Wolff: It will be a close fight [for first of the F1 losers]

"Harsh" one might say... Perhaps if they had given Red Bull a decent fight, had the F1 titles not been decided months ago because Mercedes and the rest have simply messed up time and time again over the past two years since the new aero regulations were triggered.

The stats are even harsher. Red Bull on 822 points after 21 Rounds, have 546 points on the board which is well over double double what Mercedes have with their 392 points. Adding insult to injury, RBR's triple F1 World Champion Max Verstappen (549 points) outscored them.

The gap in performance between Red Bull, their ace driver and the rest simply magnified what a bad job their rivals have been doing from the outset of 2022 and ever since. The gap in performance has been pretty much the same since the start of Verstappen's incredible streak.

Nevertheless, the German team are second in the 2023 F1 WCC points standings, four clear of Ferrari on 388 points with the Abu Dhabi season finale still to go. In Las Vegas, last weekend, the Reds outscored Mercedes 26-10.

In his team's preview of Round 22, at Yas Marina, Wolff first reflected on the weekend past: "Las Vegas was an extraordinary event. We saw a fantastic race, it was visually spectacular, and overall, a great Grand Prix that I am sure has helped increase the visibility of the sport in the United States. Everyone worked very hard to make it such a success and credit must go to all those involved."

The Mercedes team boss continued: "On track for us, it was a case of 'what could have been'. The pace of the car was strong. Without the numerous incidents of contact, both Lewis and George would have been challenging for the podium. But that's a case of could have, would have, should have."

As for Abu Dhabi, Wolff added: "Ferrari have closed the gap in the Constructors' to just four points and we're ready to give it our all in Abu Dhabi to come out on top. They have shown good form recently, but we know we haven't maximised our performance in the past few races.

"It will be a close fight and hopefully, we can finish the season with a strong performance and on the front foot," concluded Wolff whose team have won the Abu Dhabi Grand Pix six times, five times with Lewis Hamilton.

But the Silver Arrows and occasional Black Arrows (or is it the other way around?) have not won a Grand Prix this year and, if they do not do so in Abua Dhabi on Sunday, it will be the first time they have not collected a P1 GP trophy since 2012.

Ahead of the 14th Grand Prix - 12th F1 season finale in the UAE capital - Mercedes added in their Abu Dhabi preview that several modifications were made to the Yas Marina Circuit layout ahead of the 2021 race, changing the lap length from 5.554 km to 5.281 km.

This includes the removal of the chicane at the start of the second sector and the widening of the hairpin that follows. The twisty chicanes at the start of the final sector were also replaced by one long, banked corner.