Jeddah Corniche Street Circuit.
Can someone do the sticky thing please.
Yes, we are now moving on from Bahrain and headed to say Howdy Saudi
for the fourth running of the Saudi Arabian GP. Yes it is the 4th, the first at the end of 2021 then 4 months later we had the second go, and then last year the third.I cant believe this is the 4th Abu Dhabi race
I will quickly add here a who done what in terms of winning and pole here
Who would have thought Sergio Perez would have the best qualifying record of all at Saudi.
Saudi Arabian GP pole-sitters
2023 – Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
2022 – Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
2021 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Saudi Arabian GP winners
2023 – Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
2022 – Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2021 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Lets get the Schedule out of the way.....
The 2024 Saudi GP takes place from Thursday 7th to Saturday 9th March at Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Note that quiz people. THURSDAY P1. 16:30 local time 13:30 in the UK.
It’s one of only three races in 2024 to hold the Grand Prix on a Saturday.
Why?? Well we probably all know now, but blame Ramadan. Ramadan starts on Sunday, hence the race on Saturday. Bahrain was Saturday because there cannot be less than 7 days between two GPs, hence Bahrain couldnt be on Sunday. Vegas is of course the other Saturday race, albeit late Saturday night early Sunday morning so it fits in with TV needs in Europe. Anyway thats later in the year.....
The 2024 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix will run the traditional F1 weekend format of 3 free practice sessions, qualifying and then the race.
So whats going to happen this weekend? Bottom line is I just cant see a trouble free reliable run from Max not leaving him on the top step. Maybe by a reduced margin this week though.
Of course aside from the racing will we have the same bullshit asprevious years .. remember the missile strike on the Friday, I think 2022. Just 10 kilometres away.... close enough to see the smoke rising in the background. It was at the North Jeddah Bulk Plant, causing the fire responsible for the smoke. The FIA later confirmed that “Yemeni rebel group Houthi” had “claimed responsibility” for the attack. Oh and the facility bombed belongs to Saudi state-owned oil company Aramco, a major sponsor of Formula 1.
There wont be the Ladies Day at the Go Karts like Seb laid on one year. All banned. And dont try and find an LGBT rainbow.
What did we learn from last weekend in Bahrain?
Well we learnt Max will be WDC. Red Bull are quick. Sergio stormed through from 5th on the grid to make it a Red Bull 1-2. Ferrari seem ok and made their tyres last even at a tyre hungry circuit.
We also learnt Ferrari might have got rid of the wrong driver for 2025. Leclerc moaned about lots of things especially his brakes. He made errors in qualifying and looked average. He was locking up so much in the race he flatspotte the tyres and had to pit early. He sulked and moaned a lot afterwards. Carlos made the race a bit more interesting by not once but twice, showing his skills in passing CLAP with almost disdain. Driver of the day by a margin.
Ferrari we know are bringing an update to Jeddah...... they had already made strategic decisions for the Saudi Arabian circuit, opting for a more streamlined configuration. This includes the introduction of a specific medium-low downforce rear wing, known for its high efficiency in terms of profile. The goal is to emulate Red Bull's performance, especially with the DRS open. Will it work as planned.? Answers on a postcard.
Mercedes were up there and thereabouts and were even quickest and causing tongues to wag at one stage. Come qualy and raceday GR showed Lewis the way..... there was at times some suspicions about their reliability and cooling but they made it through. GR did have to play lift and coast to keep temperarures down. Jeddah was the last track Lewis Hamilton won a race at, dating back to December 2021, and Mercedes reckon they are targeting the podium following a unexpectedly disappointing first race.
McLaren looked quick at times albeit a bit erratic. Actually given they dont normally go well at Sakhir to be able to fight Mercedes were good. Hey they scored double points in the opening race of the year.....they have not scored a single point in the season opener since 2021.
Aston Martin looked ok but could do better. But they were in the mix.
