F1 | Racing Point, McLaren, Renault and Ferrari: it's a battle for the podium in the Constructors' Championship

Question of pride, coat of arms, image. Of course also in terms of money, but none of the teams fighting for the lowest step of the podium in the Constructors' standings are doing badly financially. From the point of view of the sporting result, however, finishing third in the ranking, behind the unattainable Mercedes and the usual excellent Red Bull, would take on an important meaning for each of the contenders.

Racing Point, a carbon copy of the Mercedes W10 and under the spotlight for months, would put its entry into the ranks of the top teams in black and white, immediately before becoming Aston Martin. McLaren, for its part, would in some ways complete a rebirth journey undertaken two years ago.

For Renault it would be an almost surprising, unexpected result and would be a driving force for a team that has the ambition of growing, and it is no coincidence that it has signed Fernando Alonso. Instead, for Ferrari, what should have been the minimum objective would be a small redemption, a reward for tenacity after literally hitting rock bottom.

The four teams also have the noble task of reviving the otherwise useless three GPs of the season, giving meaning and meaning to a season that was a mere (but deserved) runway for Lewis Hamilton. The level of the aforementioned teams is more or less the same, with values ​​that mix between qualifying and race to create an amalgam of colors which is nothing other than a festival of overtaking, positions played on the razor's edge, joys and disappointments.

Racing Point (154 points) is the favorite to take home the world championship podium. The single-seater has an engine that pushes very hard, it is delicate on the tires and the next three GPs seem to fit perfectly with the characteristics of the single-seater. Let's also consider that Lance Stroll has risen again in Turkey after a truly "no" period, while Checo Perez has a monstrous driving performance.

The pink Mercedes' first pursuer in the standings is McLaren (149 points). Carlos Sainz has found great consistency after the empty passes at Mugello and Sochi, Lando Norris is a loose cannon who however scores the points. The car doesn't shine like it did at the beginning of the season but it is a regular presence in the top ten in qualifying and often demonstrates its ability to improve significantly in race pace. It is not far-fetched to imagine Woking concentrated on a result that after dark years would have a particular flavour.

Renault (136 points) is the surprise of the year, as demonstrated by Ricciardo's two podiums ('Ring and Imola) and the continuity of both drivers in fighting for the points zone. Daniel Ricciardo has collected eight consecutive useful results, Esteban Ocon has been more inconsistent, but he has shown that he is in form in Turkey. Renault is a very competitive car on low-medium load circuits, and Bahrain in both configurations could prove to be a friendly circuit.

Closing the quartet of contenders for the Constructors' podium is the revived Ferrari (130 points), a team that after the defeats at Spa, Monza and Mugello, managed to straighten out the situation, improve the terrible SF1000 and forcefully re-establish itself in the small group fighting close to the top positions. For the Red team, third place in the world championship is an objective bordering on the prohibitive, but in the team there is cautious optimism and the almost belief that the positive performances of the last few races can be followed up, thanks to a single-seater that has found aerodynamic load and stability .

The only unknown is the usual cavalry gap towards the other teams, which could have a significant impact especially in the second race in Bahrain, on a track that promises to be very fast. Binotto – who will continue to work for Maranello also for the Bahrain GP – reiterated that sixth place in the Constructors' Championship is not acceptable for Maranello. The desire to move up is there, all that remains is to hope to get the Ferrari admired in Turkey back.

Antonino Rendina

Follow @antorendina