The new regulations continue to pay off, as for the second week in a row we were treated to some very close racing. Whilst the second race of the season was packed full of action, there are some concerns about safety both on and off track, which raises the question as to whether we should be returning to Jeddah for future events.
Here are the report cards from the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix:
Top of the class:
Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 4th | Race: 1st
Whilst his first race as the resident World Champion wasn’t worth writing home about, the Dutchman truly proved himself worthy of his newly obtained title and his little golden shoes in Jeddah.
His weekend started off a little slow, as during all three free practice sessions he fell just short of Charles Leclerc, whilst during qualifying he was beaten by both Ferrari’s and his teammate as he couldn’t quite get his tyres in the optimal operational window, but he was there when it mattered.
The top four had equally good starts, but it was due to Verstappen’s late braking that he was able to line up to move up to P3. Thanks to an unfortunately timed pitstop from his teammate just before the safety car was deployed, Max found himself in P2 not much later. From there on out, all he had to do was battle Charles Leclerc for that converted first position.
That was easier said than done, however, as us fans were treated to a nerve-racking battle between the two front runners which truly went all the way down to the wire. A battle which was narrated by Verstappen’s complaints on the board radio, something I could only laugh at. I don’t know about you, but I do too suffer from road rage every now and again. What was said in the heat of the moment doesn’t matter much, however, as we were treated to a clean battle and some amicable pats on the back after the fact.
Charles Leclerc – Qualifying: 2nd | Race: 2nd
Charles might have lost a victory in the closing stages of the race, but he certainly won’t be panicking, because it’s very clear that Ferrari has built a car capable of competing for the championship, so this most likely won’t be the last time this year they’ll be battling it out with the bulls for a win.
The Monegasque seems to have enjoyed the battle, as he insists that ‘Oh my god, I really enjoyed the race. (…) it was hard racing but fair. Every race should be like this.’ If all of the 2022 season looks like this, then we might be looking at an even tighter battle than we saw in 2021, which I wouldn’t have deemed possible before this.
Esteban Ocon – Qualifying: 5th | Race: 6th
Esteban seemed to have found his groove. After taking home points in Bahrain, he follows it up nicely with his second top-seven finish in Saudi Arabia.
Due to everything else going on, he flew somewhat under the radar during qualifying, but he outpaced teammate Fernando Alonso to be able to line up fifth on the grid. He had a scrappy elbows-out battle with his teammate in the opening rounds of the race, which went on long enough for others to start catching up before Alpine told them to knock it off.
Ocon briefly lost position, but quickly regained this, before being promoted a position due to his teammate retiring. Esteban then valiantly held off Lando Norris on the final lap to cross the finish line sixth.
Honourable Mentions:
Then our first honourable mention goes to Sergio Pérez. The Mexican had a superb Saturday and obtained his first-ever Pole Position. That he didn’t manage to translate this into a win or a podium spot is largely to blame on Red Bull falling for the trick Ferrari played on them, making them suspect that the Scuderia would be coming in for an early pitstop. Instead, Sergio was the only one to come in and ended up behind George Russell, whilst an inconvenient safety car ensured that the rest of the top of the pack could stop without losing significant positions.
The second honourable mention goes to Lando Norris. Considering their bad form last week, it is quite remarkable that Lando Norris managed to bring home the first points of the year for McLaren, although it is unfortunate that teammate Daniel Ricciardo had to retire with a mechanical issue.
The third honourable mention goes to George Russell. Whilst teammate Lewis Hamilton had quite the horrid weekend, it was down to George to hold down the fort. Fifth might not be what the Brit dreamed of when making the move to Mercedes, but he’s used to making do with what he’s got after his years with Williams.
The struggle bus:
Jeddah Corniche Circuit
I already touched on this in my report cards for this race last season, but I’m not a fan. All that I saw this weekend only solidified earlier reservations. Sure, the track itself can’t help that it’s located a mere 6 miles from the oil depot, which was hit by a missile on Friday – but I can question why the F1 circus was even there in the first place, or why the race went ahead in spite of the missile attack… The answer is simple, it all comes down to money and power.
The drivers were initially opposed to returning to business as usual after the attack, as they spent over four hours in a meeting discussing their unease. After speaking to team bosses, the FIA and other Formula 1 officials, it was eventually unanimously decided that they would go ahead and race. Although ‘decided’ is perhaps a term used loosely here, as BBC Sport has been told that a potential consequence could involve measures that would make it harder for drivers and personnel to leave the country.