Haas were probably the surprise package with HUlk making Q3 but screwed up his start and got together with a fast starting Stroll. K Mag was almost in the points though, It has to be said they looked like they haad cured their last year's tyre degredation problems. Haas, KMag in particular. have done quite well at Jeddah in previous years.
VCARB showed promise and gave us something interesting at the end of the race with the first drivers to have a spat. Danny Ric was favoured because he had new tyres to be ordered past Yuki and try to pass KMag. He didnt get close. Strange decision to make.... especially as the order to give way to Danny was given when Yuki was nigh on alongside KMag, a lot closer than Danny ever got.
Yuki and Danny were swinging handbags long after the race was over.
Williams showed promise but they suffered reliability issues which limited their practice. Oh and overheating, which meant they had to turn the wicks down on their engines. Both drivers suffered broken Willies in practice.
Down towards the tail, poor Bottas had a pitstop that probably took longer than the rest of the field put together in their first stop, suffering a jammed wheelnut which needed first finding and replacing. Sargeant had a brake issue, stopped on track for a rest before getting going again.....
Bottas and Sargeant's misfortunes delayed their progress so much that it even allowed the absolutely dreadful Alpines to work their way past from their back row lockout. They had both their technical heads resign, so the worst team performance wise, run by the worst team management now have no Technical Director or Head of Aero. So they might not be doing what current chief Bruno Famin is seeking stability and improvement. Its Alpine. They dont even know how to spell the words.
Well I guess the good news in as improvement wont be difficult on the basis of they couldnt get much worse. All they need is to shed about 15 kilos of weight and add about 25 horse power. Not going to happen.
Those who had cooling issues in the race last weekend better have some updates and answere..... it was seasonally well below normal temperatures for the race and some were even wearing sweaters and coats. This weekend wont be cool and the challenges will be greater.
Summary. I expect Max and Red Bull will had to their trophies collection.
One thing I should point out is that the top ten, or 9 were all within 0.6 of a second.
But think on the bright side. This is the first time thi year they have run away from Bahrain. Its a very different track.... super fast. It might bring out some surprises with cars that struggle in Bahrain.
And Red Bull may well explode over the weekend! Jos Verstappen told us so. Actually if they do he might miss it. I read that he wont be their this weekend.
Milestones and F1 Records Which Could Be Broken
Max seeks to take pole at a 20th different circuit, Mercedes hope to equal their longest scoring streak in F1 and Leclerc could reach 100 Q3 appearances.
Pole for Max at the weekend would be his 34th pole, seeing him overtake both Jim Clark and Alain Prost for fifth on the all-time list of most poles in Formula 1
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag ... g&usqp=CAU
The TRACK
The track is a fast street circuit with the walls waiting to punish the drivers for any mistakes, so those who are bravest will stand out.
First up let me say it is a Tilke designed track.But wait, not Hermann.... The circuit was designed by Carsten Tilke, son of Hermann
Formula 1 made its first visit to Saudi Arabia for the penultimate round of the 2021 season. Taking place on the 6.175km Jeddah Corniche Circuit, last year’s race was a highly dramatic affair.
The city track is the fastest street circuit on which F1 has ever raced. Top speeds at Jeddah Street Circuit reach 322km/h. The average speed of the circuit is over 250km/h. Monza is the only faster circuit on the current calendar.
Jeddah Corniche Circuit is also the second-longest circuit on the calendar, behind only Spa-Francorchamps.
The hairpin at Turn 13 of Jeddah Corniche Circuit features twelve degrees of banking. It’s seven degrees less steep than the banking at Zandvoort.
Being a street circuit, the run-off areas are quite limited, and the risk of accidents is relatively high, with a corresponding chance of seeing the safety car on the track or even witnessing an interruption. Overtaking is not particularly straightforward, with the easiest point being the braking zone of turn 1.
As often happens on street circuits, the evolution of the track will be rapid, and in qualifying, it will be crucial to choose the ideal moment to set a quick lap time. Optimal launch lap preparation will also be vital: in previous editions, it has been observed that drivers often completed two launch laps before bringing the Soft tires to the right temperature, potentially leading to traffic-related challenges.
