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On Saturday, March 9, 2024, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is held on the street circuit of Jeddah. This Grand Prix is the second appointment of the season, a week after the Bahrein Grand Prix, opening race of the World Championship. For the first time this season, the calendar has a race that is one week apart. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the second race in a row held in the Middle East, and also the second and penultimate race in the month of March. The race has been held at night since the first edition, and it is established as the second appointment of the season for the third Championship in a row. For the first time during this season, the highest category is racing on a street track. In this edition, the Grand Prix is held on Saturday in order to avoid a conflict with Ramadan, which starts on the following day; as a consequence, the previous Bahrein Grand Prix too was held on Saturday to comply with regulations requiring a minimum of one week to elapse between two Grands Prix. All the sessions are then anticipated by a day. For this Grand Prix, Pirelli, the sole tyre supplier, offers the choice between compound tyres C2, C3 and C4, the central compounds of the range offered by the Italian company, same choice made for the inaugural edition of the Grand Prix, in 2021, due to the very smooth asphalt.
A little after the end of the previous Championship, Pirelli announced the choice of the tyres for the next Australian Grand Prix. The FIA confirms the three zones of the Drag Reduction System used since the first edition of the race. The first zone is established on the main straight, with the detection point at the exit of turn 27, the second zone is established between the exit of turn 19 and turn 22, with the detection point set at the exit of turn 17, the third zone is established between the entrance of turn 25 and turn 27, with the detection point set at the entrance of 22. The Jeddah circuit was the first in World Championship history to present, from the start, three zones for the use of the device. In the previous edition, the detection point for the DRS zone on the main straight was moved forward and positioned at the exit of turn 27. The detection point of the second zone was also changed and moved forward. The week leading up to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix changed the scenario within the Alpine team slightly: in fact, on Sunday, March 3, 2024, the technical director Matt Harman and the aerodynamics manager Dirk de Beer left their respective positions at Alpine. The resignations will become effective in April. For their replacement, they made official the entry of Ciaron Pilbeam as technical director of performance, together with Joe Burnell for engineering and David Wheater for aerodynamics. Alpine team principal Bruno Famin explains:
"We decided to make these organisational changes because we clearly see that we are not where we want or need to be in terms of performance, and it's time to take another step forward in terms of organisation. The new three-pillar structure with three Technical Directors, each specialising in different areas, will improve the work and collaboration between our technical areas and help ensure performance from the factory to the track. I am fully confident in the abilities of Joe, David and Ciaron to work closely together to ensure the team gets the performance and improvements it needs. Finally, I would like to thank Matt and Dirk for their commitment over the past two years within the team and wish them the best in the next chapter of their careers".
Three days later, exactly on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, Bob Bell joined Aston Martin instead, where he will take the role of technical executive director. With regard to this, Bob Bell stated:
"I have been impressed by the progress Aston Martin has made in recent years. The opportunity to play my part in this journey is incredibly exciting and I look forward to working with the great technical leaders at Silverstone. The scope and ambition of this project is extremely motivating. I see the hunger and determination that drives this team. I look forward to doing my part with Mike and the rest of the team".
As Mike Krack commented:
"I am delighted to welcome Bob to Aston Martin. This is a key signing to ensure we optimise everything we do as a team and focus on the right areas of performance. Bob's track record in the sport speaks for itself and his experience will help us continue to make strides in the exciting journey we are on".
Speaking instead about the current World Championship on the eve of the second Grand Prix of the season, Mercedes Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff expresses his feelings after the first race of the season:
"Our race in Bahrain was best described as underwhelming. We were hopeful of a stronger showing after our performance in practice and qualifying. Both drivers were pleased with the balance earlier in the weekend, and the more stable platform provided by the W15. Unfortunately on Saturday evening, our cooling performance didn't match our predictions. That forced us into management mode early on, which had the knock-on impact of reducing tyre temperatures below optimum. That cost us the opportunity to show something closer to our true potential. It was a frustrating way to start the season but one we will learn from. We've got an opportunity to take a step forward immediately. Jeddah is a street track with a lot of high-speed corners. It will be good to continue our learning with the new car on a very different circuit to Bahrain. We will be aiming for a more consistent weekend and to understand our true performance relative to the rest of the grid. It will also be great to see F1 Academy as a support race in Saudi Arabia for their opening round. For the first time, we will be involved as a team. We're excited to watch our junior driver Doriane Pin in action and look forward to supporting the championship across the year".
Max Verstappen, first winner of the year, is interested in seeing the performance of all the cars. Therefore, he is eager for the action to begin again:
"The Team had a great first race of the season and I am looking forward to Jeddah, which is a proper high speed semi street circuit, seeing less degradation on the tyres. It is going to be a bit warmer too compared to Bahrain, so it will be interesting to see the difference in performance between all teams, as the track layout is completely different to last week. Last year it was a good track for us so let’s hope we can do something similar and secure a great performance for the Team".
While it is true that Max Verstappen won the first race, Sergio Perez is hungry for redemption. The Mexican driver won on this circuit in 2023, so he is looking forward to trying his hand at this new feat again. With the hope of repeating himself:
"I am looking forward to heading to Jeddah this weekend after such a good team result in Bahrain. Things weren't totally perfect in the first race and there is plenty of evolution to be done with the car but we have a good base to work from now. There is always plenty of action at this race and it could be a really tight one. Last year I had a great win and would love to repeat it".
Lando Norris is very satisfied with the start of the World Championship. Compared with the previous year, McLaren looks very competitive. And the British driver aspires to a leading role, to put an end to the wait for his first career victory:
"Jeddah up next! We've started the 2024 season well, and we'll hopefully take that momentum into the Saudi Arabian GP. We had some things to look at after the Bahrain GP, which we want to keep working on, but we've made a good start and can build from here. It's great to start the season with points, let's bring home some more this weekend".
