Ferrari vs. McLaren: Can the Prancing Horse Gallop to the Constructors’ Title in a Final Showdown?

Going into the final three races of the 2024 season, the World Constructors’ Championship has a nail-biting finish in store for the season. With McLaren and Ferrari in the running for the title, whatever the result, it could be a historic finale in Abu Dhabi.

Only Mercedes or Red Bull have won the Constructors’ crown since 2014. This has been the first time in a decade that anyone else has even come close to dethroning their dynasty. Moreover, while Ferrari are eager to end their 16-year-long title drought, McLaren want to get their hands on the coveted title for the first time since 1998.

So, with just 36 points separating McLaren and Ferrari, who will come out victorious in this titanic battle between two of the most successful teams in the sport?

What does the form book say about Ferrari’s chances?

Looking at the data from FP2 at the Las Vegas GP, it looks as though there isn’t much to separate between the SF-24 and MCL38. However, with Lando Norris just 0.011 seconds away from the top spot, the Woking-based team look to have a slight advantage over their Italian rivals.

That said, the momentum seems to be in the Scuderia’s favor. Since the summer break, the Prancing Horse has brought meaningful upgrades to their package — catapulting their performance to championship-winning status.

The last seven races have seen the duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz win three times for the team. Moreover, the Scuderia’s lineup looks like the most compelling to extract the maximum amount of points from each weekend this season.

Does McLaren have the consistency to wrap the Constructors’ title up?

Historically, the sport hasn’t always seen the fastest package win all the accolades. Consistency is key to success in F1, and the Woking-based team have shown to have that trait this season.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have led a strong charge throughout 2024 — leading the team to surpass Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings. Having said that, Ferrari do seem to have the fastest car underneath them going into the final triple-header of the season.

The SF-24 has always been a handy race car at high-speed circuits like Las Vegas. On the other hand, though, the MCL38 seems to be a more rounded, well-balanced car for almost all types of track layouts.

One thing that has been plaguing Ferrari’s recent results is their lack of operational efficiency. Mistakes on the pit wall have been a common theme for Ferrari — often costing them crucial results and points. Needless to say, the title fight might just go down to the wire as a battle between raw speed and consistency.

Who is going to come out on top in Las Vegas?

The race this weekend is going to be only the second edition of a Grand Prix on the iconic Vegas Strip. Naturally, the teams don’t have enough data to make concrete predictions about the pecking order.

But Leclerc believes that the team have the right package to fight for the win. “I think, as I was saying, that we could be as strong as we were last year,” explained the #16 driver.

Norris, on the other hand, has tried to keep expectations low within the McLaren camp. After FP2, the British driver was appalled by the long-run pace of his package. “The high-fuel, that was shocking. So, yeah, plenty of things to look into,” he said per Motorsport.com.

So, it is safe to say that going into the race weekend, Ferrari do have a clear advantage over McLaren. But with a lot of points still to play for, the Constructors’ title could be going either way after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.