The battle for second

With Verstappen wrapping up the title in Qatar, attention turns to 𒁃the fight between Perez and Hamilton for second in the drivers’ championship.

Jus𓆏t 30 points separate the aforementioned duo with five rounds to go (including two sprint races).

Qatar was a big missed opportunity for Hamilton to cut that gap in half after crashing out on the opening lap following contact with Mercedes teammate 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:George Russell.

Perez endured another shocke𓄧r as he picked up three time penalties for track limits, leaving him 10th in th♍e final classification behind the two Alfa Romeos.

The Mexican still has a strong grip on P2 behind Verstappen, mainly due to the fact that Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Mc🌼Laren have traded positions as the second-fastest team throughout the season.

The four teams take points off each other - one weekend McLaren are Red Bull’s nearest challenger, another it’s Ferrari - meaning no driver💮 can consistently score big points aဣnd thus overtake Perez.

Perez’s abysmal form should give Hamilton♉ confidence that finishing runner-up is a realistic possibility.

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Fernando Alonso is still in contention - he’s 11 points behind his former McLaren teammat🎀e - but given Aღston Martin’s lack of overall performance since the middle part of the year, it’s unlikely he will be a factor come Abu Dhabi.

Another layer to this is the fac🌄t Red Bull has never seen their drivers finish 1-2 in the championship.

If Perez isn’t able to secure it, the pressuꦰre on his future with the team would surely only ramp up fᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚurther.

Ricciardo’s return

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Daniel Ricciardo will make his long-awaited return𓄧 from injury at this weekend’s United St♋ates Grand Prix.

Ricciardo has been forced to miss the last five races after sufferin🦂g a broken metacarpal during a practice crash at Zandvoort in August.

The Australian𝄹 broke his wrist and underwent surgery in Barcel🔯ona shortly after that.

Since then, Ricciardo has been in rehab, recovering, while stand-in 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Liam Lawson has starred.

Despite his absence, Ricciardo’s F1 future is secure after AlphaTauri announced he will remain with the team alongside 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Yuki Tsunoda for 2024.

Ricciꦇardo will be keen to impress, particularly given Perez’s poor▨ form.

If he has a great end of the year, and Perez continues t🌼o struggle, could he return to Red Bull sooner than expected?

Haas’ major upgrade 

Haas 🔯will introduce a substantial upgrade for their home event at the Circuit of the Americas.

Their update is akin to McLaren and Aston Martin’s in terms of completeꦐly altering their car concept, aligning it with traits of the dominant🦂 RB19 from this year.

While ♕Haas don’t expect a McLaren-style leap from it, it should give them𓂃 encouragement going into next year provided it works.

Haas have slipped back to ninth in the constructors’ championship following Alfa’s double-score in Qatar - so the timing of the ♊upgrade could be a welcome🀅 boost.

More misery for Stroll?

After some pushing and shoving in the garage at Losail, 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Lance Stroll will be hoping Teღxas brings a drama-free weekend.

Like his former Racing Point teammate Perez, ꧒Stroll’s has struggled in recent rounds, failing to score points since the summer break - Alonso has scored 34 in the same period.

The Canadian has been kno▨cked out in ඣQ1 at the last four consecutive races highlighting how turgid it has been for him.