Both Racing Point & McLaren realise every moment will be critical in their three-way duel with Renault for third in the Constructors' Championship.

All three teams have held the position at different stages of 2020, but right now it is Renault who is a point clear of their rivals with just four races to go.

“The battle for P3 has been one of the highlights of the season,” Racing Point CEO Otmar Szafnauer said. “Having said that, it’s actually been a close fight throughout the midfield this year.

“We’ve been very closely matched with McLaren and Renault – as the standings show – but some of the other teams have been right in the mix too at certain circuits, which is great for the sport and has certainly made for some unpredictable and exciting races.

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“I fully expect the battle to go right down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, that’s a measure of just how strong the competition is.

“We’re only a point off P3 right now and anything can happen, so we’ll dig deep, give it everything we’ve got, and treat the final stretch as a four-race Championship where we aim to come out on top.”

Racing Point would actually be 14 points clear of Renault if it wasn't for the deduction given earlier in the year for running rear brake ducts which breached the rules on listed parts.

Even so, Szafnauer is calling for one final push in the frantic month that lies ahead.

“We believe the RP20 is well suited to Turkey, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, so we expect to be strong in all four of the remaining races,” he said.

“It’s down to us now to maximise the performance potential of our package and secure solid points in all of the remaining races.

“It’s going to be a busy period with four races in five weeks, and we’ve not had a tripleheader for a while, so it’s about making sure we have one last big push to get us over the line.

“The team have stepped up to the challenge of a very intense racing schedule this year, so we know we have what it takes to maintain a high level of performance throughout.

“This has been a season like no other with the challenging global situation, so we are immensely grateful to everyone back at the factory and trackside for their efforts in not only producing a strong car but extracting the potential from it.”

On McLaren's side, Carlos Sainz notes the key at new circuits, such as this weekend in Turkey, will be optimising the car as much as possible.

"I don’t remember a tighter battle in the midfield in recent years,” he said.

“We can’t afford to lose any opportunity and every session of the weekend is important. Extracting the most from the car starting on Friday and into quali can make a big difference for the race. Every little detail can have an impact and with only four races left we need to keep focused.

“I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted us to race at Istanbul Park at the start of the year but it’s great that we are. Another new track for me and for many others.

“It looks like an interesting old-school circuit that should provide a few opportunities to overtake, and hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans and bring home a good result.”

Team boss Andreas Seidl added a dose of 2020 to the situation though, by noting how Covid-19 may still have a role to play.

“Luck and bad luck with corona[virus] can help decide the three-way battle for third place in the Constructors’ Championship,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“Our people are extremely disciplined and the team does a great job. But of course you also need luck. It’s so easy to get infected and a lot of things in hotels or airports are beyond our control.”

Indeed, Racing Point has already had to draft in Nico Hulkenberg on three occasions due to positive Covid-19 cases, while more broadly F1 has seen an uptick in numbers in recent weeks.