Oscar Piastri’s aim is to get into the points:
"I'm looking forward to returning to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. We're in a better position this year and it feels good to have already secured some points in the first race. We noted some things to improve on over the week, which we'll aim to address this weekend. We'll do our best to close off this double header with other double points".
While Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, admits that this race may be an opportunity to better understand the car:
"We leave Bahrain with 12 points, which is a strong start to the 2024 season. We now head to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which is a fast street circuit and one that is very different in characteristics to the track in Bahrain. That presents us with a new challenge and a new opportunity to learn about the MCL38 on a fast and flowing circuit. I would like to once again thank everyone in the team for their hard work, enabling us to start the season positively. We'll keep working hard to improve our performance and deliver consistent and strong results".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, is very satisfied with the performance shown by the Scuderia Ferrari cars in Bahrain. Clearly, in Jeddah, the goal is to confirm their competitiveness, and possibly improve performance, perhaps achieving a more ambitious result:
"The first race of the season confirmed that we worked in the right direction over the winter. In Sakhir, we saw that the gaps in qualifying have closed up even more, although the distance to Max Verstappen in the race is still significant. However, it’s encouraging that we have reduced that gap compared to last year, which is a good starting point. In Jeddah we will face a completely different test and we want to check if the positive signs we have seen from the SF-24 in the past couple of weeks are repeated on this very different track. The track surface is very smooth so tyre degradation should be negligible, while for the first time we will deal with very high speed corners that will highlight the cars’ downforce and aerodynamic efficiency. Charles and Carlos have always done well at the Jeddah Corniche and I expect them to be front-runners again, although once again it will all be very close. They should be able to do well in both qualifying and the race".
While Scuderia Ferrari's Team Principal is concerned about the cars' performance, Charles Leclerc talks about the difference among Jeddah and Sakhir, and remembers his karting days:
"Here we have smooth asphalt and high speed corners unlike Sakhir. I’d say the two tracks are polar opposites, so it will be interesting to see if the encouraging signs we saw a week ago are confirmed here. The Jeddah Corniche track is not a true street circuit but it has many similarities with one of them. I like to progress step by step from the start of free practice in order to find the limit. It reminds me of my karting days and in qualifying, if you find the right compromise between risk and speed then you get a good result. I’m very happy that the Academy has all this support from Formula 1. There’s a car in Ferrari colours driven by Maya Weug and another Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy girl racing in Puma colours. I’ll be watching the races closely".
On Thursday, March 7, 2024, before the first session of free practice, on the car of Sergio Pérez the second gearbox and second transmission were installed. The Mexican Red Bull Racing driver is not penalised on the starting grid as the new components installed are among those usable in the maximum number established by technical regulations. The first session of free practice sees Max Verstappen leading, who, on softs, gets a slower performance than the same session of the previous season. The hour of tests was characterised by a big balance: the first eight times are enclosed in less than six tenths. Behind the World Champion there are Fernando Alonso and Sergio Pérez. The Scuderia Ferrari drivers closed with the fifth and sixth time, but demonstrated a good competitiveness in the race simulation. Sainz Jr., despite his physical conditions, took part in the session. Alexander Albon hit a wall on the fast part of the track, damaging the front part of his Williams. The vehicle was repaired during the session and the Thai driver closed with the tenth time. The second session started with ten minutes of delay, due to checks to a drain in the pit lane. Alonso, second in the first session, was the best, with a slightly slower time compared to the fastest of the second session in 2023. The Spaniard was performing well on mediums too. George Russell closed with the second time, ahead of Verstappen. The World Champion seemed more competitive in terms of race pace. Ferrari confirmed their strength on softs for the race while the other teams tried more mediums. Hamilton, with the other Mercedes, had some bouncing issues, then a de-powering of the engine. At the end of the second session of free practice on Friday, Lewis Hamilton and Logan Sargeant are summoned by the stewards because the Brit impeded the American driver at turn 11. Hamilton receives a warning, while Mercedes is sanctioned 15.000 euros by the FIA. The drivers briefing, the covering of the cars and the curfew are postponed by ten minutes. It can definitely be said that this first day of free practice was not optimal for Lewis Hamilton. Done with his work the British driver admits:
"It was a difficult day. I was lacking a little confidence in the rear of the car. We did some work on the set-up from session-to-session and changed the car quite a bit. The main issue I was struggling with in both FP1 and FP2 was still the rear though. I had a few big moments out there and on such a high-speed track like this, you need to have full confidence in that. I haven't quite got that yet. We'll go through the data tonight to see how we can improve. George was clearly in a happier place with the car today. We went in slightly different directions so hopefully we can learn from that and find the right solutions".
A short distance away, George Russell also tries to make a complete analysis of what happened during the free practice sessions:
"It was fun to be back on the track here in Jeddah. It's a really high-speed circuit so that's enjoyable. We didn't have the car in the perfect window and FP2 was a little bit of a scrappy session. The times looked good on the single lap, and we're not too sure yet where we're at on the long runs. We did a lot of testing in FP1 with different set-ups across the cars. We then made some changes for FP2 to try and learn more about the W15. It's still very early days; it's only the second race of the season and the second circuit we're racing at. We need to keep on building on our learnings and everyone will be working hard overnight to extract more performance. It's so close once again so let's see what we can do tomorrow".
Lando Norris felt the car was better here than in Bahrain. The positive momentum for McLaren seems likely to continue in Jeddah. Or at least, the British driver is of that idea:
"A reasonable day. A bit of a better feeling than we had in Bahrain. There were certain corners where we were struggling to get the balance in the right window. There's a few bits we need to improve but, on the whole, I think it was a pretty decent day. Some work to do but still a good start to the weekend".
