Jeddah GP Weekend Recap
Preweekend Thought:
Thank goodness this triple header is almost over I’m getting whiplash
Jeddah Track Specs
50 laps
Circuit length: 6.175 km
3 DRS zones
27 turns
Free Practice Sessions
There is never too much to openly report from the stand point of major action during the free practice sessions. These are almost always for the team on the pitwall more than anyone else. It’s to help solidify the strategies and figure out the best way to maximize the performance of both driver and car. So, if you’re looking for major action and things to openly discuss from the track action, jump to a different section.
The things that I pay the most attention to is what the commentators are discussing during these sessions. If I were to complain about one of the topics they discuss, it’s the commentator jinx. They mentioned that Mr. Ollie Bearman is seeming to finally hit his stride with the last 2 races and is really coming into his own after a less than ideal start to his rookie season. About 3 laps later within the session, Ollie proceeded to hit the wall. This comes after they jinxed not having a car retirement yet this season, last race and then a bit later on in the race, we had Carlos Sainz retire. I say all of this because I am entirely too superstitious for these types of comments to be made. I need our entirely gifted. and beloved commentating team for SkySports to not mention anything that may be seen as a jinx until the last car crosses the line for any session. Honestly, not seeing that as too big of an ask.
Another storyline I feel we aren’t following too closely because like me - everyone has felt that this is a nonissue but George Russell’s contract renewal. For a sport that is so dependent on a driver’s ability to consistently perform and get the most out of the car, George is one of the most consistent there is currently on the grid. He has been able to get the most of the Mercedes since he’s been on the team, which are years that many would say were quite lacking considering how dominant Mercedes has been in the past with their car development.
Now, George has shown up this season to prove how valuable and competitive he can be as a #1 driver on a team. After years of being seen as second to Lewis Hamilton, George has been given a competitive car and top team billing and it making the most of it. I truly do not know how or why Mercedes would choose to move on from George when he sitting top 5 in the driver standings and the team is 2nd in the constructors. I don’t find the rumors for Max leaving Red Bull for Mercedes to have much traction right now, he’s about to welcome a new born in a few weeks, if Max leaves Red Bull - it’s to retire from the sport.
After watching the 3 practice sessions this weekend, I am fully expecting the McLaren’s to be very competitive and outlast the Red Bull and the Mercedes.
Qualifying
My live reactions, thoughts, and opinions
27 turns is nuts and I don’t think it’s processed
My issue with Lance saying what he did is that the car clearly has been able to perform in different stints throughout the years and his teammates are able to get solid performances out of the car as well (this is my thought on his post quali interview about having the most Q1 exits in F1 history)
Tyre temp is going to be essential
Brake testing? Please we are driving formula one cars we are not doing that Martin
Watching these sessions I’m convinced we are getting a retirement race tomorrow there are too many close calls
In the high speed corners Max .13 seconds faster than Oscar, can we please just get it together
I could not explain why I love the analogy between f1 drivers their cars and dancing
Lando. Crashing. What if I crash out.
Crofty vs Martin energy levels in the booth are always so funny to me. Crofty always sounds like he has had 5 energy drinks and Martin sounds like he is a normal human
Lando I think could make light work of the cars in front of him with a solid start tomorrow
Sunday Strategy
Going into Sunday we should all be on the same page about the ideal strategies the teams should be running.
All of the drivers should be starting on the medium tyre and then during their pitstop should be moving onto the hard tyre.
Though, Lando due to his less than ideal qualifying, may start on his fresh set of soft tyres to allow him to make up ground rather quickly early on.
If the teams go for the medium to hard strategy, their ideal pit stop window is between laps 16 and 22, making this a one stop race. Jeddah is also a track where teams don’t need to worry too much about the threat of an undercut because compared to other tracks, it’s not as effective.
All of this being said, we saw so many near misses with the walls around the track throughout all of the sessions so far this weekend, so if we happen to see a safety car during the race, that changes everything.
Race
live race reactions, thoughts, and feelings
Race
lando starting on the Hard tyre mmm okay
Omg omg omg - turn 1 thought
😦 - my actual face all of lap 1 actually but picture me sitting on the floor in front of my mirror mid putting blush on for Easter brunch
Safety car restarts stress me tf out
The racing bull car visually I think is my favorite
Max calling out the stewards for trying to penalize him for something they discussed in the briefing is peak cinema
Love a good Lewis & Lando battle
This max 5 second penalty is going to throw this race into madness
McLaren can we not with the slow pit stops
Leclerc leading the race I know a Ferrari fan is hoping for a safety car
Leclerc never fails to stress me out
Omg forgot lando hasn’t pitted yet omg yall
Not an awful pit stop performance Ferrari I’m shocked
Rookie v rookie battles warm my heart
Leclerc overtakes heal the soul and no one can tell me differently
Scared for everyone on track over the reaction is lando overtakes leclerc
The steady improvement of the Williams this season needs to be discussed more
The emotion in the Oscar radio is so odd to hear and it was barely anything
So much of this coming down to the last lap is too much for me to handle watching this in public
End of the weekend thought:
that was too stressful
Well, first triple header complete! We did it! I am typing this ending in public and watching the 2nd half of the race in the grand bazaar in NYC was a recipe for me to be even more stressed but we persist.
Have the most wonderful week and talk so soon.
Ily a milli 🫶🏼
