Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Jeddah

  • F1 Academy – Saudi Arabia – Round-Up

    Day 1, Practice-

    Maya Weug got Round 2 off to a strong start as the Ferrari driver snatched the fastest time away from Alisha Palmowski with a last-gasp effort as the chequered flag was flown.

    It was nip and tuck at the top of the timing sheets, with the leading duo separated by 0.030s followed by Standings leader Doriane Pin in third.

    With 40 minutes to get reacquainted with both the low-grip and the scorching temperatures, the field headed out for their installation laps. It would take 10 minutes before Nicole Havrda got the first time of the day on the board with a 2:11.374.

    Pin would immediately lower the early benchmark to a 2:07.687 before moving into the 2:06s. Weug was next to go quickest on a 2:06.286 and then clocked in an improved time to put a six tenths buffer between herself and Pin, with Lia Block a further two tenths back in third.

    Palmowski was the next driver to move into second, reducing the gap out front to four tenths.
    Exploring the limits, Farah AlYousef brought out the yellow flags with 15 minutes remaining after the Wild Card driver spun on to the run-off into the final corner.

    Into the final three minutes, Pin seized the P1 spot on a 2:05.610, pipping Wug by 0.06s. However the times weren’t done falling yet as Weug restored herself to the top of the order moments before the chequered flag came out.

    A last second improvement to 2:-5.387 from Palmowski seemed to get the job done by 0.052s, but Weug had one final push remaining to regain the fastest lap of the session with a 2:05.357.

    Qualifying-

    Chloe Chambers lit up the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to claim her first pole position in F1 Academy, winning out in a late three-car battle in qualifying.

    The Red Bull Ford driver stamped her mark on the timesheets with three minutes to go and nobody’s final attempts could touch her 2:04.320.
    Doriane Pin was her closest rival in second, two and a half tenths back as Maya Weug completed the top three.

    Bolting on a fresh set of Pirelli tyres for Qualifying under the floodlights, Ella Lloyd got the first time on the board, posting a 2:06.550 with a big lock-up from the McLaren driver into the final corner.
    Despite improving to a 2:06.307 on her next attempt, she was demoted to P2 by practice pace-setter Weug, who went 0.480s clear of Lloyd and her Rodin Motorsport teammates Chloe Chong and Emma Felbermayr.

    Their early rhythm would be interrupted by the Red Flag at the 23 minute mark as Lia Block clipped the inside wall into the final corner and crashed into the barrier.

    Once running resumed, the drivers squabbled over track position but Lloyd took advantage of her clean air to go top on a 2:05.635.
    This was only for Weug to once again eclipse her by 0.051s ahead of Alba Larsen who moved her Tommy Hilfiger can into the top three.

    Another flying lap complete and Alisha Palmowski was next to go fastest, but the Red Bull Racing driver’s hold would be brief.
    Chambers rose to the top of the timing screens, three tenths clear of Larsen.

    Whilst several of her rivals pitted around the halfway point, Chambers pushed on, becoming the first driver into the 2:04s. Her Campos Racing teammate Palmowski who also improved, closing to within 0.063s of the American.

    Palmowski wasn’t done there, going fastest of all on a 2:04.864. Pin, who languished down in P11, then shot up to the top of the order by 0.048s.
    Benefitting from the tow behind Lloyd, Chambers threw down the gauntlet with a 2:04.320 to take provisional pole.

    Pin’s final two attempts weren’t enough to deny Campos their second pole position in F1 Academy, although the Mercedes driver did reduce the deficit down to two tenths.

    Weug’s last-gasp improvement at the chequered flag was enough for third, with the rest of the top six holding firm.
    The top 10 are- Pole: Chambers, P2: Pin, P3: Weug, P4: Palmowski, P5: Larsen, P6: Hausmann, P7: Llloyd, P8: Felbermayr, P9: Gademan and P10: Chong.

    Day 2, Race 1-

    Ella Lloyd claimed a masterful maiden F1 Academy victory around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as she seized the lead from her Rodin Motorsport teammate Emma Felbermayr at the first corner to win race 1.

    Despite a tantalising Safety Car restart, and immense pressure from Ferrari’s Maya Weug, the McLaren driver maintained first position all the way to the chequered flag.

    Although Felbermayr started on reverse grid pole, it was Lloyd who got the better launch at lights out as she sailed into the lead of the race, quickly establishing a sturdy gap back to her teammate.
    There was another great start for Palmowski down in P5 – she charged through to break into the top three, surviving an additional challenge from Alba Larsen before she masterfully took P2 on the road from Felbermayr.

    The drivers jostled for position across the field throughout the opening laps, with Mercedes’ Doriane Pin getting stuck into an intense battle with Tina Hausmann as Weug improved to P3 just ahead.

    Further back, disaster struck for Lia Block, who failed to qualify for a second round in a row – the American crashed out of the session.

    Whilst fighting to progress up the order, Block was tagged from behind by Haas driver Courtney Crone, spinning her car to face in the wrong direction on track.
    She managed to get going once again, but it was a different story for Chloe Chong, whose car was damaged as she tried to take avoiding action in the incident.

    The chaos triggered an appearance by the Safety Car to neutralise the pack, putting Lloyd under pressure to execute a flawless restart.

    Meanwhile, Felbermayr lost out for a second time as she dropped two positions to Pin and Hausmann. The Mercedes driver, and leader in the Drivers’ standings, then set out to hunt down Larsen in P4, with the two battling around the circuit until Pin finally claimed the spot with a superb overtake down the inside on Lap 9.

    A flurry of penalties were dealt out on the next lap – Wild Card driver Farah AlYousef received a five-second penalty for a false start, while Crone was handed a 10 second penalty for causing a collision with Block.

