F1: Mercedes set to seal teams title on return to Portugal

Mercedes head to Portimao on the verge of sealing a seventh consecutive constructors after yet another record-breaking season for the Brackley outfit.

The Silver Arrows have claimed nine of the eleven wins that have been offer so far this year as well as every pole position. But they will need to outscore their nearest rivals Red Bull Racing by 40 points to officially claim the crown in Portugal.

Currently, Mercedes head Red Bull by a staggering 180 points with six rounds remaining and after another season where they have been untouchable, they are on course to making history and become the first team ever to secure the Formula 1 Constructors Championship for seven years on the trot.

Meanwhile, Mercedes’ star driver Lewis Hamilton is likely to be a rejuvenated figure after matching Michael Schumacher’s 91 Grand Prix victories at the Eifel Grand Prix. He will now aim to set forth and establish the record for the number of race wins in what time he has left in Formula 1.

Hamilton currently leads his team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 71 points after the Finn suffered the latest blow to his title charge after retiring from the Eifel GP with an ERS failure mid-way through the race. With very little prospect of the championship, Bottas can now just focus on trying to win every race in the remainder of 2020.

Red Bull had a positive Nurburgring after getting within three tenths of Mercedes in qualifying with Max Verstappen which is the closest Mercedes have been run on a Saturday this year. While Verstappen did not have Mercedes’ race pace, it was another positive event for the Austrian outfit as they seek to make margin gains ahead of next year.

While Verstappen is within 14 points of Bottas, Red Bull are starting to be more publicly critical of Alex Albon as the Thai driver fails to deliver the same kind of pace and consistency on a Saturday or indeed a Sunday as his Dutch counterpart.

If the rumours are to be believed, then Red Bull will make a decision as to whether Albon’s contract will be renewed or to be replaced by older hands in either super-sub Nico Hulkenberg and current Racing Point Sergio Perez who has been dropped in favour for Sebastian Vettel next year.

Talking of Racing Point, the Silverstone-based team have finally usurped McLaren as the team third in the constructors championship after the events at the Nurburgring. Perez finished fourth while Hulkenberg came home eighth.

The German did a mighty job after replacing Lance Stroll at the last minute before qualifying after Stroll fell ill. A subsequent COVID-19 test on Stroll showed that he did indeed have coronavirus despite testing negative for it throughout the weekend. Stroll has tested negative for COVID and is clear to race this weekend in Portugal.

McLaren will be disappointed to have conceded third to Racing Point on a weekend where there was yet more high-tension drama at the Silverstone outfit. But Lando Norris had problems with his power unit all weekend which ultimately let him down in the race despite the fact that McLaren replaced it before lights out. It is not clear whether the Briton will have a penalty this weekend because of the failure.

But after demonstrating strong pace on all tracks, the Woking-based team are hopeful that they can fight back against Racing Point and retake third this weekend.

Fifth in the constructors is Renault, who are the latest team to have secured a podium finish in 2020. Daniel Ricciardo may not have performed a shoey on the podium, but the honey badger is on fire at the moment and Renault seem to have the third fastest car. If that trend continues in Portugal and beyond, then they will fancy their chances to be third at the end of the year.

Ferrari have had a shocking season and after a mediocre race day at the Nurburgring, things are not looking great for the scarlet cars. Charles Leclerc continues to extract the maximum out of the car in qualifying in particular, but the race pace is not there to fight with the McLarens, Renaults and Racing Point cars. At just 13 points ahead of Alpha Tauri, things could get even worse…

Alpha Tauri are continuing to shock the F1 paddock this season and the plucky Italian squad are going from strength to strength. With a fine sixth place finish from Pierre Gasly, the wildebeest is doing its best to try and slay the lion this year.

Alfa Romeo and Haas both left the Nurburgring with points with Antonio Giovinazzi finishing tenth and Romain Grosjean in ninth for the Frenchman’s first points of the season. The two Ferrari-powered cars still lack the speed and consistency of the rest of the midfield, but they are both taking their opportunities when they emerge.

Off the track, Formula 2 driver Nikita Mazepin looks set to sign for Haas as Kevin Magnussen has suggested that he expects Abu Dhabi to be his last Grand Prix. With Antonio Giovinazzi, Callum Ilott, Mick Schumacher, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez all on the market, both Haas drivers could end their careers at the end of the year.

At Williams, there has been much talk this week of the new owners trying to get Sergio Perez into one of their cars in place of George Russell. The outfit see the Briton as the more expendable asset given the sponsorship that Nicholas Latifi brings to the team. If proven to be true, this would be a huge shame for Russell after proving himself in both qualifying and the race given the machinery he has at his disposal.

Williams will hope to distract the off-track talk with better performance and seek to rekindle some of that Portuguese GP form as the team won the last F1 event in Portugal when Jacques Villeneuve won the race at Estoril in 1996.

As the F1 paddock saddles up for an exciting weekend of action at Portugal, Mercedes are on the verge of F1 history as the most dominant team in Formula 1 thus far as a seventh constructors title looms large. But with driver moves the talk of the paddock, there will be razor-sharp eyes on Alex Albon at Red Bull and at the performance down at Williams as the politics of F1 still prevails despite the fact that it has been an unprecedented season.