March 16, 2023
It is time for the first street race of the year, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix! In the two years it has been run, this race has become known for its action packed, accident prone nature. When you take a street track with cement walls and you pair it with some of the fastest speeds of the year, cars are bound to crash. Here is everything you need to know for the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix:
Weekend Schedule (in EST):
Practice 1: Friday 03/17, 9:30-10:30 AM
Practice 2: Friday 03/17, 1:00-2:00 PM
Practice 3: Saturday 03/18, 9:30-10:30 AM
Qualifying: Saturday 03/18, 1:00-2:00 PM
Race: Sunday 03/19, 1:00 PM
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is relatively new to F1, only hosting its first Grand Prix in 2021. The 50 lap race will be one of the fastest of the season, with an average speed of 250km/h and 79% of the lap at full throttle. The three DRS zones and twenty-seven corners provide areas for overtaking, but since the track is a street circuit so wheel-to-wheel might be limited. In response to concerns raised by teams and drivers, the track has had some changes made to it before this year’s race. A main issue was that the cement barriers obscured the drivers’ ability to see the exit of a corner while they were in it. This was the leading cause for crashes like Mick Schumacher’s in qualifying last year. Turns 8, 10, 14, and 20 have had their walls moved to improve visibility, and rumble lines were added to Turns 14 and 20 to ensure drivers stay within track limits. This weekend will show us if these changes are effective in making the race safer.
The wreckage of Mick Schumacher's car after his crash during qualifying in Jeddah last year
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen missed Thursday’s media duties because of the stomach bug. The Red Bull driver is recovering after a week of sickness, and opted to fly to Jeddah for Friday’s practice sessions instead of arriving for Thursday with the rest of the grid. I don’t see his recent illness making a huge impact on his performance this weekend, but it is definitely something to think about.
After their shock podium in Bahrain, all eyes will be on Aston Martin. At the moment it looks like the Aston might be the closest in performance to Red Bull, but anything is possible this early in the season. It will be interesting to see how the car performs in the conditions of a street track like Jeddah. Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll will continue recovering from his wrist and foot injuries after a pre-season biking accident, but he will need to be careful this weekend. Jeddah is a very unforgiving track and one minor error can put you in the wall (as Mick Schumacher learned last year), so Stroll needs to make sure he has full control of his car.
Ferrari is already a disappointment and the race weekend has not even begun. Just before the race in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc took new energy store and control electronics parts only to retire from the race when these parts failed. Leclerc is now set to take on his THIRD energy store and control electronics of the season, and we are only on our SECOND race. F1 rules only allow for two of each of these parts per driver so Leclerc will face a 10-place grid penalty for the start of Sunday’s race. I have a feeling Ferrari will just make Leclerc sit out of Qualifying to preserve the car and start the race from the back of the grid. Ferrari really needs to get a grip on whatever issues they are having, because this is not what they need if they want to be competing with Red Bull.
Like Ferrari, McLaren had a less than spectacular (actually horrible) weekend in Bahrain. Oscar Piastri’s F1 debut came to a very quick end when electrical issues forced him to retire from the race. After losing one car, they barely managed to keep Lando Norris’ car alive after it suffered a pneumatic pressure leak. What was supposed to be a race where McLaren showed off their great pace and tire management ended with only one car limping to the finish line. In the two weeks since Bahrain, the team has been working hard to find solutions. Both drivers are fairly confident in their car’s pace and hope for a better weekend in Jeddah.
It doesn’t seem like there will be a distinct group of back-running teams anymore. Red Bull is in a league of its own and Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Mercedes are the only teams who could possibly threaten them. The rest of the teams are so close in performance that anything could happen. In Bahrain, it looked like Alfa Romeo and Alpine were “best of the rest” while AlphaTauri and Haas were at the back. However these "back-markers" have both reflected and recognized that they made the wrong strategy calls in Bahrain, so we don’t even have a full understanding of how good their cars are. It is all to play for in the midfield, and I honestly do not know which team will be deemed “best of the rest” after Jeddah. We will have to wait and see.
As I said before, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is tricky. The high-speed, narrow track can be daunting for any F1 driver, especially rookies. Our 2023 rookies will have to face a learning curve in their first practice sessions on track. Luckily, Williams’ Logan Sargeant and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri have both driven in Jeddah during their F2 days so they have a little bit of experience. AlphaTauri rookie Nyck de Vries, on the other hand, has never driven this track and will be learning on the go. Good luck to him!
That’s all for right now. If the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix follows its previous trends, we should have at least a few red flags and safety cars to shake things up throughout the weekend. I will be patiently waiting for McLaren and Ferrari to figure out what is wrong with their cars and until then, I will be finding small glimpses of joy in Fernando Alonso’s beautiful racecraft.
Happy Race Weekend!
- Divya
Where I got these
from:
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/35864896/ferrari-leclerc-set-10-place-grid-penalty-saudi-gp
https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2023/Saudi_Arabia/Circuit.html
https://www.mclaren.com/racing/2023/saudi-arabian-grand-prix/guide-to-saudi-arabian-gp/
https://www.ferrari.com/en-US/formula1/articles/saudi-arabian-grand-prix-2023-preview
https://www.haasf1team.com/news/saudi-arabian-grand-prix-preview-1
https://scuderia.alphatauri.com/en/2023-saudi-arabian-grand-prixview/
https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/races/2023-saudi-arabian-gp