PRIXVIEW – Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Round two sees F1 across the Arabian Peninsula and to the Red Sea port city and commercial capital of Jeddah for the fourth Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Built-in 2021 intended as a temporary circuit before moving Qiddiya near the Saudi capital of Riyadh, it looks to be the home of the race until 2027.

The 6.174 km (3.836 mi) Jeddah Corniche Circuit located on the Red Sea coast is the third-longest circuit on the calendar and has Average speeds around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit are around 250kph (155mi), quicker than those at Silverstone, and second on the 2021 calendar only to Monza, ‘The Temple of Speed’. It is, quite simply, the fastest street circuit ever seen.

Jeddah is another night race, like its neighbours in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Sakhir, the last one for the teams until Singapore, this again makes it very important to not overreact if things aren’t going right in the late afternoon session as the sunsets. It gives teams the opportunity in similar conditions to Bahrain to learn and improve in these conditions for Singapore, Lusail, Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi.

Although the time of FP1 & FP3 will also be useful as the time is similar to all other qualifying sessions, its going to be another weekend where the teams don’t need to overreact if they are off the pace in the daytime sessions. So presents an opportunity for teams to put right lessons they may have learned in Bahrain.

The circuit runs past large recreation areas, pavilions, and large-scale civic sculptures as well as King Fahd’s Fountain, the highest fountain in the world. The circuit has twenty-three corners and was designed by Carsten Tilke the son of Hermann, who has designed many of the circuits we have seen in the last two decades.

Additionally, three consecutive sections of the circuit which are DRS Zones adding to the opportunities to overtake. There was a determination by the designer not to create these ‘Mickey Mouse’ street circuits, and in the two races we have seen in Jeddah, there have been accidents, drama and overtaking on track. The regulation changes last season did create more overtaking opportunities on track.

The circuit since joining the calendar in 2021 has provided drama, a fast-flowing circuit with twenty-three corners, a more flowing circuit and should, in theory, favour the top speed advantage enjoyed by the SF-23, a factor that enabled Max Verstappen to win in 2022 when the car characteristics were seemingly reversed.

Additionally, three consecutive sections of the circuit which are DRS Zones adding to the opportunities to overtake. There was a determination by the designer not to create these ‘Mickey Mouse’ street circuits, and in the two races we have seen in Jeddah, there have been accidents, drama and overtaking on track. The regulation changes last season did create more overtaking opportunities on track.

There are of course other controversies around this race, human, woman and LGBT rights, but the Saudi government are trying “to make our society more inclusive and diverse and to promote equality.” Accusations of double standards over the Russian invasion of Ukraine given Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the war in Yemen.

Renewed concerns given the War in Gaza and the conflict with Houthi Rebels in Yemen who have attacked shipping in the Red Sea, and the response by Western Allies, may place more concerns about security this weekend.

The 2022 race saw Sergio Perez take pole position, beating Charles Leclerc by two-hundredths of a second. That meant the Mexican set a new record for most races started without starting from pole position, after piping the Ferrari driver to deny the team a second consecutive front-row lockout.

Leclerc pushed his teammate Carlos Sainz off pole out qualifying the Spaniard by a tenth, but Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen couldn’t improve on his final run. The session had been suspended for almost an hour when Mick Schumacher had a huge crash in the second part of the session.

The Haas driver lost control at turn twelve hitting g the wall on both sides and ripping a tyre off which hit the halo. Haas confirmed the German driver was ok, Verstappen went onto take his first win of the season after lunging past Leclerc on lap forty-six. The two title rivals had battle “to the limit” through out the race before the Red Bull driver found a way past the Ferrari.

Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz couldn’t join the battle at the front as the leaders played chicken in the final ten laps, the Spaniard finishing the race eight seconds behind Verstappen. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez led early on after converting his maiden pole into the lead before losing out with the timing of the safety car.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• Jeddah Street Circuit was the 75th different venue to join the Formula 1 calendar.
• With the previous race marking F1’s first visit to Qatar, the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was the first time that the sport visited two new countries in succession since the inaugural season in 1950.
• Formula 1’s links to Saudi Arabia go all the way back to the 1970s, when the Saudia national airline sponsored the Williams team.
• 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.
• Saudi Arabia has a total land area of 2,150,000 km2, but there are no rivers in the country! It is the largest country in the world without a river.