Oscar Piastri is a little less satisfied, as his McLaren still does not seem well balanced, and at times he has seen some abnormal signs:
"An up and down first day, I would say. There's been good moments where we've looked quite quick, other moments not so much. It's a little bit difficult to tell where exactly we are but I think we're somewhat in the mix again, which is positive. We have some fine tuning to do for tomorrow, but I think we look ok".
But Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, explains something about the car:
"It's been a smooth day of practice here in Saudi Arabia. We tested several set-up options to optimise the car for this circuit, which is demanding in terms of both top speed and car balance. The data gathered today will help us understand the best approaches for qualifying and the race. We have a lot of analysis to do tonight to put all of that together and prepare the most competitive package for the remainder of the weekend".
It was, without a doubt, a happy working day for Max Verstappen, who shows his happiness and satisfaction at the end of the day:
"The practice sessions today have been pretty good overall. The pace has been good on both the long and short runs and they have prepared the track well for a street circuit. Overall, we learnt a lot and there are always things you look to do better on a one lap performance. We know some other teams have a bit more power on the one lap so we’ll look into the data to try and improve our overall performance and extract as much as we can from this. Looking at qualifying, I am feeling good; it will be tight but we are happy with our performance today and looking forward to tomorrow".
Sergio Perez is of the same mind as his team mate:
"I think we are in a good place with the car and performance, it was a very positive Friday. We just need to do some fine tuning but I am happy with the window we have the car in, we understand what we need for tomorrow. We have a very good idea what direction we are going to take to make the car faster and if we can do that it is going to benefit the long run and the qualifying. I am very pleased with today. It is a matter of putting everything together in qualifying, that will be the main target and we will see what we are able to do. Sector One is super-fast and can be scary if you get some traffic there, so we need some clean laps tomorrow. I am looking forward to Friday".
Following Jos Verstappen's outburst, and a conversation that took place between Max Verstappen and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, rumors are spreading in the paddock about a possible sensational transfer of the Dutch driver to Mercedes in 2025. In this regard, Christian Horner says:
"I am aware of the comments that have been made, there was a discussion before the race and I think everyone's focus is on the future. The team is focused on defending both titles (Drivers and Constructors) that we fought so hard for. Max has three titles behind him to build on, his 55 races that he has won, the 114 races that we have won as a team. Now we are focused on the future. The discussion (with Jos Verstappen) took place before the Bahrain Grand Prix and now we are all looking ahead. Discussions between the parties have been there, inevitably, and they are private. Now the team is focused on the challenges that are in front of us. Max has made a commitment to us until 2028. Jos is his father and has played a key role in his career, but he speaks for himself and Max in turn speaks for himself".
Later in the afternoon, news is confirmed that Christian Horner's accuser has been suspended from the Red Bull Racing team. Nevertheless, the British manager refuses to comment on this update:
"It's confidential. I'm not at liberty to talk about it. There has been a lot of attention on this issue. A complaint has been raised, it has been thoroughly investigated, and it has been dismissed. Now let's move on, this issue has attracted a lot of interest in different media for different reasons. I think it's time to put an end to it. All the attention on my marriage has been very difficult to bear. When children and family are involved, it is not good. My wife has been very supportive, as has my family, but the intrusion on my family has been enough. Now we have to move on and focus on what we are here for: competing".
Back to talking about the race weekend and the results of the first day of free practice, Simone Berra, Pirelli Chief Engineer, as always analyses the two sessions:
"Quite an interesting day as far as use and performance of the tyres is concerned. First and foremost, we noticed that the C2 is working very well so far, proving it is clearly an ideal compound for the race, both in terms of degradation and consistent performance, thanks partly to the condition of the track surface which offered a lot of grip. As for the C3 and C4, both showed signs of graining, as indeed is predictable on a track like this. It's a phenomenon that should improve as the track gradually rubbers in and, in the race, it could therefore be easier to manage for the drivers. The majority of teams concentrated on the C3 for their long runs, but there were some drivers who simulated the first stint of the race on the C4, which shows it cannot be ruled out for the moment. In a race where the most likely strategy is a one-stop, benefiting from the extra grip that the softest compound can deliver in the first few laps or the final ones, could be an important factor. Another element to consider is the wind which not only affects car stability but also can cause the tyres to slide, which in turn can lead to graining".
While Charles Leclerc talks very in general:
"The track had good grip to start with and we can expect quite a lot of track evolution throughout the day tomorrow. All in all, everyone is really close in times so it will be tight and interesting to see who extracts the maximum from their car and comes out on top".
For Carlos Sainz Jr., however, the day was really challenging. The Spanish driver is suffering from pain in his abdomen, which has limited his performance on track.
"It has been a very difficult day for me as I haven’t fully recovered from the sickness that has kept me in bed for the last 24 hours and I still feel very weak. Anyway, I made it to the track and managed to maximise the time with the car and the team. This track has a lot of grip and the high speed corners makes it very demanding for cars and drivers. Even though I couldn’t push to the limit today, at least we completed the program and hopefully tomorrow I will be fully recovered and we can focus on qualifying and the race".
The surprises, however, do not end there. On Friday, March 8, 2024, a statement from Ferrari is released with regards to Carlos Sainz Jr.. The communiqué says the Spanish driver will not be present at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix:
"Carlos Sainz has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will require surgery. As from FP3 and for the rest of this weekend, he will be replaced by reserve driver Oliver Bearman. Oliver will therefore take no further part in this round of the F2 Championship. The Ferrari family wishes Carlos a speedy recovery".
