Our 2022 season continues a week after the Bahrain Grand Prix, this time again we take to the deserts of Saudi Arabia. Within the midst of the city of Jeddah lies the fastest Formula One street track of the season. Under the lights will we see another Max and Charles fight similar to Bahrain? Perhaps Mercedes fancy revenge? Red Bull looked strong, but will their reliability be their downfall? So many possibilities…
The finer details…
As aforementioned, this track raised quite a few eyebrows when it was first released. A huge 27 corners and 6.174km makes it the second longest track behind Spa. It is designed by renowned circuit designer Herman Tilke whose ideas are behind fan favourite tracks like the Red Bull Ring (redesign) and Bahrain.
The Turn 1 and 2 chicane was the place of most action during the dramatic race last year, with Verstappen and Hamilton pulling off overtakes going into this chicane with the aid of DRS. However it was also the source of controversy where Max went onto the runoff area leading to him getting a 5 second time penalty last year.
There is also the Turn 21 and 22 complex where Charles Leclerc crashed in Free Practice and Mick Schumacher crashed in the race- just carrying too much speed into the corner complex and losing the rear.
The name “the fastest street track in the world” certainly has a nice ring to it and Jeddah doesn’t disappoint on this front- Kimi Raikkonen clocked a fastest speed trap time of 202mph last year. It only pales in comparison to Monza for average speed on one lap. The fastest qualifying lap was by Lewis Hamilton for pole position with a 1:27.511.
The drivers really get tested when they drive this track- especially needing the extra neck training. Turn 13 exerts 4.9 G of force on their necks due to its sweeping nature; there is also an incline of 12 degrees, 6 degree shy of Zandvoort. The gruelling speed of the track gives no time for rest for the drivers.
Jeddah Corniche Circuit (Photo from: Formula 1 -https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2021/Saudi_Arabia/Circuit.html
Last time out in Jeddah…
The Jeddah track certainly raised some eyebrows when it was first released to the public- its fast flowing nature highlighted a couple of safety concerns on such a quick but narrow track.
This was further amplified by the numerous incidents in the penultimate Formula 2 round where there was a mix of spins and crashes during the feature and sprint races. A rather scary accident brought out the red flag when Theo Pourchaire stalled on the grid and consequently Enzo Fitipaldi barrelled into the back of his ART GP car at quite a substantial speed. This led to Enzo being rushed to hospital with 2 fractured legs, however to blame this on the track would be an unfair statement but a scary incident nonetheless.
The Grand Prix last year got off to a tentative start, Hamilton and Bottas started on pole and second respectively; Max just behind them- this would turn out to be crucial later on. A clean first corner led to a clean first sector with just a little bit of lockup smoke but no major contact.
Sadly that only lasted 10 laps when we cut to Mick Schumacher wedged into the wall in the “infamous”, as Crofty likes to call it, Turn 21 and 22 complex. This brought out the safety car as his car was taken off the track; luckily, he was able to walk out of the car unscathed.
During this safety car period there was a bit of controversy about Valtteri Bottas driving far too slowly behind the safety car to ensure Mercedes could make the double stack happen, which Max’s race engineer had very strong words about. Fortunes changed for Max when the race directors decided to red flag the race allowing Max Verstappen to change his tyres without the penalty of having to pit
At the standing restart Verstappen and Hamilton made contact going into Turn 2 which gave Verstappen P1. Ocon took an opportunity to take second from Hamilton and ended up in second place. Unfortunately, this race start cost Mazepin and George Russell who crashed at the back of the grid- Mazepin ending up in the barriers and George just ahead of him, causing another red flag. Negotiations happened between Red Bull and the FIA, specifically Michael Masi, when Red Bull were told to give Hamilton the place back due to track limits. Eventually an agreement was reached for Max to start 3rd with Lewis first, and Esteban sandwiched between the championship rivals.
Lap 17 and a safety car restart (again), where this time Ocon and Hamilton touched, giving Max the opportunity to go for P1 with Ocon separating them in 2nd. However a lap later Ocon conceded second place to the 7x time world champion- this was not his fight and he knew it.
The race settled into a regular rhythm with Max and Lewis edging closer and closer to each other. However on Lap 37 Lewis finally made his move for P1 into Turn 1 where Verstappen had to take to the escape road to stay ahead. Max’s engineer told Max to give the position back just while Mercedes were getting the same information. This timing led to Max moving out of the way at the wrong time, clipping Lewis’ front wing in the process.
The commentators summed it up justly: “what is going on in Jeddah tonight?”
We were not done yet! After giving the position back on the long straight, Max Verstappen cheekily sent one down the inside in Turn 1 to quickly gain the position back. His joy was short-lived though as he was reprimanded with a 5 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Finally Hamilton was able to make the move stick and gain the lead on Lap 47 leading the rest of the race.
This doesn’t even include members of the rest of the grid, Ocon looked like he was cruising to a podium. However Bottas had been creeping up on him during the drama of the battle for P1; on the last lap, on the last straight Ocon was overtaken, just losing out on the champagne. Guenther Steiner had an awful day at the office as both of his cars were retired within 1 lap of each other.
So overall an exciting race, this was the penultimate race of the F1 season in 2021 whereas this year Saudi Arabia will be the 2nd race of the season. Hopefully it will provide as much action it did last year!
So, with all this in mind let's look to the weekend. We’re hoping for a safe weekend for everyone involved and hopefully some great action with these new cars!
When to watch…
Formula 1:
(FRIDAY) Formula 1 will return properly with an hour of FP1, 17:00 – 18:00 local time.
(FRIDAY) FP2 will follow a little later at 20:00 – 21:00 local time.
(SATURDAY) FP3 could provide more answers concerning the grid order and will take place after a Formula 3 race at 17:00- 18:00 local time.
(SATURDAY) Qualifying will set the grid for Sunday and give us a true taste of what to expect in the upcoming season at 20:00 – 21:00 local time.
(SUNDAY) Lights out for the second race of the season is at 20:00 local time.
Formula 2:
(FRIDAY) F2 starts free practice at 14:25 – 15:10 local time.
(FRIDAY) Qualifying is then at 18:30 – 19:00 local time.
(SATURDAY) The F2 sprint race starts at 15:30 – 16:15 local time.
(SUNDAY) F2 ends the weekend with the feature race at 16:35 - 17:35 local time.
Formula 3 will return at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend 22th – 24th April.
W Series will kick off during the first ever Miami Grand Prix weekend on the 6th – 8th May.
(All times collected and calculated from the official Formula 1 website)
(Information for this post uses previous race data collected from the internet and official sources. No copyright intended)
Komentarze