Formula 1’s plans for a race in Saudi Arabia first came to light in 2019. Jeddah Corniche Circuit is located on the banks of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia’s second most populous city. Jeddah is the country’s most popular tourist region. It is considered as the gateway to the religiously important city of Mecca, which is a pilgrimage site for millions of Muslims each year. The addition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to the F1 calendar was formally announced in November 2020.
Though Jeddah Corniche Circuit features no fewer than 27 corners, over three quarters of the lap is spent at full throttle. There were three DRS zones for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The race is held at night, avoiding the high 35oC daytime temperatures in Jeddah.
We also know that the drivers found a few things they didnt like, namely the tightness of some areas and the limited vision ahead.. We know we have had some scary crashes. We know they made several changes to the track for the 2nd race there this time last year, namely improving sightlines and a bit of widening.
Well not enough it seems for more changes have been made for this year.....
Track Changes last year I think they have left alone this year, or at least I havent read of anything.
One of the biggest changes last year was the high-speed left-right sequence at Turns 22 and 23, where efforts were made to reduce speeds by around 50km/h by adjusting the fence placement and adding a bevelled kerb. As a result the outright lap record dates back to 3021.
Changes were also made at Turns 14 and 20, two of the quickest blind corners on the circuit, where the fences have been pushed back to open up the corner more and provide better sightlines to the drivers.
At Turn 14, the wall on the right-hand side of the track has been pushed back by 7.5 metres, while the left-hand wall at Turn 20 has moved back by five metres. The walls have also been pushed back at Turns 8 and 10 in order to improve visibility.
Bevelled kerbs were added at Turns 4, 8, 10, 11, 17 and 23, while new ‘rumble lines’ were placed at Turns 3, 14, 19, 20 and 21 to deter drivers from running wide and slow them down.
What the Saudi Motorsport Company word is.....
“The previous three races here in Jeddah have already confirmed the JCC as the world’s fastest and (they claim) most exciting street circuit and these new developments only added to the spectacle that fans saw
“It is vital for any circuit to listen and learn from those racing on it and use their feedback to grow and improve at all times.
One of the big issues at Saudi is the DRS zones. Not sure if they have sorted them but always good for controversy. The battle between Leclerc and Verstappen last yearwas brilliant to watch, but the 'DRS chicken' game has raised a few questions...
Here is the Official Track Map with the 3 DRS Zones.
First Grand Prix
2021
Number of Laps
50
Circuit Length
6.174km
Race Distance
308.45 km
Lap Record
1:30.734 Lewis Hamilton (2021)
Jeddah
When was the track built?
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is, you won’t be surprised to hear, a temporary street circuit (albeit adorned with some permanent sections), located on the Corniche – a 30km coastal resort area of the ancient Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. Designed by the Tilke company, in conjunction with Formula 1’s own Motorsports team – who used Google Earth for their initial investigations into potential layouts – F1’s Ross Brawn said of the track: “What we want to see is a race circuit. We don’t want Mickey Mouse circuits. We don’t want those old classic street circuits with 90 degree turns. We want fast sweeping circuits, circuits which are going to challenge the drivers – and they are going to love it.”
When was its first Grand Prix?
The inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix took place in 2021, the race joining its Middle Eastern counterparts in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi – while like those races, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix also takes place under floodlights.
What's the circuit like?
Fast. Very fast. Average speeds around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit are around 250km/h – quicker than those at Silverstone, and second on the 2021 calendar only to Monza – aka ‘The Temple of Speed’. It is, quite simply, the fastest street circuit ever seen in Formula 1 – while the track also features the most corners on the calendar with 27, many of them quick, sinuous bends as the drivers wend their way along the Jeddah waterfront.
Its under lights.....
LAST YEAR.
Well Max didnt win. But a Red Bull did.
