Sergio Pérez is second; Max Verstappen, third.
16. Lewis Hamilton
17. Alexendar Albon
18.Nico Hulkenberg
19. Nicholas Latifi
20. Yuki Tsunoda
Starting grid pending application of future sanctions
???? Lewis Hamilton falls to sixteenth place. Eye Hamilton is out of the cut! George Russell, his teammate, is fourth.
Carlos Sainz climbs to first place in the first round of qualifying for the Saudi Arabian F1 GP with a time of 1’28.855. Charles Leclerc, second, +0.184 from his teammate.
The Formula 1 show begins in Jeddah!!
The Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) led, ahead of the Dutch Max Verstappen and the Mexican Sergio Pérez, the two Red Bull drivers, the third and last free practice for the Saudi Arabian GP, the second of the Formula 1 World Championship, where the Spaniards Carlos Sainz, teammate of the first in the ‘Scuderia’ and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) marked the fourth and the ninth time, respectively.
In the best of his 23 laps, Leclerc covered -with a soft tire, with which everyone set their best times- the 6,145 meters of the technical Jeddah circuit -with long straights and 27 curves, many of them fast- in one minute, 29 seconds and 735 thousandths, only 33 less than Verstappen, who gave 12, and with 98 over ‘Checo’, who gave 16; in a session in which Sainz from Madrid turned 22 times and was fourth, at 274 thousandths.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was also the fastest this Friday in the second free practice for the F1 Saudi Arabian GP, at the Jeddah street circuit, where the Spaniards Carlos Sainz -partner of the previous one- and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) finished third and eleventh; and the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull) fourth.
Leclerc, who finished the session early, as he damaged the left front part of his car by hitting it -without an accident- once morest one of the walls of the fastest urban circuit in the world-
The Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), leader of the championship, set the fastest time this Friday in the first free practice for the Saudi Arabian GP, the second of the Formula 1 World Championship, which takes place on the Jeddah street circuit, on the banks of the Red Sea; where the Spaniards Carlos Sainz -partner of the previous one- and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) registered fourth and tenth in the time table.
In the best of his 16 laps, Leclerc covered the 6,175 meters of the Jeddah track, with a soft tire, in 1’30.772, 116 less than the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), the last world champion, who gave 23 and was the only one who set his fastest lap with the hard compound; in a session in which the Finn Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) signed the third time, 312 thousandths of the Monegasque: whose Madrid teammate Sainz, second last Sunday in Bahrain, who turned thirteen times, was fourth, 367.
The drivers who compete in the Formula 1 World Championship were gathered until following two in the morning this Saturday to see if they would compete or not in the Saudi Arabian F1 GP following the missile attack by the Houthi rebels in Yemen, which suffered an oil installation in the vicinity -regarding 15 kilometers- of the Jeddah circuit, venue of the second round of the championship;before confirming that they would
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● Circuit name: Jeddah Corniche Circuit
● Length: 6,174 kilometers
● Race distance: 50 laps (308.45 km)
● Curves: 11, left – 16, right
● Fastest lap record: Lewis Hamilton, 1’30.734 (2021)
The other Spaniard, the double Asturian world champion Fernando Alonso (Alpine), finished ninth in Sakhir -where he previously (2005, 2006 and 2010) had three of his 32 F1 victories- and hopes to continue progressing this weekend in the GP Saudi Arabia, where last year failed to score.
In a race, the penultimate of that course, in which ‘Checo’, who collided, did not score points either. Hamilton won that day ahead of Verstappen; and Sainz – whose renewal with the ‘Scuderia’ (presumably until 2024, the year until which he has signed his Leclerc contract) only needs to be made official – he went back from fifteenth to eighth.
Sainz equaled the best position of his career in Bahrain, the second achieved in Monza (Italy), with a McLaren, in 2020; and that he repeated last year – that of his debut with the ‘Scuderia’ – in Monaco.
However, the driver from Madrid was not happy on the podium at Sakhir, where he stated that he did not feel entirely comfortable during a weekend -the “worst” since he has driven for Ferrari, in his own words- in which, however, Went from less to more. And from which, however, he can extract a very positive reading: that he drives a winning car. With which Ferrari signed a ‘doublet’ once more; two and a half years following what was also his last victory: the one achieved by the German Sebastian Vettel (now at Aston Martin), in 2019 and in Singapore, ahead of Leclerc.
