Scuderia Ferrari go into this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the back of not only winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, but having claimed their first one-two since 2019. Can they do it again this weekend at the incredibly fast and unforgiving Jeddah Corniche Circuit?
The season opener last weekend couldn’t have gone any better for Charles Leclerc, after winning the race, claiming pole position and the race’s fastest lap. Carlos Sainz Jr despite coming second didn’t feel as comfortable in the car compared to his Monegasque team-mate, the Spaniard will be hoping to push his team-mate all the way this weekend.
A Leclerc victory this weekend really would cement his place as one of the favourites for the Drivers’ Championship this season, in the new era of Formula 1, this weekend possesses a very different challenge though.
Despite being the second longest circuit on the calendar, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is staggeringly the second fastest, an incredibly daunting statistic giving the fact it’s a street circuit. Both Leclerc and Sainz Jr will need to be on their toes this weekend, and most importantly keep out of the walls.
Leclerc’s Race Engineer, Xavi Marcos, is expecting the teams which have paid the most attention to detail with designing this year’s cars, to have an advantage this weekend.
“I think that, putting to one side the different car designs, whoever has done the best job in preparing for the season down to the smallest detail, will have a competitive advantage at the start. There are so many new elements involved and whoever has understood the new format better, especially the limitations involved, could have the edge for at least the first third of the season.
“When I say format, I mean the whole package: the completely new car, the little time available to work on it, the 18 inch tyres and also the fact the drivers must modify their driving style to suit it. All in all, whoever understands the limitations and opportunities of this more compressed weekend format, will have an ace up their sleeve on track.”
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be the second of a twenty-three race long season, Marcos is expecting development to be a big factor this year in order to remain at the front.
“Car development will clearly be the main element, but there are other key factors such as on-track organisation, which is my responsibility. Let’s not forget we are embarking on the busiest season ever in the history of this sport, so I think that now, more than ever, it’s the smallest details that can count when it comes to making every task more efficient. One of the aims will be to expand the flow of information between the engineers and the team at the track and those back in the factory.”