Formula 1 drivers have likened the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to Silverstone and Macau after their first real-life look at the track they will race on this weekend in the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
On Thursday morning there were two significant landmarks for the ‘street’ track. First, the FIA granted the Grade 1 homologation needed to host F1, before this season’s field of drivers explored the circuit in person for the first time.Not all 20 drivers took to the track, however, with some using the first ever official lap of the track by a vehicle – completed by the Aston Martin Vantage used by F1 as its Safety Car – to get some references on what it would actually look like to navigate at speed.
Most drivers started their preparations in the simulators at team headquarters, and Ferrari‘s Charles Leclerc admitted he struggled for the first 10 laps. “I didn’t know where it turned, and there are 27 corners, so quite a bit of corners to learn,” said Leclerc. However, once familiar with the track’s demands, he added he “really enjoyed the way it has to be driven” virtually.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who did find time to walk the track, noted how it was narrower in places than had previously been modelled. SAFER barriers now line the outside of some of the high-speed curves, giving drivers less room for error than their simulators may have indicated.
Track data: Jeddah Corniche Circuit
| Lap length | 6.174km (3.836 miles) |
| Grand prix distance | 308.7km (191.817 miles) |
| Tyre compounds | C2, C3, C4 |
“It’s pretty dusty. It’s very high speed, as we saw in the simulator,” said Gasly. “It’s going to be a pretty exciting and challenging track for us drivers. Very high speed corners, blind corners, it’s pretty narrow. It actually looks more narrow when you walk than when you’re in the simulator. So tomorrow probably going around these walls at 300kph is going to feel even more narrow. Driving-wise, it should be really fun.”
What made the track walk particularly useful for teams was being able to see the composition of the track surface, which could not be factored into simulator models with limited data. Lewis Hamilton‘s first reaction was “it’s not far off a Silverstone kind of surface” – that track was re-laid in 2019 – while Fernando Alonso raised the question of whether on a low-grip surface “you need a lot of the engine, or the deployment, or the tyres will be a big topic” because there are “still too many unknowns to be sure”.
The general reaction was one of positivity, with Gasly’s team mate Yuki Tsunoda labelling the track walk “quite exciting” given he usually “just gets tired” when walking them.
Mick Schumacher predicted “we’re going to have a lot of red flags” with wall taps “probably” commonplace, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jnr echoed both his team mate’s comments and Schumacher’s.
“Everything looks very different to what I’m used to or what we are used to in F1,” he said. “It took me a few more laps to get up to speed in the sim compared to other circuits, just because of the amount of corners that there are, the walls. Obviously you cannot see through them and you don’t know what’s on the other side of the corner.
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“It was difficult to get the turning points right and all that. Everything looks so similar, so fast-flowing and wall-banging type of corners that it felt quite difficult to learn until you get to a point where obviously you learnt it and everything starts to feel a bit more normal. But I feel like we’re going to need more laps to dial in.”
“It’s funny, because it gets a little bit compared to Monza set-up, but it’s a very different track,” said Ricciardo, who took victory at the Italian venue earlier this year.
“I don’t know if there’s anything quite like this circuit. At the moment some of the sections remind me a little bit of Macau. It was a long time ago that I was there, but it’s a high-speed street circuit.”
While some have likened it to Baku, Ricciardo doesn’t think that comparison holds, a view Nicholas Latifi shared. The Williams driver expects a far smaller margin for error at Jeddah.
“Specific parts of the track, like the two chicanes after the banked corner. I guess they’re kind of similar to the Montreal-style chicanes, but just faster,” Latifi said.
“And then you have the first ‘S’ kind of bits, I think from turns five through to nine, which is I guess a bit of a tighter kind of Silverstone/Suzuka/Austin flowing thing, which is quite nice in these cars as well. It’s a unique track.
“I think the kind of judgements that you make when you commit to corners, it’s really going to be quite unique just because of how high-speed in nature it is. So I’m very much looking forward to that challenge. Hopefully, it provides some good racing as well, with very long straights and three DRS zones.”
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2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
- Analysis: Is Jeddah circuit’s layout fit for F1 or a “recipe for disaster”?
- Hamilton closes on another Schumacher record with first ‘hat-trick’ of 2021
- How Hamilton and Verstappen’s roughest scrap yet played out on the radio
- Brawn defends Masi following criticism of Saudi Arabian GP decisions
- F1 drivers want safety changes to Jeddah’s “Suzuka with walls” layout
Ryan95
3rd December 2021, 10:02
I wonder how qualyfying will play out with the blind, high speed corners, drivers on out laps mixed with drivers on hot laps. I hope we have a safe weekend.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
3rd December 2021, 10:29
I anticipate a lot of penalties for not slowing for yellow flags. Also someone getting bumped out without a representative laptime after getting screwed by red flags too many times.
Aussie Rod (@aussierod)
3rd December 2021, 10:17
I can’t quite reconcile how F1 can race at a track like this, incredibly fast and narrow and lined with concrete walls… and then tame every other traditional circuit with tarmac runoff and flattened kerbs in the quest for safety.
Doesn’t quite stack up..?
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
3rd December 2021, 10:30
Neither can I remember the last time that F1 rolled up to race on a circuit that had never hosted a formula race before.
F2 will be an interesting indicator.
ian dearing
3rd December 2021, 10:33
Less than 15 minutes before we find out
Jem (@j1jem)
3rd December 2021, 11:03
Once again I find myself empathising with Yuki, I’d need a nice sit down with a cup of tea and some cake after a c.4 mile walk!
Aapje (@aapje)
3rd December 2021, 17:50
@j1jem
Given his size, he also has to take many more steps than other drivers.
ian dearing
3rd December 2021, 11:17
Err anyone know whats going on? Session delayed until further notice.
petebaldwin (@)
3rd December 2021, 11:34
“Operational delays” apparently. I expect a lot of that this weekend as they’ll just have to take everything as it is – there’s no time to fix things that are wrong.
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
3rd December 2021, 11:42
No real info but track work not finished?
w0o0dy (@w0o0dy)
3rd December 2021, 11:43
The first free practice session for Formula 2 started later due to ‘operational works’.
Andy (@andyfromsandy)
3rd December 2021, 11:56
F2 cars going at 1:44 per lap. With 28 minutes left a red flag is out after Logan Sargeant hit the wall in Sector 3.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
3rd December 2021, 12:00
It’s 2021 and they can’t design an adequate track? Can’t be shocked from a country with laws from the year 1021.
Plossl (@)
3rd December 2021, 12:08
What a terrible track, with the way the TV feed works for F1 with its zoomed right in style its gonna be a blur of adverts flashing by, perhaps a radio and timing screen race for me….
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd December 2021, 12:42
Did some drivers drive the SC, or have I misinterpreted something? Drivers don’t drive these cars.
Yes, Red flag-stoppage is possible, but that’s only for extreme scenarios.
some racing fan
4th December 2021, 7:12
If they took this track, put it in a more permanent, wide open setting, widened the track and got rid of those walls and replaced them with run off areas then this would be a fantastic track. But considering how fast and narrow this track is and mix that with how close those walls are, I think we should all have some kind of rare concern for how a race will pan out on this track. Call me a conspiracy theorist but maybe this is some kind of elaborate sabotage by Liberty Media which involves putting drivers’ lives at risk. I surely hope not.