Rowan Sykes – @RowanJSykes

The drivers championship may be decided, but the battle for the prize pot is still up for grabs.This weekend, Mclaren and Ferrari will be battling it out for the top spot of the F1 Constructors Championship.

Going into Abu Dhabi Mclaren and Ferrari are separated by 21 points, with Mclaren leading the way, and obvious favourites to clinch the title this weekend.

After practice today, it seems that both Mclaren and Ferrari have the pace to win the race this weekend, but for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc this could be an impossible task. Leclerc will be recieveing a 10 place grid penalty for the race on Sunday for going over the allocated energy store components for the season. But he set the pace in FP1 putting in the quickest time of the session with a 1:24:321. Two tenths quicker than the Lando Norris in second.

But then in the conditions closest to qualifying and the race Mclaren’s rapid pace that they have become known for this season came to light. With Norris setting the pace of a 1:23:517, followed by Oscar Piastri in the other Mclaren. FP2 also saw the Haas cars rising to the challenge of the upper end of the points, as Nico Hulkenberg claimed third fastest in the session. Both Ferrari’s were half a second off the pace of Norris, which is a surprise with the general consensus amongst the paddock that Abu Dhabi is a track that suits the characteristics of the SF-24.

Amongst the track action today was also some rookies. Who took part in FP1. Luke Browning, Arthur Leclerc, Ayumu Iwasa, Isack Hadjar, Ryo Hirakawa and Felipe Drugovich all took part in the F1 session. The stand out performer in the bunch would once again be Felipe Drugovich who placed Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin in 9th place. Ahead of 2-time-World-Champion Fernando Alonso. Showing the Brazilian’s talent once again.

Arthur Leclerc, and brother Charles Leclerc made history today, becoming the first sibling pairing to take part in an official F1 session as teamates.

Isack Hadjar, who is seemingly on his way to VCARB next season impressed in Verstappen’s Red Bull, finishing with a time three tenths away from highly experienced driver Sergio Perez. Hadjar then went on to compete in the F2 qualifying session where he placed 4th. Hadjar is going for the F2 title this weekend, with him and Gabriel Bortoleto only being separated by half a point going into the final round this weekend.

After practice the order going into the qualifying looks hard to predict, making it very exciting for us fans. It has all the makings of another classic final race battle. Who do you think will come out on top in the Constructors Championship?