Event timetable

What happened in 2023?

Sergio Perez beat Charles Leclerc by a tenth to take pole by a tenth of a second, after Max Verstappen was knocked out in Q2 because of a drive shaft issue. The Mexican was comfortably fastest despite him not getting a second run in Q3, while others did close it was clear that no one could fight for pole.  That was despite him making a mistake on his first run.

Leclerc however had a ten-place penalty is the result of two separate failures of his car’s electronics control units in Bahrain two weeks ago. That meant Ferrari needed to fit a new one in Saudi Arabia, and only two were permitted for the entire season.  Fernando Alonso continued to show Aston Martin’s strong pace, the Spaniard going third fastest ahead of George Russell by almost a tenth and a half.

Perez took victory ahead of Verstappen, the Mexican beating his teammate by five seconds despite losing the lead to Alonso at the start, the Aston Martin driver having to recover from two five-second penalties for being out of position on the grid.

The Dutchman’s dominant form was such that he remained second favourite, and only marginally behind Perez, to win Sunday’s race. That clear advantage was taken away from Perez on lap eighteen when Lance Stroll stopped bringing out the safety car. While it was only the Mexican’s fourth win of his career, with Red Bull’s third one-two in a row.

Alonso was third on track finishing twenty-eight seconds off the lead however the way he served that five-second penalty, the stewards ruled that the team touched the car too early and awarded Alonso a ten-second penalty. But he had enough of a gap to maintain third ahead of Russell.

In the closing stages despite closing down Alonso, Russell had ignored instructions just before the halfway stage to let Hamilton pass. Hamilton had switched under the safety car, triggered by Lance Stroll stopping on track, to the faster medium tyre. That should have allowed Hamilton to close down Alonso and pass him.

The seven-time champion opted for the alternate strategy, he started on hards and completed a 32-lap stint on the medium compound. That kept him ahead of Carlos Sainz who had overcut Stroll.

What to watch for?

Red Bull still looks like the team to beat this weekend following Max Verstappen’s dominant and commanding victory in Sakhir last weekend. But Jeddah is a very different circuit a high-speed street circuit while Red Bull and Verstappen are the favourites, they can’t take that for granted given this is a street circuit and there are so many more variables in Jeddah.

Red Bull may be winning, but there continues to be turbulence off track given the fallout from the Christian Horner allegations while the parent company has cleared him, there appears to be more questions than answers from F1, teams and The FIA. I think this isn’t going to go away as they would like it to, a row has emerged between the Verstappen’s, Horner’s and Red Bull, even rumours of Max joining Mercede, if Horner isn’t dismissed… this is going to rumble on.

As we predicted behind Red Bull, it’s very tight between Ferrari and Mercedes for the best of the rest to me they look even, and the likes of McLaren and Aston Martin aren’t much further behind. There was a very tight battle for ‘best of the rest’, but with Jeddah being a high-speed street circuit anything can happen!

The fight will answer who has the advantage on a street circuit, we can see very different performances from cars and drivers. Jeddah’s challenges add to that for the reasons given above. Watch Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez they tend to be very good at single lap pace and the latter in races on street circuits.

Street circuits add another variable for all the teams, throughout the weekend the drivers need to build confidence to find the ultimate lap time. Thus that can lead to accidents, VSCs, safety cars and red flags the teams and drivers need good communication and the ability to react to the unexpected.

Its very competitive behind Red Bull, I think if a few teams were to start beating Red Bull regularly we would have a very competitive season. But the thing is cars are so reliable now it is harder to do that now. Mercedes and Ferrari in my view look to be equal at this stage in the season, and McLaren is looking as if they have the edge over Aston Martin

2022 vs 2023 Race Data

2023 Lap time comparison

Tyres