Carlos Sainz Jr. does not take part in the third session of free practice and is forced to skip the rest of the Grand Prix as he has been diagnosed with appendicitis. He is replaced by Ferrari reserve driver Ferrari and Formula 2 driver for Prema Racing team, the British Oliver Bearman, who chooses 38 as race number. For Bearman it is the debut at a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen is the best also during the third free practice session. Behind him, at less than two tenths, there is Leclerc, able to do better than the other Red Bull Racing driver, Pérez, by three tenths. Bearman, rookie driver with Ferrari, set the tenth time of the session, with just one an attempt on softs. 17 minutes to the end, the session is interrupted, with a red flag, because of an accident involving Zhou Guanyu. The Stake F1 Team driver lost the control of his car at turn 7, hitting the barriers at the following turn. The vehicle is very damaged, but the driver is unharmed. Also Logan Sargeant has a little accident, hitting the barriers in the same point where Stroll did on Thursday, damaging the left front suspension. A few hours later, before the start of qualifying, on Zhou Guanyu’s car, the second gearbox and the second transmission are installed. The Chinese Stake F1 Team driver is not penalised on the starting grid as the new components installed are among those usable in the maximum number established by technical regulations. The Swiss team tries to fix the Chinese driver’s car, crashed during the afternoon practice, in time for qualifying. Nico Hülkenberg closes the lap first, but is immediately preceded by the McLaren pair; then, it is the Aston Martin’s duo’s time to take the first places of the ranking, with Alonso ahead of Stroll. Hamilton and Russell face their first attempt on mediums, but the chronometric results are not comforting. Leclerc closes second instead, behind Alonso. Magnussen is third, while Oscar Piastri improves and is first. Norris closes just 0"050 from his teammate. Bearman, who is fourth, also improves, and is just ahead of Leclerc. Sergio Pérez is at just 6 thousandths from the Australian’s time, before Verstappen, with a 1'28"491, takes the lead. Leclerc and Alonso are again second and third, respectively. Russell is cautioned with a white-black flag, as he touched, with the tyres, the pit-lane line, while Stroll sees his time cancelled, due to track limits. The two Mercedes, at risk of elimination, are now on softs. Hamilton is seventh, while Russell fourth. Leclerc sets the best time, a 1'28"318. Hülkenberg is tenth, ahead of Kevin Magnussen. Zhou manages to take the track, 1 minute and 50 seconds before the end of the session, but does not manage to complete his attempt. Pérez is third again while Verstappen lowers the limit, to 1'28"171. The drivers eliminated are Bottas, Ocon, Gasly, Sargeant and Zhou.
At the start of Q2 Hülkenberg has a loss of power on the power unit of his Haas and has to stop trackside. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton closes with a 1'28"680, beaten by Russell (1'28"608). A little after, the session is interrupted, for a little while, with a red flag, to allow the recovery of Hülkenberg’s car. This penalises Bearman, who was finishing his lap with a good time. When the session restarts, Pérez, takes the lead but will be beaten again by Verstappen (1'28"078). Alonso remains at just 0"044 from the World Champion’s time. Also Leclerc, third, is near Red Bull Racing’s driver, just 0"101 off. Piastri is fourth, but immediately passed by Lando Norris. With the second attempt, Russell is fifth, while Daniel Ricciardo does not improve. Yuki Tsunoda is eighth, while Bearman does not go further than the 11th time. Verstappen improves again (1'28"033), as does Leclerc, who is between the Dutchman and Alonso. The eliminated drivers are Bearman, Albon, Magnussen, Ricciardo and Hülkenberg. In the final phase, Hamilton sets the reference time: 1'28"807; the former World Champion is preceded by George Russell, with a 1'28"316. Piastri remains 0.009s from Russell; further behind is Norris, three tenths away. Pérez closes with a 1'27"808, before Max Verstappen goes first, with a 1'27"472. The Red Bull Racing driver does not lose his place with Leclerc’s attempt which puts him in P4. In the second fast attempt Hamilton improves, but is only seventh; Norris is fourth, but beaten by Oscar Piastri. Pérez is not able to improve his first time, as instead does Charles Leclerc, who closes second. Alonso remains fourth, while Verstappen does not lower his first performance. Max Verstappen conquers the 34th pole position of his career, the second of the season, and the first at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The World Champion, with the 60th front row, equals Nico Rosberg at the sixth place of all time. For Red Bull Racing it is the 97th start in its history from the first position, the second of the championship, and the general third at this track, confirming to be in first place for the third consecutive year, after the two previous pole positions set by Pérez. For Leclerc, second, it is the seventh start in a row from the front row, the actual longest series. The Monegasque obtains the 34th front row of his career, equalling René Arnoux and Rubens Barrichello at the 23rd place ever. Pérez, third, starts among the first three only for the second time at the last 19 Grands Prix.
