is in line with the team’s approach throughout the season, with a primary focus on ensuring a strong stint performance since testing began.

What catches the eye is the speed relative to the front, considering that the position – fourth place – is partly due to the problems of Red Bull, Mercedes and Charles Leclerc. And there is a possibility that team-mate Kevin Magnussen would have achieved a similar speed given his recent strong form and training pace had he not sustained damage in Q1 from hitting the bollard at Turn 14 while racing Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes This led to him being eliminated in the second qualifying phase.

“From the first lap, yesterday in FP1, it was good,” said Hülkenberg. “The car just felt in the sweet spot for some reason and we felt really strong all weekend.” The track got better lap after lap, session after session, and we managed to keep up. It was a lot of fun.”

It’s not unusual for the Haas to be fast in 2024, and on average for the season it is the sixth fastest car by one lap speed. In Abu Dhabi, the middle sector shone, which runs from the approach to hairpin turn 5 to just before turn 9 – a section that largely consists of the two back straights.

A key strength of the Haas all season has been its straight-line speed, and that was the case in Abu Dhabi, because despite only being third fastest in the main speed trap behind Red Bull and Williams, it covers those two straights faster than anyone else. with Hülkenberg being the fastest in the middle sector in qualifying.

Hülkenberg had no answer to this speed. At first he joked, “I just braked too late,” and then he said that the team hadn’t trimmed the car more than usual, adding, “good traction, I guess, good descents.” possible reason. But fundamentally the car is really, really quick on the straights – gaining time over key midfield rival Gasly’s Alpine when traction isn’t restricted, but is quick enough through the corners to post a better lap time, if only by a tenth of a second.

It appears to have a rear wing configuration well suited to the compromises of the Yas Marina track, something not all teams have.

This straight-line speed will be a valuable tool in Sunday’s race, where Hülkenberg’s main goal will be to get ahead of Gasly. That won’t be an easy task despite the Haas’s speed, as the Alpine upgrade introduced in Austin in October has made the A524 a competitive offering and Gasly performs well.

Haas’ performance was also boosted towards the end of the season by the major upgrade package introduced for the United States Grand Prix, the second largest of 2024 after the Silverstone Grand Prix in July. Haas has scored points in seven of the last eight events and could have done the same at Interlagos if Hulkenberg and Ollie Bearman hadn’t had a disastrous race in the rain.

But the battle for sixth place isn’t just about the two drivers who start in the top 10, with Hülkenberg likely to need the help of Magnussen, who is enjoying a resurgence towards the end of the season following improvements in braking stability when Haas takes over Five wants to overcome. Points behind Alpine.

Since a decisive Haas victory would only be possible in the most extraordinary circumstances, the team needs to get six points from Alpine instead of five to retake sixth place – while also covering RB, which is also in the race but is even further away, eight points behind , Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson qualified on the sixth row.

Magnussen has the pace to finish in the points from 14th on the grid. Alpine’s second driver, debutant Jack Doohan, is down in 17th place, having been the slowest in qualifying. However, this was a misleading result as his final run was wiped out by outlap traffic and he was quick in the early runs in Q1, just a tenth behind Gasly. Still, a points contribution from Doohan on his Grand Prix debut is a tall order, even at a track where he has clocked up some miles in F1 machinery in the past.

Alpine is in a strong position thanks to the points situation, Hülkenberg’s penalty and Gasly’s qualifying performance.

“It’s probably one of the best qualifying sessions,” Gasly said. “I felt pretty bad in the car throughout free practice, we were outside the top 10 (in FP2 and FP3) and the car really didn’t perform well. “We spent the whole practice doing that on every run Changing setup but nothing really worked. And before qualifying we made some big changes again, which didn’t give me any confidence, but in the end they brought big improvements.

“Nico is suddenly strong, that was really impressive. They looked strong all weekend and clearly had the upper hand over us. I’m really happy to have caught up – in the end it was only a tenth, so we have a good fight ahead of us tomorrow.”

With three teams in the hunt and RB cannot be completely discounted despite lacking the performance to pose a threat so far this weekend, this could well have an impact on the final lap of the race. And to make the battle even more complicated, cars from the top four teams will be there.

With over $10 million in additional prize money per position in the constructors’ championship, the midfield battle looks set to be the most dramatic and high-stakes of tomorrow’s race as the sting has been taken away from the battle between McLaren and Ferrari in qualifying.