Race weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
It's Race Weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia!
Saudi Arabian GP History
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix officially became part of the Formula One World Championship in 2021—it is the third newest race on the calendar behind Vegas and Miami. Red Bull holds the record for the most wins in Jeddah, with three victories, while Max Verstappen has two of the three GP wins and Sergio Perez has one.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has signed a deal to remain on the F1 calendar until 2027.
About the Track: The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is a street circuit designed by Carsten Tilke, son of the famous Hermann Tilke. Jeddah is known as the fastest street circuit in F1 and is also the third longest circuit behind Spa and Vegas. The Formula 1 circuit features 27 turns and spans 6.174 km (3.836 miles). The race is 50 laps.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
MCLAREN: We have a full-on teammate battle for the driver's title. Max is hanging around, but the real battle is Oscar vs.Lando. What has been leaning in Lando's favor feels recently that the favor is leaning towards Oscar. Oscar has put together more overall complete weekends, and if Lando doesn't tighten up, we could see Oscar open that margin a bit. It's all on Lando at the moment unless Oscar just takes it. either way, it will be entertaining at McLaren.
Mercedes: George is in exceptional form this season, with three podiums in four races. George finds himself in fourth place in the driver's title, just six points behind Verstappen. George will get a win at some point this season, and if it's sooner than later, it could slingshot into third place in drivers. Kimi's points streak ended in Bahrain with an eleventh-place finish. After a bit of uncertainty about how rookie Kimi would handle the f1, he is adapting well, finding himself just in the shadow of George, who is having the best season of his life; this is a good place for Kimi to be.
Red Bull: Bahrain showed that Red Bull is a little further behind than it seems. Both drivers struggled with car performance far more than we have seen in past seasons. Depending on the weekend, the RB can be a front-runner one weekend and then slightly better than mid-pack a week later. Red Bull has some things to figure out, and they need to do so quickly because no team can cause a media frenzy like a struggling Red Bull team.
Ferrari: Bahrain was a big step in the right direction for Ferrari, with a fourth and fifth-place finish. While it isn't a podium in a race yet, not counting Lewis's sprint win, Ferrari appears to be finding its pace a little more. The strategies and pit stops were good in Bahrain, which helped boost the team morale a bit. I think we see a Ferrari podium very soon.
Haas: Bearman three points finishes in a row, Ocon a top 5, and points in two of the last three. Haas has a very strong start. While Ferrari is stretching a good lead in fourth place among the constructors, the real battle is with Williams in fifth and sixth place. few more Haas strong weekends and Haas could take a clear fifth place in the constructors, which is the strongest start to a season Haas has ever had, maybe close to the first four races of the 2016 season, with Grosjean having a fifth, sixth, and eighth place finish in the first four races.
Williams: Williams is having a great start to the season, and they even have a lot of room to improve. Albon has gotten off to a hot start with three points-finishes in the first four races, having a fifth-place finish, a career-best since the 2020 season. When I say room to improve, it is because even with the good start, it's primarily coming from one car, with Carlos Sainz only having a point finish for the start of the season. I'm not too concerned yet with the slightly slower start for Sainz, but a good, consistent run for Carlos right now could change the whole trajectory of the season for him and Williams. The battle is with Haas for fifth place in the constructors, and both cars will need to fight in that battle.
Aston Martin is one of the more confusing teams on the grid. I don't know what to expect; it's ironic. In the past few seasons, Alonso really held down the consistency and put Aston Martin into countless scenarios to be successful. While this season has been Lance Stroll finding ways to deliver all of the team's points so far, I don't know what needs to fall in place for Aston Martin to kick it into another gear. There is definite room for improvement and consistency.
VCARB: VCARB needs to refocus. With all the Yuki/liam drama early on, the team has not capitalized near what it has shown for potential. The VCARB looks fast, and even the debate about the two-car balance of the carb two-carr than the two better red button-car. Perhaps it's the Red Bull distraction, but the team has not been able to grab the points when they are more than capable of running toward the front. Ending the triple header on a good note would be a nice way for the team to reshuffle the deck and get back on the right track.
Alpine: Alpine took a huge step forward in Bahrain. Pierre had an exceptional weekend, qualifying in the top 5, and Jack Doohan missed out on Q3. e saw speed out of the alpine after a worrisome start to the season. Gasly's seventh (nearly sixth) place finish gave the team a much-needed boost in points, elevating them to ninth in the constructors. Bahrain much-needed race for Doohan after the rumors have been swirling. Another strong weekend for the team in Jeddah would be exactly what they need to end the first triple-header.
Kick-Sauber: a bit of an up-and-down season so far. Hulkenberg came out of the gate swinging, landing the best season finish for the team, but it has struggled to find consistency and pace in the other races. The team took a DNF after Nico's car was DQ'd for skid plate wear in Bahrain. There is still some unknown about kick sauber, and whether or not we should have high hopes for the season.