Sergio Perez converted pole position into victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as team mate Max Verstappen recovered from P15 to make it successive one-two finishes for Red Bull. Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin on the podium again with a fine drive, before being stripped of P3 and then having it reinstated after a stewards’ review. (That is causing controversy now with MBS accused of race tampering.....)
Perez overcame an attack from Alonso at the start, a nervy Safety Car period and Verstappen’s charge from the midfield to make up for the potential win he lost at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit a year ago – kick-starting his 2023 championship hopes in the process.
Verstappen progressed to P2 in rapid time though ultimately had to accept defeat to Perez, with Max managing additional driveshaft concerns late in the race after the same component failed during qualifying.
Alonso impressively took the lead from Perez into Turn 1 but a subsequent time penalty for lining up outside his grid box, coupled with the relentless pace of the Red Bulls, meant he had to settle for third place.
Alonso’s rear jack mechanic was later judged to have touched the car before his penalty had been served, the Spaniard receiving a further 10-second penalty after the race that dropped him to P4. Upon reviewing the decision, however, the stewards ruled that Alonso’s P3 would stand, reversing their call and pushing Mercedes’s George Russell back to P4 – Alonso becoming just the sixth driver to earn 100 F1 podiums.
Alonso took the lead when the lights went out, but Sunday night belonged to Perez. It did not take Perez long to reclaim P1 and settle into his own race
Leclerc and Verstappen made plenty of moves as they recovered from midfield starting positions
2023 Results.
POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 1:21:14.894 25
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 50 +5.355s 19
3 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 50 +20.728s 15
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 50 +25.866s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 50 +31.065s 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 50 +35.876s 8
7 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 50 +43.162s 6
8 31 Esteban Ocon ALPINE RENAULT 50 +52.832s 4
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPINE RENAULT 50 +54.747s 2
10 20 Kevin Magnussen HAAS FERRARI 50 +64.826s 1
11 22 Yuki Tsunoda ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 50 +67.494s 0
12 27 Nico Hulkenberg HAAS FERRARI 50 +70.588s 0
13 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 50 +76.060s 0
14 21 Nyck De Vries ALPHATAURI HONDA RBPT 50 +77.478s 0
15 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 50 +85.021s 0
16 2 Logan Sargeant WILLIAMS MERCEDES 50 +86.293s 0
17 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 50 +86.445s 0
18 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 49 +1 lap 0
NC 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 27 DNF 0
NC 18 Lance Stroll ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 16 DNF 0
Note - Verstappen scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.
2023 Highlights.
Click watch on youtube.
HISTORY.
Well this will be short. No History as such with only three previous races, one already detailed above.. To be fair we had some dramas here and last year it was a good race, especially for the lead.
I did some research on the Motorsport history of Saudi..... Saudi Arabia is a relative newcomer to the motorsport scene.
It first hosted an international motorsport competition in February 2018, when the Race of Champions took place at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. Former F1 driver David Coulthard won the event, while Team Germany – represented by Timo Berhard and Rene Rast – won the Nations Cup.
Formula E first visited Saudi Arabia in December 2018 for the Diriyah E-Prix. The event returned in 2019 and 2021, the latter being the series’ first ever set of night races. The 2022 Diriyah E-Prix will be the first race of the eighth Formula E season.
In 2020 and 2021, the Dakar Rally was held in Saudi Arabia. In 2021, the event started and finished in Jeddah, with the route taking competitors out through the desert and alongside the Red Sea. The 2022 Dakar Rally will also take place in Saudi Arabia, with the route beginning in Ḥaʼil.
Oh there is one other thing..... F1’s links to Saudi Arabia go all the way back to the 1970s, when the Saudia national airline sponsored the Williams team. As did Bin Laden.
The Albilad hotel chain was owned by none other than Mohamed Bin Laden, father of Osama Bin Laden
2021
I guess the most remembered thing was the fact Max crashed in qualifying when cruising to a comfortable pole, so Lewis Hamilton qualified as quickest for the 103rd time in his career and scored pole position for the first ever Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Funnily enough it was also his most recent pole position.
