Double points could affect more than the F1 title race - MotorSportsTalk

While double points potentially affecting the Formula One driver’s championship will be the big talking point heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there’s still plenty more the double points could also affect.

Here are some of the other driver standings storylines on the back burner, but still to note heading into Abu Dhabi:

BATTLE FOR FOURTH

Just three points separate Sebastian Vettel (159), Fernando Alonso (157) and Valtteri Bottas (156) in a three-way fight for fourth place in the driver’s title. Bottas lost the spot at Brazil this weekend following his belts issue with a 10th-place finish, while Vettel and Alonso seized their chances in fifth and sixth. It should be fairly straightforward that however the order these three finish in at Abu Dhabi will determine the finishing order.

SEVENTH UP FOR GRABS

Jenson Button (106), Felipe Massa (98) and Nico Hulkenberg (80), could all end seventh in points. Hulkenberg has a shot at that given double points; otherwise he wouldn’t. Remote as the shot is, Hulkenberg could get as high as seventh in the points with his first career podium and Massa ending ninth or worse, and Button 10th or worse.

FINAL TOP-10 SPOT

Kevin Magnussen (55), Kimi Raikkonen (53) and Sergio Perez (47) are jockeying for the final top-10 spot in the standings. Like the fourth-place battle, should be fairly self-explanatory in terms of finishing order determining the standings, unless a big double-points result (say a seventh place, and 12 points) pushes Perez past the two in front of him.

CONSTRUCTOR’S JUMBLE? UNLIKELY, BUT POSSIBLE

More crucial to note are the Constructor’s Championship scenarios, and the respective pots of money that go with each position.

Mercedes and Red Bull are locked into first and second, but there are other situations where third on back could change.

Such situations remain unlikely, but they are mathematically possible by way of double points.

Williams holds a 44-point edge on Ferrari for third place (254-210). Under standard points, third would be guaranteed, as the maximum 43 (25 for first, 18 for second) is possible. With double points, that number jumps to 86.

Ferrari won’t be getting 86; that much you can pretty much guarantee. But with a fourth and fifth, that’s 44 points there (24 and 20), and Williams failing to score, a tie would occur. Third and fifth, to net 50, with Williams failing to score, would put Ferrari ahead. Again, it’s highly unlikely to happen, but the specter is possible because of double points.

Ferrari is in a similar defense situation when it comes to holding onto fourth, versus McLaren. Up 49 (210-161), it would take that similar 50-point-plus scenario for McLaren to overtake Ferrari, if then Ferrari failed to score. Given the two teams’ respective forms in Brazil, it’s at least plausible where McLaren could overtake if they have a dynamic finale and Ferrari has a shocker.

Force India, down 34 to McLaren, is in an even better position to overtake McLaren for fifth. A combo fifth/sixth or better for the Nico Hulkenberg/Sergio Perez pair, with McLaren failing to score, could see Vijay Mallya’s team crack the top five.

Toro Rosso on 30 points and Lotus on 10 are likely to end in seventh and eighth, but in a freak situation where a Lotus came fifth and Toro Rosso failed to score, that would produce a tie where Lotus would jump ahead on the fifth to Toro Rosso’s best result of sixth, achieved by Jean-Eric Vergne in Singapore.

Considering how much of a talking point the distribution of finances is to the teams, it’s probably a relief for F1 given the double points implementation that is still highly unlikely to affect the Constructor’s Championship order from Brazil to Abu Dhabi. But the can of worms is opened with the high points potential.

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INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou had not turned a wheel wrong the entire Month of May at the Indy 500 until Rinus VeeKay turned a wheel into the Chip Ganassi Racing pole-sitter leaving pit road on Lap 94.

“There is nothing I could have done there,” Palou told NBC Sports. “It’s OK, when it is my fault or the team’s fault because everybody makes mistakes. But when there is nothing, you could have done differently there, it feels bad and feels bad for the team.”

Marcus Ericsson was a master at utilizing the “Tail of the Dragon” move that breaks the draft of the car behind him in the closing laps to win last year’s Indianapolis 500. On Sunday, however, the last of three red flags in the final 16 laps of the race had the popular driver from Sweden breathing fire after Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden beat him at his own game on the final lap to win the Indianapolis 500.

Despite the two disappointments, team owner Chip Ganassi was seen on pit road fist-bumping a member on his four-car team in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after his drivers finished second, fourth, sixth and seventh in the tightly contested race.

Those are pretty good results, but at the Indianapolis 500, there is just one winner and 32 losers.

“There is only one winner, but it was a hell of a show,” three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Chip Ganassi Racing consultant Dario Franchitti told NBC Sports. “Alex was very fast, and he got absolutely caught out in somebody else’s wreck. There was nothing he could have done, but he and the 10 car, great recovery.

“Great recovery by all four cars because at half distance, we were not looking very good.”