Alonso has qualified two positions higher than the previous Bahrein Grand Prix, missing the first row by only 0"055. For the Spaniard it is the best qualifying performance since the 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix. Piastri does better than Norris in qualifying on the Saudi circuit for the second edition in a row, the Australian’s fifth position is the best start ever for McLaren at this track. Norris is sixth, with his highest starting position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after the Q1 elimination in 2023. With the eighth position, for Hamilton it is the second qualifying where he gets an equal or lower position than P8. Russell does better than Hamilton in qualifying for the fourth consecutive race. The latter is beaten four consecutive times by his teammate for the first time since 2015, when Nico Rosberg did better than Hamilton for six consecutive qualifyings. Russell was never outdone by a teammate in qualifying at Jeddah. Tsunoda reaches Q3 only for the third time in the last 18 races, and does better than his teammate Ricciardo in qualifying for the second consecutive race. Stroll has qualified in the last round only for the second time in the last 12 races, after being third at the 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix. Magnussen qualifies in the same 13th position of the previous edition, while Ricciardo qualifies fourteenth for the second time this season. Ocon and Gasly, who always got into Q3 at all the previous editions, get eliminated in the first round. Max Verstappen gets pole position at the 22nd Grand Prix and at the 20th different circuit, passing Michael Schumacher's poles. The time of the Dutchman’s pole, 1'27"472, represents the fastest time ever at the Saudi circuit, with an average of 254.097 km/h. It is the highest average speed on lap at a circuit different from the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza since Nigel Mansell’s pole position at the 1990 British Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit on an old layout. The previous record was Hamilton’s, who at the inaugural edition in 2021 set a 1'27"511, always valid for pole position, with an average of 253.984 km/h. Results, these, that can only make the Dutch driver proud, who at the end of qualifying says:
"I really enjoyed the day. The car was very nice to drive and it was a good improvement from yesterday. We improved the car slightly overnight and found a good setup that allowed me to attack in high-speed corners and improve the dry lap performance. At this track, it's all about your confidence level and how much you can reach your limit, and today I felt very comfortable with the car. The whole qualifying went really well, especially Q2 and the first lap of Q3. I'm proud of today and I'm excited for tomorrow's race. As a team we are happy with our car and our race pace, we really managed to find our rhythm. It was a great team effort".
Compared to his own teammate, Sergio Perez cannot be as happy. The Mexican driver will start from P3, but despite this he does not get upset and says he is ready for battle in the race:
"It would have been nice to get the front row, but I think we are in a good position to fight tomorrow. I think we took a small step back from free practice, we had a good Thursday, but unfortunately qualifying was not as good. The whole day didn't go as well as yesterday, I couldn't extract the maximum from the tyre preparation, along with the balancing. So, we need to understand why this happened, but hopefully the changes we made to the car will make us stronger in the race. It will be important to pass Charles [Leclerc, ed.] as soon as possible and being there in the middle, especially with the DRS zones will be crucial to make progress right away. We think we have a better pace than Ferrari, but degradation can always affect and change things very quickly. It is always a challenge here, but you can overtake and battle and there is a long way ahead of us".
Charles Leclerc explains his problems today and then talks about Bearman’s afternoon:
"I’m not fully satisfied with qualifying today and we will work on understanding the feeling I had during the sessions to be able to get all the potential out of the car in the future. I wish Carlos all the best for a speedy recovery and congratulations to Ollie, who is extremely talented and he showed it today in his first Formula 1 qualifying. He's done a lot of sim work which makes me happy to see that the prep he did back at the factory paid off as he was well prepared and extremely impressive today. I think between the two of us, we can bring home plenty of points tomorrow".
Oliver Bearman is happy about his debut, even if it could have been better:
"It’s been a great day but it could have been even better. It wasn’t the ideal way of making my F1 debut and of course I send all my best wishes to Carlos for a speedy recovery. But it’s a great opportunity nevertheless. I would have liked to have come to quali with more than the 22 laps I did in FP3. But I can still be happy with today, even if Q2 was a bit messy. It was so close, but I made a mistake on my first push lap, so I had to do a second one and by then the tyres were no longer at their best. Now I’m ready to make the most of this opportunity tomorrow. I will focus on bringing the car home, although points would be nice. But it’s my first race on a really difficult track, so I can’t expect too much".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, is satisfied with the work done by both drivers, both with regard to Charles Leclerc, despite being far behind Max Verstappen, and Oliver Bearman, who almost managed to qualify in Q3 on his F1 debut. Not bad for this young driver.
"It was a pretty good session, even if Max did a fantastic job at the beginning of Q3 and that pole time was a bit too far away for us. Charles’ last attempt was very good and so he was able to secure P2 once again on the front row. Now with him, we have to focus on the race, we had good pace yesterday, so we need to have a good strategy and a clean race. I’m also pleased with Oliver as it was not an easy day for him, jumping in the car at the last minute, as I only told him on the phone three hours before FP3. Managing to get to Q2, not far from making it to Q3 and on what is a very difficult track is pretty impressive. Even though he had so many things to manage he was not particularly nervous and it was an unforgettable experience for him. In FP3 we focused on doing pit stops and also worked on the starts, two aspects that will be important for him tomorrow. Let’s see what he can achieve".
Oscar Piastri managed to pull off a miracle, bringing his McLaren into fifth place, behind veteran Fernando Alonso. The Australian driver thinks he is in a good position for the race:
"P5. I think that was probably the most we could have got out of it, but it was a decent session and the car felt pretty good. All-in-all, we can be pretty happy with that. We definitely still have some things to improve with the car but I think that was a pretty solid session, minus a little tap of the wall in Q1. Going into tomorrow, I think we're in a good position and hopefully we can move forward. Congratulations to Ollie Bearman on his efforts today as well, it was impressive to see him in Q2 having only hopped in the car this morning".
Sixth place does not take away the smile of Lando Norris, who dispenses wishes for a speedy recovery to his friend Carlos Sainz Jr. and congratulates Oliver Bearman on an excellent F1 debut:
"A good day. I don't think we could have asked for much more as a team, so I'm happy. I think we got the most out of the car. We went 4-2-1 with the tyres, which put us at a disadvantage in qualifying with one fewer set of tyres. That made our life a little bit trickier today, but we knew that, we knew what to expect, and we hope it will pay us back tomorrow. I'm very happy and I think we maximised today. Well done to Ollie Bearman, that's a really impressive result given he didn't know he'd be driving an F1 car today, he definitely seems to like this circuit. Best wishes to Carlos too, hopefully he'll have a speedy recovery".
