Saudi Arabian GP: Preview – Ferrari

Just some days after Scuderia Ferrari’s one-two end within the opening spherical of the season in Bahrain, the Components 1 World Championship is again in motion with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix happening lower than three months on from the primary ever working of this occasion. Final December, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz completed seventh and eighth on the Jeddah Corniche semi-street circuit. Nonetheless within the Center East subsequently, however Components 1 has moved from the Arabian Gulf to the shores of the Purple Sea.

The 6.174 kilometre circuit owes its title to the truth that a lot of it runs alongside the sealine, adopting the French time period “corniche,” which could be very widespread within the Center East. It’s the second longest monitor on the calendar after Spa-Francorchamps and boasts probably the most corners, however in contrast to different road circuits, it’s quick and flowing, with out the standard proper angle turns and it options many excessive velocity sections. Final yr, automobiles obtained as much as 330 km/h with a mean lap velocity of over 250 km/h. There are three DRS zones and a number of other overtaking alternatives, whereas the race is run over 50 laps. The monitor has been modified since final yr, with boundaries moved again at turns 2, 3, 14 and 21 to enhance visibility. At an additional 4 locations – turns 4, 16, 22 and 24, in an effort to enhance security, concrete boundaries have been changed with the metallic kind utilized in Monaco, which scale back the drive of the influence and are extra forgiving if drivers brush them. Lastly, the width of the monitor has been elevated by 1.5 metres on the correct hand aspect after the final nook, flip 27, the place a couple of automobiles had ended up within the boundaries final yr.

The race takes place at night time, with all classes working later within the day, with the same timetable to that first utilized in Singapore. The primary hour of free follow takes place on Friday at 17 native (15 CET) with the second at 20 (18 CET). The ultimate hour to tremendous tune the automobiles begins at 17 (15 CET) on Saturday, in preparation for qualifying at 20 (18 CET). The second Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will get underway at 20 (19 CET).

Personally, how does it really feel to be beginning your fifteenth season in Components 1?
Xavi Marcos: Race Engineer to Charles Leclerc: “The primary race of the season is all the time particular, as a result of it is the beginning of a brand new journey. This time nonetheless, it is much more particular as a result of there are lots of new components to have in mind and I am eager to seek out out, if every part we have now carried out by way of processes and procedures is taking us in the correct course and delivering the advantages we expect. After all, we used the check classes to do a type of basic trial run, however it’s solely on a race weekend, with its strain and expectations, that we will actually decide how effectively we have now ready. These pressures and expectations can result in errors and we have now labored with all the group in order to be calm in managing all the assorted points of the weekend. We should consider ourselves and work with confidence.”

The automobiles are fully new: from a technical standpoint, what do you suppose might make the distinction on monitor this weekend?
XM: “I believe that, placing to at least one aspect the completely different automobile designs, whoever has carried out the perfect job in getting ready for the season all the way down to the smallest element, can have a aggressive benefit at first. There are such a lot of new parts concerned and whoever has understood the brand new format higher, particularly the constraints concerned, might have the sting for a minimum of the primary third of the season. Once I say format, I imply the entire bundle: the fully new automobile, the little time out there to work on it, the 18 inch tyres and likewise the very fact the drivers should modify their driving type to go well with it. All in all, whoever understands the constraints and alternatives of this extra compressed weekend format, can have an ace up their sleeve on monitor.”

And the long run, given that is the primary of 23 races, what components may very well be key over the course of the season?
XM: “Automotive improvement will clearly be the primary component, however there are different key components reminiscent of on-track organisation, which is my duty. Let’s not neglect we’re embarking on the busiest season ever within the historical past of this sport, so I believe that now, greater than ever, it is the smallest particulars that may rely in the case of making each process extra environment friendly. One of many goals will probably be to develop the circulation of data between the engineers and the group on the monitor and people again within the manufacturing facility.”

Ferrari in Saudi Arabia

GP entered 1
Debut 2021 (C. Leclerc seventh; C. Sainz eighth)
Wins 0
Pole positions 0
Quickest laps 0
Whole podiums 0

Information & Figures

1. The proportion of Saudi Arabian land that’s arable. The nation is predominantly desert, with the inhabitants of slightly below 30 million inhabitants residing primarily alongside its two coastlines with the Purple Sea and the Arabian Gulf and within the capital, Riyadh.

5. The variety of appearances from the Security Automotive in the one version of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix thus far. Final yr, 16 laps had been run behind it.

27. The variety of passing strikes on the Jeddah Corniche monitor lasts yr. Carlos Sainz topped the listing with 4 overtakes and Charles Leclerc managed two.

32. The utmost common temperature in levels Celsius in Jeddah within the month of March, whereas the minimal is 21. Humidity is often very excessive, whereas the typical annual determine is 35. The very best temperature ever recorded within the metropolis was a powerful 52 levels on 22 June 2015.

336,6. The very best velocity ever seen on the Jeddah Corniche circuit. The document was set three months in the past within the penultimate spherical of the 2021 season, by Kimi Raikkonen within the Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo.

At Ferrari 75 years in the past

Work is continuing apace within the Maranello manufacturing facility on constructing the second 125 S chassis and its 12 cylinder engine. Within the meantime, Enzo Ferrari is learning the nationwide racing calendar, in search of an appropriate occasion at which his new creation could make its race debut.