Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Less than four months after its first visit, Formula 1 is back in Saudi Arabia.....
Yep, we move on to Jeddah this weekend at the track that had a few controversies last year, and concerns over the track as well.
We have had some changes to the track this year in light of those concerns, many of which concerned lines of sight at warp speed. I can only imagine that with the taller wheels this year, particularly at the front, this might still be an issue.
It's also the second consecutive night race under lights.
The questions we are no doubt all asking.....
Are going to see a continuation of the Ferrari resurgence?
Are Red Bull going to finish a race?
Are Mercedes going to have found something.... or will their porpoising be even worse here?
Plus of course will the Haas and Alfa form continue.
And at the other end of the scale, McLaren?
Oh and some (@Star)will be wondering if Seb will be fit and back in the car this weekend. There were hints he has yet to return a negative test, but that was yesterday.
Questions questions questions.
I will cover the track changes later in the post, but just to say that there are some that believe the track will be even faster this year than last.....
Anyway first up lets remind ourselves of the track.
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.
What happened last year
I guess the most remembered thing was the fact Max crashed in qualifying when cruising to a comfortable pole, but 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.
Crashes, controversy and serious championship implications – the first ever race to be held at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit had it all.
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.
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.
Video highlights of last years race.....
and qualifying....
Track changes for this year:
As I mentioned, a number of drivers reported issues with the sightlines around the track last year. GPDA chairman and then-Williams driver George Russell said the circuit was "lacking a lot from a safety perspective and a racing perspective".
Ahead of its second grand prix this weekend, Jeddah announced confirmed in January they would be making tweaks to the track in reaction to the drivers' feedback.
The only change in the actual profile of a corner has taken place at Turn 27, which has been widened by 1.5 metres at the exit. It was here where Max Verstappen clipped the wall at the end of Q3, denying him pole after a lap up to that point that won acclaim from other drivers.
A number of the corners have also had steel plates installed to create shoulders that should allow the cars to kiss the barriers more in places without damaging the car.
Martin Whitaker, the CEO of the Saudi Motorsport Company, thought the changes would all add up to make the circuit even faster. Last year's average speed for pole position in qualifying was 157 mph.
This is what he had to say back in January when the changes were confirmed.
Enough about the track already.... What about the black round things"The footprint of the circuit remains the same, apart from Turn 27," Whitaker said. "We've just moved some of the barriers back a little bit in certain areas so it improves the sightline through that corner.
"It could make [the lap] a little bit quicker, one imagines, if it's not fast enough already. Most of the changes have effectively been done this year. I think we've effected between seven and 10 of the changes they were looking for. The rest will take a little bit longer.
"For example, the sightline on the inside of Turn 23/24 is a bigger task, and we just didn't have the time to do that. That's one area where I think the FIA race director can help in terms of telling the driver to be wary when they're going through, or not to slow down there when on a qualifying lap."
Whitaker explained there were "12 or 15 points around the circuit" that the FIA and F1 had asked the promoter to take a look at, chiefly focusing on sightlines, ahead of this year's race.
"The speed of the circuit is such that drivers were arriving very quickly on slower cars," Whitaker said. "I think the main issue there was not so much the race, but more in qualifying, where you've got cars backing off to take advantage of a decent lap.
"The FIA can do things about them obviously, because in the drivers' briefing they can tell people they can't slow down in certain corners or around certain areas.
"But predominantly, it was felt much better for us as the promoter and the organisers of the circuit to look at what we could do."
TYRES
In a nutshell its one notch softer with each the hard medium and soft that last weekend..... C2 as the White / hard, C3 as the Yellow /medium, and C4 as the Red / soft.
It is also the first time we will have seen the C4 compound used with the new tyre size and cars outside testing.
Pirelli explain tyre compound choice for 2022 Saudi Arabian GP
What tyres will the teams and drivers have for the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP
Pirelli wrote:This choice has been made as a result of Jeddah’s circuit characteristics (both in terms of layout and asphalt), the expected temperatures, as well as the data collected from the debut race in 2021. The new surface from last year offers a good level of grip (scoring three out of five in Pirelli’s classification) and reasonably contained levels of asphalt abrasion (scoring two out of five in Pirelli’s classification), which should lead to moderate wear and degradation. The severity of the loads and speeds is average, with overall tyre stress scoring three out of five. Due to the rapidly flowing layout, the track is not particularly demanding in terms of traction and braking (scoring two out of five in Pirelli’s classification). A high degree of track evolution over the weekend is expected, thanks also to the Formula 2 support race programme.
The fastest street circuit on the F1 calendar has changed a bit since making its debut on the calendar last year, as the result of modifications requested by the governing body following a few on-track incidents last time. These largely consist of opening up sight lines through corners by moving barriers further back, while the final turn (Turn 27) has been widened by the removal of a grandstand, which could make the lap slightly faster. Turn 13 (of 27) still features 12 degrees of banking, helping the rapid flow of the circuit that makes it the second-quickest lap of the year overall, after Monza.
The 50-lap Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the second consecutive night race on the calendar, which means that track temperatures can differ between the sessions – as was the case in Bahrain – with FP2 and qualifying more representative of race conditions.
Pirelli Racing Manager Mario Isola explains the tyre selection for the second round of the 2022 Formula One season, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as reported by the Italian company’s official website:
“Jeddah marks a completely different challenge compared to the opening grand prix in Bahrain due to the diverse track characteristics, both in terms of layout and asphalt. Driver will also use a softer range of compounds this weekend to cope with the specific demands of the track, which is nearly as quick as Monza. The teams head into Jeddah with no experience of these tyres and cars on the circuit, and conditions could be somewhat different from last time in Saudi Arabia, with the race now being held at a different time of year and a few track modifications in store. The nominated compounds are the same as 2021, but their make-up has also changed entirely from last year. As a result, the teams will have a lot of work to do to assimilate as much data as possible during free practice, especially in FP2 which will be the only relevant session, being held at the same time as qualifying and the race.” – the Pirelli boss concluded.
What time is it on?
ALL LOCAL (JEDDAH) TIMES
27 MAR
Race
20:00 - 22:00
26 MAR
Qualifying
20:00 - 21:00
26 MAR
Practice 3
17:00 - 18:00
25 MAR
Practice 2
20:00 - 21:00
25 MAR
Practice 1
17:00 - 18:00
Ive highlighted P1 because for those doing the Guess The Pole comp, that is your deadline
You know the drill.... Head to the GTP Saudi thread here:viewtopic.php?f=17&t=17511
Discuss away....
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Morals 