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, speaking of the British team's prospects in the race, says:
"A good result for the team today in qualifying puts us in a strong position to score good points tomorrow. Lando and Oscar made constant improvements today, session-by-session, and put together competitive laps in a field that was tight all the way through qualifying. With Lando, we decided to bias the tyre strategy slightly more towards the race, so it's good that he's up there in qualifying. With Oscar, we wanted to maximise qualifying potential and he did a very good job in achieving this result. We're looking forward to a productive race".
Fernando Alonso is very satisfied with his performance. To be able to place his Aston Martin in P4 is tantamount to a masterstroke, after all, from a two-time World Champion, you can always expect something special:
"It's a nice surprise again to have a strong Qualifying in Jeddah. We are very competitive over one lap and our car is responding very well in Qualifying. I enjoyed every lap out there tonight. On my final push lap in Q3 I managed to take a tow from Lewis [Hamilton] onto the main straight but maybe I lost a tenth of a second into Turn 1, so in the end it balanced out over the lap. It's a good result for Aston Martin but the real test is tomorrow. We have our feet on the ground and we will see where we are with our race pace".
George Russell is not happy overall as he was not able to complete the last attempt. This situation relegated him to P7, again denying him any dreams of glory:
"Unfortunately I was unable to complete my last lap on the new tyres. I made a mistake, which is on me, and that was that. My quickest lap therefore was on the used tyres. It was a strong one but if I had finished my final effort, I think we may have been fighting for P4 or even higher. It is so tight out there and we saw last week that if you don't get everything together, then you can lose several positions. We are still learning about this car; we were P1 and P2 in practice in Bahrain and P2 here again yesterday. We slipped back today but there is potential there. It's a long season so we will be looking to understand more about the platform we have and deliver more consistently. I am confident that we've got good race pace for tomorrow. We look quick in a straight-line, which is a bonus. It's tricky to follow here though and it should be a simple one-stop with the degradation. We need to have a good start and see what we can do from there".
Lewis Hamilton had a tricky day. However, the British driver is concentrated about giving everything for the race:
"It was a very difficult day today. I was much happier in FP3, and the car was feeling much better than on Thursday. It was a real improvement, and I had a lot more confidence in the car. Unfortunately in qualifying, it felt similar to yesterday and I didn't have the stability from the car that I needed. It was a struggle, and we were losing out particularly in the high-speed first sector. Our race pace is typically better than our qualifying pace. We have also been quick in a straight-line so hopefully that helps us. It will be difficult, but we will be giving it everything we've got to progress forward tomorrow. If we can do so, that would be great".
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Team Principal & CEO, instead, is very disappointed:
"That was a very annoying qualifying session! We've got a quick car, but it is on a knife's edge. The drivers are struggling to squeeze out the potential consistently. George was on his way to a strong lap and could have been fighting for a spot on the second row. Unfortunately he lost the rear of the car. Lewis meanwhile never had the feedback from the car that he wanted, and that meant he couldn't go faster. I think the race pace will be very close between ourselves, the Ferraris, and the McLarens. Our target is to try to be ahead of them tomorrow, but we know overtaking isn't easy here. Last week, we thought we had a car that was quicker in terms of race pace, but we were unable to show that. Hopefully we will have a better evening here in Jeddah. We will do our best and see what we can deliver".
On Saturday, March 9, 2024, it’s race day. All the drivers, except for Bearman and Bottas, who are on Soft tyres, are on Mediums. At the start, Verstappen maintains the lead of the race, while Sergio Pérez tries to attack, with no success, Leclerc. Behind them there are Alonso, the two McLarens and the two Mercedes. Piastri is able to pass Alonso, already on lap 2, while Pérez takes the second position from Leclerc, on lap 4. On lap 7, Lance Stroll damages the front left suspension touching a wall, loses the control of the car and hit the wall. The safety car is triggered; some drivers take advantage of the situation for a pit stop, among whom Verstappen, Pérez, Leclerc, Piastri, Alonso, Russell, Tsunoda and Bearman. When the Grand Prix restarts, Lando Norris is in the lead, ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton, Pérez, Leclerc and Piastri. Already on lap 13, Verstappen retakes the lead, while behind, Pérez is third, after passing Lewis Hamilton. A little after, the stewards give the Mexican Red Bull Racing driver a five seconds’ penalty, for having rejoined the race, after the pit stop, in a dangerous way, with the arrival of Alonso. On lap 15, Leclerc passes Hamilton, while starts the fight between the latter and Piastri, for the fifth position. After 3 laps, Pérez takes the second position from Norris. The McLaren driver gives also the third position, to Charles Leclerc, on lap 27. After 32 laps, Verstappen is the leader, with 8s of advantage over Pérez and 17s over Leclerc. Piastri is next to Hamilton, on lap 35, but doesn’t manage to pass him. Between laps 37 and 38, Hamilton and Norris pit. The latter is eighth, ahead of Hamilton, ninth. This allows Oliver Bearman to go seventh, behind George Russell. On lap 38, Hamilton sets the fastest lap, gets near to Norris who, to defend himself, gets a black and white flag. The two get closer to Bearman, who is however able to mantain the position. On the last lap, both Verstappen and Leclerc try to get the additional point for the fastest lap: the Monegasque is the one who gets it, with 141 thousandts of advantage. Max Verstappen wins the 56th Grand Prix of his career, his second following victory of the season. For the three-times world champion this is the second success at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after the 2022 edition.