Then in the race we saw the big 'brake-test controversy where neither Max or Lewis wanted to lead with the all important DRS zone round the corner favouring the following car. They ended up running into each other.
Crashes, controversy and serious championship implications – the first ever race to be held at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit had it all. The race itself featured two red flags, two Safety Car call outs and no fewer than six Virtual Safety Car periods.
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton clashed multiple times throughout a bad-tempered encounter at the front of the pack – with Verstappen handed a five and 10-second penalty for two separate incidents on Lap 37, as Hamilton won the race to draw level on points with one round to go. 369.5 points apiece and just that famous final race to go.
But there was plenty of action behind too, as Esteban Ocon came within an ace of scoring Alpine’s second consecutive podium – while two red flags were called for after crashes involving the likes of Nikita Mazepin, Sergio Perez and George Russell.
And Mick Schumacher, who started the race but sadly ended in the barriers to end his race (a feat he managed to repeat in qualifying for the 2022 event which rendered him a non starter.)
Max and Lewis in the post race interviews.....
2022
We only had 19 starters with Mick having bent his car terminally in qualy.
When I saw it looking like this on the Saturday I think we all knew he was a Non Starter. I was just happy all the hurt was with the car and not him. It was one of the crashes that had him not being there in 2023.
Max Verstappen won an epic battle over Charles Leclerc in Saudi Arabia with Carlos Sainz completing the podium behind his Ferrari team mate – as pole-sitter Sergio Perez had to settle for fourth after pitting just before a pivotal Safety Car.
Perez led until Lap 16, when a flash of Ferrari mechanics perhaps triggered Red Bull into an early pit stop. That proved to be unfortunate; Williams' Nicholas Latifi crashed at the final corner on the next lap and triggered a VSC then Safety Car, with Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz capitalising.
Sergio was set to restart third on Lap 21 when the Safety Car retreated but was found to have passed Sainz as the Spaniard exited the pits alongside the Red Bull during the caution period, leaving the pole-sitter fourth.
Another VSC emerged on Lap 38 when McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo crawled to a halt at the pit exit, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso slowing with a problem a lap earlier – and then stopping around the same place as Ricciardo. When the VSC finished on Lap 41, Verstappen was within a second of leader Leclerc – and now came round two of their brilliant 2022 rivalry.
With DRS, the Dutchman took the lead on the back straight on Lap 42, but Leclerc came back with DRS and held onto the lead. Again on Lap 43, Verstappen attempted a move but locked up in unison with the Ferrari into the final corner, the Ferrari keeping P1.
A brief lull followed and at the start of Lap 47, before Verstappen made sure he had DRS and prised the lead off Leclerc, the championship leader unable to close him off this time.
Leclerc put in the fastest lap with a second wind in the closing staged – but Verstappen narrowly kept him at bay, shrugging off the scare of a late Sector 1 yellow flag (for a Lance Stroll-Alex Albon coming-together) to win by just 0.549s.
There have been some memorable moments here though..... here are 5 of the best.
Five Great Battles at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
(click watch on youtube)
So not really a lot of history.... So what of the future.
Anyone remember the name Quiddiya? Supposedly this was originally meant to be the last year at Jeddah..... that has now changed.
When the rumours of F1 racing in Saudi Arabia first came to light, they did so due to a new motorsports complex which is to be constructed near Qiddiya. The project was conceived by Alexander Wurz and was officially confirmed in January 2020,
Designed to FIA Grade 1 standards, making it eligible to host the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Qiddiya track was originally expected to open in 2023. It is located around 50km from Riyadh, in a mountainous area – meaning the track will feature elevation changes. The site is also expected to feature the world’s fastest rollercoaster, which will run adjacent to the track.
In January 2023, Saudi Arabian Grand Prix organisers announced that the event would remain at Jeddah Corniche Circuit until at least 2027 – but confirmed plans for the race to move to Qididiya in 2028 at the earliest.
