A few weeks ago if you had asked me, can Mercedes overtake Ferrari for P2 in the constructors?, I probably would have laughed it off. However heading into Brazil this weekend and on the heels of an outstanding qualifying, it looks like Mercedes can in fact catch Ferrari, but do they have enough time to pull it off?
After Ferrari recently announced they had stopped developing the F1-75 to focus entirely on 2023, they may have left themselves very vulnerable to Mercedes the last 2 races of the season. After Mexico, Ferrari looked completely in the mud and went absolutely nowhere all weekend, while Mercedes kept up its remarkable consistency with Lewis Hamilton taking a consecutive P2 and George Russell taking his second consecutive fastest lap on the way to a P4 finish. Ferrari on the other hand have come up with a 3rd and 6th with Leclerc, and a retirement and P5 from Carlos Sainz. Now heading into the Brazilian grand prix, Mercedes only sit 40 points back of the Scuderia, and with their poor showing in qualifying and Mercedes strong performance, Ferrari again look on the back foot against the Silver Arrows.
On the heels of that qualifying session which sensationally saw Kevin Magnussen take pole, the Scuderia flubbed it yet again and only left Carlos Sainz P5 with an engine penalty and Charles Leclerc the most disappointing in P10. Mercedes meanwhile stuck themselves P3 with George Russell and P8 with Lewis Hamilton. Interlagos has always been a Hamilton strong suit, so we should expect him to climb from that P8 spot in the sprint tomorrow while Russell is in the best position to maximize points. With Leclerc a little further back, there is more potential for disaster and just based on Ferrari’s luck this year, you can never count anything out, and Mercedes have by far been the more consistent team sans the wins this year compared to Ferrari, who haven’t won since Austria.
The consistency of Mercedes also cannot be ignored, which has been quite remarkable this season. George Russell has been a near constant fixture in the top 5, and 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton looks to have finally regained his full form coming into the end of the season. Ferrari meanwhile, have been up and down all year to say the least. Reliability have plagued the Scuderia all year, with a total of 6 retirements between the 2 drivers, and only 2 total retirements between the 2 Mercedes drivers.
Mercedes can certainly catch Ferrari in the constructors this year after looking at the start of the year they would be lucky to finish P3, the question is, do the Silver Arrows have enough time to close the deal?