That was memorably the case at Baku in 2016, where a truly staggering amount of attrition in the GP2 feature race warned F1 drivers off any risky moves.īoth GP2 races were won in impressive style by a driver who had an exceptionally good qualifying session this weekend, reaching Q3 on medium tyres in his Alfa Romeo and claiming 10th place: Antonio Giovinazzi. Of course, just because F2 (or GP2) had a lively race on a brand new, high-speed street circuit does not mean F1 will follow the pattern. The local marshals appeared to be on top of things, however: car retrieval was very rapid. Here too Hamilton is at a slightly disadvantage: he put four more laps on his starting set of medium tyres than Verstappen.įormula 2 held a pair of sprint races around Jeddah on Saturday, both of which indicated the track brings a high potential for incidents, as was predicted, and is not easy to overtake on, against expectations. That’s what every driver through to Q3, bar McLaren’s Lando Norris, has the opportunity to do, the papaya car forced to start on softs. In terms of dry wear, Pirelli believe the quickest strategy will be to start on medium tyres and move to the hard compound. Although Wolff’s points about Red Bull’s competitiveness should sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt, AlphaTauri’s performance so far shows that Honda have delivered a power unit which is not struggling to compete with Hamilton’s “spicy” fresher internal combustion unit. Mercedes haven’t been as quick as expected in JeddahIf Verstappen avoids a penalty and starts third he will be in the same position as in Mexico City, when he easily claimed the lead on the first lap and went on to a dominant win. “It’s between understeer, snapping, checking, rolling, you name it.” “The drivers are not at all happy with the car,” he added. “I think we are pretty equal on the straights, but we’ve been losing in the high speed but then also in qualifying in some of the low speed.” “It changes throughout the sessions,” Wolff explained. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says there are clear areas where the RB16B is superior. “If the gearbox has damage or glimpses of that, then we will change it.” “We are so fast that we don’t take any risks,” motorsport director Helmut Marko told Servus TV.
Red Bull may be emboldened to take the grid hit because, against expectations, they appear to have much stronger pace than their rivals. They’re not likely to put up much of a fight. It would also be a cheaper trade than it may seem: Although Verstappen would move back to eighth, consider some of the drivers he’d fall behind: team mate Sergio Perez and the AlphaTauri duo. Starting lower down the order, but with reliability assured, would be better for the championship. Perhaps more significantly, Red Bull also cannot risk him retiring from the race. Leclerc kept his gearbox despite smashing up his Ferrari Charles Leclerc smashed up his Ferrari in a much more forceful rear-on collision during second practice, yet did not need a replacement. The driveshaft appeared to take a strong hit, which is often a tell-tale sign the shock of the impact has been transmitted to places the team don’t want it to go. The first question is whether Verstappen will require a replacement gearbox following his crash, which would mean an automatic five-place grid penalty. Further surprises may be in store, and even if there isn’t, the race looks likely to serve up another tense contest between the title rivals. Indeed, if they were to finish where they start, the Mercedes driver would go into the final race ahead.īut the teams are still learning the secrets of the extreme and unusual Jeddah Corniche Circuit. His crash at the end of championship handed Lewis Hamilton an opportunity to win his third race in a row and further reduce Verstappen’s points lead.
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