This isn’t outside of the realm of possibility either, as in 2019 a plane full of WWE wrestlers and support staff was kept grounded for a prolonged time. Although it was never officially confirmed, with WWE continuing to assert that the flight was simply delayed by mechanical issues, different wrestlers hold the opinion that they were held hostage due to a dispute with the Saudi royal family. A full account of that event with appropriate sources can be read here. So with this kept in mind, that unanimous decision sounds like there was something more at play here.
Then for the track itself. I’ve already voiced my concerns on the safety of this track last year, and I certainly wasn’t the only one, as different drivers and reporters have previously spoken up about the potential dangers this track presents. I must admit that there was an attempt to address these, as a few changes were made between the last race they hosted and this weekend, but Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both suggested that the changes made neglected to improve the track in any substantial way.
That this is the case is only confirmed by Mick Schumacher’s incident in qualifying. The German driver spun out to hit not one, but two concrete walls, suffering from a 33G crash. That he managed to get away unscathed says a lot about the improved safety of the cars. Now you ask, but wasn’t Max Verstappen’s crash in Silverstone 51G? I do have to concede that you’re right in that, but not only was the Dutchman’s accident on British soil a freak accident, there was also quite a run towards the site of impact through the gravel and he landed into tyre barriers. Now imagine if that had been a concrete wall, and if that wall had been placed right on the edge of the track. That’s what we get in Jeddah – and the fact that Amaury Cordeel (Formula 2) hit the same wall in the same weekend tells us that incidents in this corner aren’t exactly unexpected or uncommon.
We also saw the pitlane closed for prolonged stretches of the race in both Formula 1 and Formula 2 due to drivers stranded near the entrance. That these incidents weren’t resolved in a timely manner highlights that the marshals don’t exactly have an easy time resolving these kinds of incidents due to the lay-out.
If you ask me, Formula 1 management should consider whether it’s wise for them to return here in the (near) future, as there are quite a few things that still need to be resolved before a safe return (on and off-track) can be guaranteed.
Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 16th | Race: 10th
Truly a weekend to forget for Hamilton. Whilst last time around both Mercedes drivers were quite capable of keeping up with the midfield and could count on the misfortune of others to bring home a decent points haul, this time around realisation will have truly set in that Mercedes isn’t what it used to be.
Hamilton suffered a shock elimination during qualifying, ousted in Q1 meant that this was his worst qualifying performance (on pace only) since Silverstone 2009. A daring one-stop strategy, and six DNFs of other drivers on the grid, enabled Lewis to bring home one point for the Brackley-based team.
Hamilton’s post-race radio message questioning “is there even a point for that position” speaks volumes about the weekend he had, especially in comparison to teammate George Russell.
Aston Martin and Williams
Nico Hülkenberg – Qualifying: 18th | Race: 12th
Lance Stroll – Qualifying: 15th | Race: 13th
Alexander Albon – Qualifying: 17th | Race: DNF
Nicholas Latifi – Qualifying: 19th | Race: DNF
The Mercedes powered teams seem to struggle as much as their supplier, as both Aston Martin and Williams will hope to forget this outing to Saudi Arabia very soon.
For Williams, there are no positive takeaways. Latifi binned it on the 27th corner in lap 16, bringing out the safety car. Whilst Alexander Albon later tangled with Lance Stroll at turn 1, a move which has already earned him a three-place grid penalty for the race in Australia in two weeks.
Then for Aston Martin. I want to highlight how bad Formula 1 teams seem to treat their reserve driver, considering Nico Hulkenberg had to hop back to England to learn the Jeddah track in the simulator in order to be capable of replacing Sebastian Vettel for the second week in a row. Why aren’t these reserve drivers kept up to speed with new tracks on the calendar, just in case?
It is thus not surprising that whilst Nico initially looked to be in reasonably good shape, he eventually tumbled back through the pack whilst scraping by on old tyres (because the pitlane was closed during the second safety car).
Dishonourable mentions:
The dishonourable mention of the day goes to Alfa Romeo. Valtteri Bottas made a quick getaway at the start, but a cooling issue eventually caused his downfall and forced him to retire. Zhou Guanyu had an awful opening lap, as his car went into anti-stall, and his day only worsened when he picked up a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. When the team then failed to serve the original penalty in the pits, he was handed a drive-through penalty, which meant that he was unable to score any points, finishing 11th.
Now the first double-header is crossed off the list, we’ll have to fare without the F1 circus for a week. After that, it’ll be an early start for us Europeans, as they’ll have moved down-under for the Australian grand prix. On the 10th of April the race will be starting at 6 in the morning (UK time).
