In the last edition, I said McLaren had the Constructors’ Championship in the bag. That was contingent on the team having a half-decent weekend.
Can you blame me for thinking the team that had stood on all but one podium could score a decent haul of points? I’ll tell you, in Azerbaijan, McLaren did not disappoint, scoring a whopping six (yes, six) points. One, two, three, four, five, six.
Do you want to know the funniest part? McLaren, with just Lando Norris, scored the same number of points as Ferrari with both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
What actually happened? After Oscar Piastri was finally bitten back by the wall on lap one, Norris had an open net to score a goal. And did he? No. He instead scored six points and finished in seventh place.
You know who had a good race weekend? Max Verstappen. Commentators seem to think he’s back in contention for the driver’s title. This is the same narrative they spun with Norris last year, except Verstappen has won a championship. So, I guess anything is possible.
Mercedes also had a good weekend, bouncing Ferrari from second in the constructor’s standings. Aside: Does Mercedes plan on re-signing its drivers?
Anyway, with Mercedes and Red Bull consistently outperforming and outscoring Ferrari, the Italian Stallion’s underwhelming season is even more exposed. Also, the squabble over eighth and ninth position is sad, considering fans like me thought we were in for the championship battle of the ages.
All I can say is that the leadership at Ferrari should look into buying land in England as soon as possible.
Who ultimately had the best weekend? Carlos Sainz Jr.
I’m pleased for him, truly, and for Williams Racing. It’s been a long time coming for the team. I thought the move to Williams was strange at first, considering Sainz had options, but it paid off.
I do have some points to make about Sainz though.
One, he was not fired by Ferrari. His contract, with an agreed-upon duration, ran out. Ever heard of a contractor? To put this into Northeastern context, at the end of your six-month co-op, are you fired? There’s your answer. Don’t let Twitter — nor Sainz himself — tell you any differently.
Two, Sainz’s success has as much to do with Lewis Hamilton as it does with the other 19 drivers on the grid. The comparison is unnecessary and unfair because it will always be an irrefutable fact that one driver has significantly more wins than the other.
Singapore is up next. With Round 18, we’re officially entering the final quarter of the season. Some questions remain unanswered. Among them, of course: Who will win the driver’s championship? Will there be a safety car in Singapore? (Likely.) Will George Russell still be a Mercedes driver in 2026? (Also likely.) But most importantly (for me at least), is this question: Will Ferrari win a Grand Prix? (The team won a sprint, lest we forget.)