After 92 laps, the first caution flew for Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing hitting the Turn 1 wall.

During pit stops on Lap 94, Palou had left his stall when the second-place car driven by VeeKay ran into him, putting Palou’s Honda into the wall. The car sustained a damaged front wing, but the Chip Ganassi crew was able to get him back in the race on the lead lap but in 28^th position.

Palou ultimately would fight his way to a fourth-place finish in a race the popular Spaniard could have won. His displeasure with VeeKay, whom he sarcastically called “a legend” on his team radio after the incident, was evident.

“The benefit of being on pole is you can drive straight and avoid crashes, and he was able to crash us on the side on pit lane, which is pretty tough to do, but he managed it,” Palou told NBC Sports. “Hopefully next year we are not beside him. Hopefully, next year we have a little better luck.”

Palou started on the pole and led 36 laps, just three fewer than race leader Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing.

“We started really well, was managing the fuel as we wanted, our car was pretty good,” Palou said. “Our car wasn’t great, we dropped to P4 or P5, but we still had some good stuff.

“On the pit stop, the 21 (VeeKay) managed to clip us. Nothing we could have done there. It was not my team’s fault or my fault.

“We had to drop to the end. I’m happy we made it back to P4. We needed 50 more laps to make it happen, but it could have been a lot worse after that contact.

“I learned a lot, running up front at the beginning and in mid-pack and then the back. I learned a lot.

“It feels amazing when you win it and not so good when things go wrong. We were a bit lucky with so many restarts at the end to make it back to P4 so I’m happy with that.”

Palou said the front wing had to be changed and the toe-in was a bit off, but he still had a fast car.

In fact, his Honda was the best car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all month. His pole-winning four lap average speed of 234.217 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a record for this fabled race.

Palou looked good throughout the race, before he had to scratch and claw and race his way back to the top-five after he restarted 28^th.

In the Indianapolis 500, however, the best car doesn’t always win.

“It’s two years in a row that we were leading the race at the beginning and had to drop to last,” Palou said. “Maybe next year, we will start in the middle of the field and go on to win the race.

“I know he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s better to let that pass someday.”

Palou said the wild racing at the end was because the downforce package used in Sunday’s race means the drivers have to be aggressive. The front two cars can battle for the victory, but cars back in fourth or fifth place can’t help determine the outcome of the race.

That is when the “Tail of the Dragon” comes into the play.

Franchitti helped celebrate Ericsson’s win in 2022 with his “Tail of the Dragon” zigzag move – something he never had to do in any of his three Indianapolis 500 victories because they all finished under caution.

In 2023, however, IndyCar Race Control wants to make every attempt to finish the race under green, without going past the scheduled distance like NASCAR’s overtime rule.

Instead of extra laps, they stop the race with a red flag, to create a potential green-flag finish condition.

“You do what you have to do to win within the rules, and it’s within the rules, so you do it,” Franchitti said. “The race is 200 laps and there is a balance.

“Marcus did a great job on that restart and so did Josef. It was just the timing of who was where and that was it.

“If you knew it was going to go red, you would have hung back on the lap before.

“Brilliant job by the whole Ganassi organization because it wasn’t looking very good at half-distance.

“Full marks to Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.”

Franchitti is highly impressed by how well Ericsson works with CGR engineer Brad Goldberg and how close this combination came to winning the Indianapolis 500 two-years-in-a-row.

It would have been the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.

“Oh, he’s a badass,” Franchitti said Ericsson. “He proved it last year. He is so calm all day. What more do you need? As a driver, he’s fast and so calm.”

Ericsson is typically in good spirits and jovial.

He was stern and direct on pit road after the race.

“I did everything right, I did an awesome restart, caught Josef off-guard and pulled away,” Ericsson said on pit lane. “It’s hard to pull away a full lap and he got me back.

“I’m mostly disappointed with the way he ended. I don’t think it was fair and safe to do that restart straight out of the pits on cold tires for everyone.

“To me, it was not a good way to end that race.

“Congrats to Josef. He didn’t do anything wrong. He is a worthy champion, but it shouldn’t have ended like that.”

Palou also didn’t understand the last restart, which was a one-start showdown.

“I know that we want to finish under green,” Palou said. “Maybe the last restart I did, I didn’t understand. It didn’t benefit the CGR team.

“I’m not very supportive of the last one, but anyway.”

Dixon called the red flags “a bit sketchy.”

“The Red Flags have become a theme to the end of the race, but sometimes they can catch you out,” Dixon said. “I know Marcus is frustrated with it.

“All we ask for is consistency. I think they will do better next time.

“It’s a tough race. People will do anything they can to win it and with how these reds fall, you have to be in the right place at the right time. The problem is when they throw a Red or don’t throw a Red dictates how the race will end.

“It’s a bloody hard race to win. Congrats to Josef Newgarden and to Team Penske.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500