Formula 1: The under-the-radar battle that could come down to the wire

The Formula 1 world championships battles aren’t the only battles worth watching over the course of the 2021 season’s final two races.

Following last weekend, there are officially no more off weekends until the 2021 Formula 1 world championship battle is in the books.

This Sunday, December 5, Jeddah Corniche Circuit is scheduled to host the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and the following Sunday, December 12, Yas Marina Circuit is scheduled to end the season with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for the eighth consecutive year.

Of course, the focus is on the two world championship battles: the one between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for the driver title, and the one between Red Bull and Mercedes for the constructor title.

Verstappen holds an eight-point lead over Hamilton (351.5 to 343.5), while Mercedes hold a five-point lead over Red Bull (546.5 to 541.5).

WynnBET lists Hamilton (-165) as the favorite to beat Verstappen (+120), despite his current deficit, and Mercedes (-300) as the favorite to beat Red Bull (+210).

But let’s not ignore another key battle that is poised to go down to the wire: the battle among the Ferrari drivers.

This teammate battle between Charles Leclerc, the only non-rookie driver to enter the 2021 season with an undefeated record against his past teammates, and Carlos Sainz Jr. has been tight all year long.

With two races remaining, Leclerc leads Sainz by only 6.5 points (152 to 145.5). He has scored 51.09% of Ferrari’s points, several percentage points lower than the next lowest among all drivers currently ahead in their teammate battles.

Naturally, Sainz’s mark of 48.91% is several percentage points higher than the next highest among all drivers trailing in those battles.

WynnBET lists Leclerc (-200) as the favorite to win this battle ahead of Sainz (+140).

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While Ferrari have a pretty solid grip on third place out of 10 in the constructor standings behind the two title contenders, this 6.5-point gap is still the smallest between two teammates — even among some of the lesser teams where both drivers have scored far fewer points.

For example, Kimi Raikkonen leads Antonio Giovinazzi by nine points (10 to 1) at Alfa Romeo, George Russell leads Nicholas Latifi by nine points (16 to 7) at Williams, Sebastian Vettel leads Lance Stroll by nine points (43 to 34) at Aston Martin, and Fernando Alonso leads Esteban Ocon by 17 points (77 to 60) at Alpine.

We did take the liberty of excluding Haas from this count simply because neither Mick Schumacher nor Nikita Mazepin have scored a single point in 2021.

Who will prevail in the battle for Ferrari supremacy heading into the offseason? Will Leclerc move to 4-0 all-time against his teammates, or will Sainz ensure that no non-rookie enters the 2022 Formula 1 season unbeaten against his teammate?

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