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes
Williams Mercedes
McLarenMercedes
Red Bull Racing RBPT
Both Haas and Alfa Romeo propel their single-seaters with Ferrari engines -on paper those that have best adapted to the new fuel, with lower levels of ethanol-, in a World Cup in which the new regulations have changed the design of the cars; and in which everyone is still familiarizing themselves with these -heavier- and with the new tires -with a larger diameter, which has gone from 13 to 18 inches-, whose management also obviously generates new unknowns. Which will be even greater at a track where F1 only raced just under four months ago.
Mick Schumacher
Lance Stroll
Alexander Albon
Daniel Ricciardo
Lando Norris
Nicholas Latifi
Nico Hulkenberg
Sergio Perez
Max Verstappen
Eight courses in which he never failed to win the F1 Constructors’ World Cup; and in which only last season he had to give up the driver’s seat, which ‘Mad Max’ took by dethroning the seven-time English champion Lewis Hamilton.
In a World Championship that was not decided until the last lap of the last race, in Abu Dhabi; and that ended like the rosary of dawn, with two claims (dismissed) from the German team, considering irregular the performance on the track of the safety car that determined the outcome, in favor of the new idol of the Netherlands, of the race that decided the contest in Yas Marina.
Without detracting from the squad commanded by Mattia Binotto, Ferrari was also not hurt by the final disaster of the two Red Bulls in Bahrain: the Dutchman Max Verstappen, world champion last year, had to retire on the penultimate lap , when he was running second; and his Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez -fourth in the last World Cup- suffered the same (bad) luck in the last lap, when he was running in third position.
Ferrari has returned through the front door. At the premiere of the 2022 World Cup,the red cars achieved a superb double
, with victory for Charles Leclerc and second place for Carlos Sainz, following striking down the champion, Max Verstappen, on the track, who ended up retiring due to a breakdown. It is Ferrari’s first victory since Singapore 2019, 46 grands prix ago, the same time as its last double, with Vettel and Leclerc.
Those of the ‘Scuderia’ will be, on paper, the single-seaters to beat on the shores of the Red Sea, which bathes Jeddah: venue for the second race of the year, once more at night, on its urban circuit -the fastest in the world, premiered last year – 6,175 meters.
Jeddah is the second longest circuit in the championship, following Spa-Francorchamps, which hosts the Belgian Grand Prix (7,004 metres). A very technical track, with 27 corners (16 to the left), many of them fast; to which on Sunday it is planned to give 50 laps to complete a route of 308.7 kilometers.
Ferrari, the most successful team in Formula 1, which celebrated a ‘double’ last Sunday in Bahrain, premieres this weekend, at the Saudi Arabian GP, its two leaderships: that of Monegasque Charles Leclerc, in the Drivers’ World Championship ; and the one that he occupies together with the Spanish Carlos Sainz in the constructors’ championship.
The qualifying session for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which takes place at the Jeddah circuit, will take place at 6:00 p.m. (Spanish peninsular time).
At night, the concern for the security of the Grand Prix extended until dawn, when the meetings of team managers, drivers and F1 ended. The president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, also guaranteed safety so that the second round of the World Cup continues.
Yemen’s Houthi insurgents launched a dozen attacks with missiles and drones on facilities of the Saudi state oil company Aramco in the interior of the country, ten kilometers from the Formula 1 circuit, on Friday.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship, will continue with its program this weekend following a long Friday of meetings due to the attacks a few kilometers from the circuit, on the day of free practice dominated by Charles Leclerc ( Ferrari).
After the Monegasque closed the second round at the top, the F1 actors were gathered in different meetings for more than four hours with the possibility of suspending the Grand Prix on the table.
The Jeddah street circuit will be the scene this weekend of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship and also at night, in which Ferrari hopes to confirm the candidacy that it officially presented in Bahrain and to which Red Bull and Mercedes they arrive forced to react and to improve, respectively.
