Aside from the Drivers Championship, another championship outcome will be decided at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix; Williams and Force India’s titanic battle for fourth in the Constructors Championship.

With Force India’s gap to Williams at 27 points, it looks unlikely that the Williams duo of Felipe Massa (contesting his 250th and final Grand Prix) and Valtteri Bottas will usurp what Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg will manage by such a large number. However, nothing is certain until the chequered flag falls on Sunday afternoon.

If Force India pull it off, it’ll be there best finish in Formula One since their debut season in 2008. Fourth place is quite an achievement for a team without manufacturer funding, and a limited budget overall. In fact, Sky Sports F1’s esteemed Martin Brundle went as far to say that “for pounds spent in Formula One, they are the world champions”. They’ve developed quite the reputation for punching above their weight, often finishing races in positions much higher than the pace of their cars should theoretically allow. Other times a simple strategy call has made the difference, for instance at Monaco in wet, changeable conditions. Couple that with Perez’s unique ability to make a set of tyres last for a very long time and the combination is near-faultless.

Whilst Perez lapped up two podium finishes in three races, that maiden rostrum still eludes Nico Hulkenberg, who’ll be entering his seventh Championship campaign when he joins Renault in 2017. He’s always been there, but things just never seem to pan out for him; think back to what could have been at Brazil in 2012, or his stunning debut pole two years earlier in 2010. Fourth in this years Belgian Grand Prix, his best finish since 2013, is testament to his speed and ability, in a race which saw him best of the rest behind the Mercedes duo and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Similarly, in that same race, Perez finished fifth, bagging the team 22 points, leapfrogging them above Williams who scored a measly five.

For Williams, this will hurt for a long time, and in more ways than one. Firstly, the status of being one of the top four teams, and along with that the bragging rights, will become Force India’s. Secondly, the difference in prize money between finishing fourth and fifth is a big thing to a solely independent team like Williams, and could severely affect their development plan for the next generation of hybrid Formula One cars we’re set to see in 2017. Thirdly, team morale might take a hit. For a team that, two years ago, had arguably the second best car on the grid, and frequent podium finishes on their way to third in the Constructors championship, to have fallen two places in two years proves that something’s gone wrong. They’ve stagnated when the teams around them have continued improving and continued climbing up the grid. Dropping to fifth will lower the team’s spirits moving in to the winter break, a team that had been on course to return to winning ways after solid development work at the turn of the hybrid era, yet have lost their way once again. It’ll grate, that’s for sure.

However, I’m beyond excited to see what Force India manage to do with their 2017 challenger, and whether or not they can continue this upward trend in performance that we’ve come to expect from the Silverstone-based squad. The extra cash flow from fourth (providing Williams don’t un-leapfrog themselves this weekend) will certainly aid their development and with talent like Sergio Perez and highly-acclaimed Esteban Ocon at the wheel for 2017, the future looks bright.

Feature image courtesy of Carscoops.com