For Red Bull Racing, at the second seasonal and following victory, it’s the third overall success at this appointment, and the 115th victory of their own story. The Austrian constructor set the second following one-two of the season and the 30th of their own career. The team set two one-twos at the first two races for the second following season. Pérez gets the second position for the second following race, despite the five-seconds penalty, and he never finished in this place at the last eight races of the previous championship. With Leclerc’s third position, Ferrari is the only team different from Red Bull Racing to finish on the podium during the season. Hülkenberg, tenth, finishes a series of twenty races without getting points, not taking into consideration the Sprints. Thanks to the German’s result, Haas get point at this appointment for the third following edition. Albon’s eleventh position is Williams’ best result since the Thai’s P9 at the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix. Magnussen and Tsunoda finish 12th and 14th respectively as the previous Bahrein Grand Prix, before the Japanese was awarded a with a five-seconds penalty. Ocon’s P13 Alpine’s best result of the season. Verstappen becomes the most succesful driver at the Saudi race, winning more than once after the previous editions when 3 different drivers won. The Dutchman, who obtains the ninth following victory, for the second longest series ever, together with Sebastian Vettel, extends to 43 races, the second longest series ever where gets points, with the series started at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Verstappen, who had never won the first two races of the championship, is the leader of the drivers’ standing and passes Ayrton Senna for what concerns the percentage among the races run by the leader of the general standing and those held in his career (29.81%). The three-times world champion will participate at the next Australian Grand Prix without having retired for two years from the same appointment. At the end of the race, Yuki Tsunoda is summoned by the stewards for having been released by mechanics in unsafe conditions, at the end of a pit stop. The Japanese RB driver is penalized by five seconds on race time. Tsunoda, fourtheenth at the end, loses a position. Bearman, seventh, is the 352nd driver in the points in the history of the category, the first Briton since Russell at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, and the 68th to get points at his debut race, the first Briton to manage to do it since Paul di Resta at the 2011 Australian Grand Prix.
It’s the first driver to get points at his debut race since Nyck de Vries at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix. Bearman receives recognition as pilot of the day at his first race after De Vries at the same Grand Prix, the 26th driver to be elected driver of the day and the fourth Briton after Hamilton, Norris and Russell. He is the youngest Ferrari driver in the points and the third youngest of the history after Verstappen at the 2015 Malaysia Grand Prix and Stroll at the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix. Bearman becomes the fourth following driver to get points at his deboust at a Grand Prix with Ferrari, after Ignazio Giunti and Clay Regazzoni in 1970, and Arturo Merzario in 1972. Four British drivers get points at the same race for the first time since the 1968 France Grand Prix with John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, Vic Elford and Piers Courage. It has been the fastest Saudi Arabian Grand Prix of the history on the race distance time, after its debut in the 2021 season, runa t the medium of 229.270 km/h. Max Verstappen gets the 100th podium of his career and is the seventh different driver to reach this goal in the history. Therefore, at the end of the Grand Prix he expresses all his joy:
"It was great to get my 100th podium today and it was another great race for us this weekend. I'm very happy to win here in Jeddah: it's been a great start to the year and we don’t know the full potential of the car yet, so now we want to keep the momentum going. Because of the early pit stop with the Safety Car, I knew we had to work on managing the pace. Every time that I pushed I tried to extend the gap, as you don’t want to be driving on the limit constantly and be taking too many risks on this circuit. It was a very long stint on the hard tyre during the race, but the pace of the car was very good and I was good at managing my tyres. In the last stint, the tyres were getting cold and it was easy to lose the grip at the end, but we pushed through and I think we did everything well today. The ultimate goal is to fight for the championship, so we are off to a great start".
Sergio Perez completes the second Red Bull’s one-two of the season:
"I think the early Safety Car compromised our race quite a lot unfortunately. I lost quite a lot going into traffic with Lando and Lewis, around seven to eight seconds. We needed to get through that quicker than we did to challenge for the win, but other than that it was a strong drive and performance. I really feel like we have done the two steps forward that I was looking for this weekend, so we're getting closer to where we need to be. The Ferrari has the pace and I think there are tracks where they will be a lot closer to us. They probably didn’t maximise their full potential today and we did. Max is driving at a super high level and I think he's the only driver who has maximised qualifying and the race so far this season. It's great, though, because I have the best possible challenge to him. I must keep evolving weekend after weekend. Now, my full focus is on Melbourne and getting on top of what we have done here in Jeddah".
Behind the two impregnable Red Bull Racing, Charles Leclerc is the first of the seconds. The monegasque driver gets the third podium spot:
"We maximised our potential today and couldn’t have done better than this. We struggled a bit on the Mediums, the Hards were tricky at first but improved throughout the stint and I was able to set the fastest lap on them with a bit of help from DRS. All in all, I felt good in the car. Ollie did an exceptional job this weekend. To get into a Formula 1 car starting from FP3, when you don’t know the car and the track is one of the most challenging of the season, it is impressive to see someone get up to speed so quickly. It was super nice to see him so happy and excited all weekend and he’s done a great job".
Oliver Bearman, at his debut, astonishes everyone with a truly incredible performance. The British driver, seventh in his Formula 1 debut, amazed everyone with how seriously he took his first Grand Prix, and how calmly he kept his cool despite the arrival of the likes of Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Clearly, the British driver is overjoyed at the end of the race:
"What a great experience and opportunity to have my first race in Formula 1 with Scuderia Ferrari. It was physically demanding, especially in the end when I had Lando and Lewis behind me on Softs. I had to push flat out to maintain the gap and had to stay really focused, always checking my mirrors. It was a shame that the Safety Car came out so early, as I was comfortable on the Softs, but of course it was the right call to pit then and I’m very happy with the result. I’m confident that I maximised everything today and had great fun out there. I’ll never forget this weekend. Thank you to the whole team for their support and for giving me the chance to race".
Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s Team Principal, at the end of the race analyzes the second weekend of this World Championship:
"With Charles today, I think we paid the price a little bit in the first part of the race of not being in clean air. Unfortunately, after the pit stop, he lost time with Lando Norris and so he was unable to get close enough to Sergio Perez to try and make the most of the five second penalty handed out to the Mexican. Overall, Charles produced a solid race and when he had a clear track ahead of him he was able to match the pace of the Red Bulls to the extent that he set the fastest lap at the very end. We have to put our rivals under pressure if we want to beat them and today, we didn’t manage it. The good news is that we have made progress in terms of the tyres and had minimal degradation. As for Ollie, I didn’t have any specific expectations given the circumstance that led to him being in the car. And yet, he managed these two days amazingly well, almost like a veteran. There were no problems with his start or at the pit stop, things that were all new to him. He was always calm and precise with his feedback over the radio and gradually his confidence in the car grew so that towards the end he managed to keep two great drivers, Lando and Lewis behind him. It was nice that Carlos was able to join us at the track today, just over 24 hours after his operation and we hope he will be able to race in Australia. If nothing else, this weekend has taught us that, if the need arises again, we have a reserve driver who is very much up to the task".
Oscar Piastri finishes fourth with McLaren, who didn’t end among the first five at none of the first eight races of last season. The Australian’s result is the best ever for the team from Woking at Jeddah:
"P4! I think that's definitely the most we could have got out of that race, and we executed it well. It was a bit frustrating being stuck behind Lewis Hamilton for so long, but I think that was the most amount of points we could have got this weekend, so, I'm very happy. I can't wait to go to Melbourne next for my home race, I'm really looking forward to racing at my local circuit in front of the Aussie fans".
Lando Norris finishes eighth and sets 12 points at the first two races of the season after that in 2023 he needed eight races to get the same result:
"A reasonable race. We tried something with strategy but, in the end, it didn't quite pay off - but it was a good effort and I think it was the right decision at the time as we were covering all options for the team. There was reasonable pace in the car today, so we maybe missed out on a couple of points, but I think we did what we could. We took a little bit of a gamble, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and today it didn't, but it could have done! So, I'm still happy. I think today's pace was pretty strong so there are some good signs there. On to the next one".
Andrea Stella, McLaren’s Team Principal, Analyzing the work done in Jeddah, concludes by saying:
"Another strong result here in Saudi Arabia. Oscar drove very solidly throughout the weekend and today he capitalised on the strong qualifying yesterday, finishing fourth and driving a faultless race, with some close but clean fights. With Lando, we decided to split the strategy as a team at the Safety Car, which could have put us in a very rewarding situation in the event of another Safety Car or a red flag, which is not infrequent here in Saudi, and so definitely worthwhile taking this opportunity. Unfortunately, there was no further Safety Car or a Red Flag which meant Lando potentially lost a couple of positions compared to where we could have finished. Nonetheless, it was still a strong result and very good driving by Lando. We take the positives from the first two races with the knowledge it will be a battle of development throughout the season. We are pleased to be so close to a podium finish and know where we have to keep working and improving the car".
Fernando Alonso, fifth, gets point at the first two races, but finished in a lower position than the starting one:
"I'm very happy with finishing fifth in today's race. I think finishing in front of one McLaren, one Ferrari and both Mercedes is a great result for the team and probably around the maximum we can achieve at the moment. It was intense from start to finish and I had George [Russell] so close behind for most of the race. We went into the unknown a little bit with over 40 laps on the Hard set of tyres but we managed it all well and were able to make the one-stop strategy work. We will keep chasing for more performance and focus on the long term as it's a very long season ahead".
With his sixth place, Russell gets a place among the first six at both the race held so far:
"It was a long evening out there. I spent nearly 40 laps within 1.5 seconds of Fernando Alonso but couldn't get past. I had a slippery car on the straights, but I couldn't get close enough in the high-speed to give him any real pressure. P6 was likely a fair result in the end and it's clear that we haven't found the sweet spot with this car just yet. Overall though, we need to find a bit more performance. We've seen potential and pace in the car, but we haven't shown it when it's mattered. We need to understand why that is and improve ahead of Melbourne. As we've seen, the pecking order behind the Red Bulls is very close so we need to get on top of it. There's lots of work to do but I believe in the team".
Lewis Hamilton, ninth, finishes in the points for the fourth time at four editions of the Saudi race, but it’s five races since he does not get a placement in the top six positions:
"We tried our best to go long today and were hoping that we might benefit from a safety car or a VSC. Unfortunately it never came to us, and we ended up finishing slightly further back than we started. It was worth trying something different though. We gave it everything we had, and that was likely the best result we could get today given how the race played out. There is potential within this car, but we still need to add a good amount of performance. The car today was pretty good in the medium and low-speed corners, but we were losing out in the high-speed. These next few races will be tricky but we will be putting in a great deal of effort to improve as much as we can. I know everyone at the factory will be getting their heads down and working as hard as they can".
Toto Wolff, Mercedes’ Team Principal & CEO, is disappointed:
"Today was not a good day for us. It is clear that we are struggling with the car in the high-speed corners. We are competitive elsewhere but in three corners here, we were losing about half-a-second".
And he adds:
"It was therefore incredibly difficult for the drivers to attack with. We tried something different on the strategy but unfortunately, with the low levels of degradation we saw across the field, it didn't work out for us. Congratulations must go to Ollie Bearman; he jumped in the car at such short notice and drove a great race, particularly in that final stint. It shows just how high the level is in Formula 2. There is so much learning we can take from these first two race weekends. We need to get our heads down to analyse, understand and improve. It's clear that we've got a lot of work to do but these tough days make you better. Everyone is committed to getting the car into a better place and we look forward to coming back stronger in Australia".
Thus ended the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship, with the absolute domination of Red Bull Racing, and the annihilation of opponents, who were forced to contend for third place. Now Max Verstappen is the leader of the World Championship, after only two races from its start. His Red Bull seems to be the fastest car on track, impossible to beat. But will things stay the same?