DOHA: Newly-crowned quadruple world champion Max Verstappen will switch his attention from the drivers' title race to the teams' contest this weekend when he leads Red Bull's unlikely bid to retain their crown at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Just five days after clinching his fourth championship with a measured drive to fifth at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, the 27-year-old Dutchman will return to the track hoping he can repeat his pole-to-flag triumph from last year.
Verstappen holds the lap record at the Lusail International Circuit, set in 2023, and should enjoy driving with freedom and confidence, but will face a robust challenge from all his rivals as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes seek success.
After falling away last weekend, in the drivers' title fight, Lando Norris and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri will aim to add to their position as leaders on 608 points, 24 clear of Ferrari on 584 and Red Bull, on 555, with two Grands Prix, including a sprint in Qatar, remaining.
Verstappen won last year's race ahead of Norris and Piastri, who claimed victory in the sprint, suggesting that given more recent form it will be a weekend that may favour the vastly-improved McLaren team in the third Qatar event.
Mercedes' outgoing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, who leaves the team to join Ferrari after the season finale in Abu Dhabi next week, won the inaugural Qatar race in 2021. There was no race in 2022 when Qatar hosted the soccer World Cup final tournament.
"Winning the title was an incredible moment," said Verstappen ahead of his arrival in Doha. "I am so proud of what we achieved as a team. There were difficult moments, but we stuck together, never gave up and this is what made it so special.
"We are still very focused for the Qatar race and it is going to be a busy weekend. The season is not over yet... We want to keep the momentum going and win as many points as we can for the team – bring it on!"
The champion can expect a strong challenge from all of his rivals led by Mercedes' George Russell, who won in Nevada and declared that he was intent on launching a title bid in 2025, if his oft-capricious car proves as fast and reliable as it was last weekend.
"Nobody is unbeatable," said Russell, amid talk of a Verstappen era of dominance. "You go through phases when teams and drivers are dominating, but you have to have belief in yourself... Personally, I believe that we can fight him in equal machinery."
The switch in focus to the constructors' championship will see prestige and prize money at stake for the teams who, within the sport and its paddock, regard it as the true focus of their attention while acknowledging the popular value of the drivers' title too.
Although the allocation of prize money is not made public, most informed paddock sources believe that the champion team wins an estimated $140-150 million with the runners-up taking $130-135 million.
The third-placed team may receive around 125 million with each of the ten receiving approximately 10 million less than the team finishing a place above them, a situation that will change in 2026 when General Motors' Cadillac brand enters as a new team.
By then, given F1's American-fuelled growth, the revenue streams and prize money are expected to have increased with the momentum generated that, on Wednesday, saw the famous and historic Italian Grand Prix extend its place on the calendar with a six-year deal through to 2031. --AFP