    Back at the front, there was no time to take a breath even as Race 1 neared its end. On Lap 12 of 13, Ferrari driver Weug skilfully snatched P2 from Palmowski, leaving the latter at the mercy of Pin.

    Despite Lloyd’s earlier dominance, Weug was just half a second behind on the final lap, filling the British racer’s mirrors as the two fought in a drag race to chequered flag.
    Just one-tenth separated the duo over the line, but Lloyd held on brilliantly to secure her first victory in the series.

    The full points finishes are- P1: Lloyd, P2: Weug, P3: Palmowski, P4: Pin, P5: Larsen, P6: Hausmann, P7: Chambers, P8: Gademan.

    Day 3, Race 2-

    Maya Weug battled relentlessly to claim her first win of the season ahead of Chloe Chambers, with the Red Bull Ford driver finishing first on the road before being demoted to due to a penalty that arose for her intense on track contest with the Ferrari driver.

    It was a flawless getaway for first-time polesitter Chambers despite the pressure of Doriane Pin lining up alongside her, who dominated in Jeddah last season.
    The American executed a strong launch while Pin lost her P2 spot to the charging Weug.

    Focusing on keeping the gap to Chambers as small as possible, the Ferrari driver kicked off a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle for first place on the track – an attempted overtake round the outside of the American resulted in Weug taking a trip onto the run-off area.

    But the fight at the front was far from over as Weug rattled over the kerb to send her car momentarily into the air, once again forcing her to drive wide and allowing Chambers to reclaim the lead.

    Chambers began to build a small lead over her rivals, getting up to over a second for a short period, but her hopes of clinging onto the lead were dashed as she was handed a five second time penalty for forcing Weug off the track at Turn 22 during their tantalising battle.

    With the field settling into a rhythm and three laps remaining, Chambers continued to extend her advantage at the front in order to salvage a potential podium.

    The American racer needed a lap of qualifying speed to minimise her penalty and only drop her to P2, resulting in a fight on the timing sheets between her and Pin – the two were ultimately split by less than one tenth at the chequered flag, meaning that Chambers lost just one position.

    She may have crossed the line in second the road, but the penalty promoted Weug to victory, making her the first Ferrari driver to win at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Weug, P2: Chambers, P3: Pin, P4: Palmowski, P5: Larsen, P6: Hausmann, P7: Gademan, P8: Lloyd, P9: Ciconte and P10: Chong.

  • R5 – Saudi Arabia

    Oscar Piastri has picked up his third win of the season with an assured drive to victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Australian driver becoming the new Drivers’ Championship leader in the process.

    There was early drama as the race got underway, with pole sitter Max Verstappen and second-placed Piastri going wheel-to-wheel before Verstappen cut the apex into the first corner.
    While the Dutchman initially held the lead, a five second time penalty for the manoeuvre saw him drop behind the McLaren man after serving the penalty at his pit stop.

    Lando Norris – embarked on a recovery drive from P10 – inherited the lead for some time as the frontrunners pitted, with the Briton having opted for a longer first stint by starting on the hard tyres.
    But Piastri took over P1 when his team mate stopped for medium rubber, the 24 year old going on to eke out an advantage at the front.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Piastri, P2: Verstappen, P3: Leclerc, P4: Norris, P5: Russell, P6: Antonelli, P7: Hamilton, P8: Sainz, P9: Albon and P10: Hadjar.

    What a result from Piastri! His third win of the season, and he did it in great style, cool, calm and collected! The Australian driver had such a strong weekend, he will be looking forward to the next race to continue this momentum.
    As for Lando Norris, P4, just narrowly missing out on a podium but a good recovery drive from the Brit.

    A decent drive from Verstappen, a shame he couldn’t grab the win but going up against the McLaren it has got a lot more race pace than the Red Bull, plus he had a 5 second penalty from the incident with Piastri so that didn’t help his chances.
    As for his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, it was a day to forget… On Lap 1 he collided with his former team mate Gasly as both drivers hit the wall.
    While Gasly was out of the running in the Alpine, Tsunoda managed to limp back to the pits but it was quickly confirmed that he was out of the race.

    Now onto the final podium finisher, Charles Leclerc, what a race for him! The first podium of the year for Ferrari (apart from the Sprint) a lovely drive from the Monegasque. They seemed to have pace this weekend, more than the Mercedes team.
    As for Hamilton he finished 7th, not the best but not the worst and he still scored points. It seems when he switched to the hard tyres he struggled on them which is no surprise as he has had this problem before.

    Now onto the Mercedes drivers, 5th for Russell and 6th for Antonelli, not amazing from the Silver Arrows but there pace this weekend just wasn’t their to battle for podiums.

    Double points for Williams! 8th for Sainz, his best finish in the Williams car so far. And 9th for Albono, overall a good weekend for the team, which they will be hoping for more of.

    And our final points scorer is Isack Hadjar in 10th, the rookie is flying so far, another points finish.

    Now the next race we have a little wait now, which is the 4th May and were headed to Miami for Round 6!

  • Envision sign O’Sullivan for Rookie FP

    Envision Racing has singed British racing driver Zak O’Sullivan for the Rookie Free Practice in Jeddah, as part of a new role that will see him also become a simulator driver.

    O’Sullivan boasts and impressive racing CV to date – with numerous wins in karting before stepping up to single seaters.

    In 2020, the 19 year old narrowly missed out on the British Formula 4 title, finishing runner-up before going onto win the GB3 Championship the following year.

    Two seasons for FIA Formula 3 followed and after stepping onto the podium twice in his rookie campaign in 2022, he became a title contender the following year – taking four wins and settling for the runner-up spot in the championship.

    Most recently, he has competed in the FIA Formula 2 Championship where he took a sensational win in Monaco, before stepping onto the top step once again in Spa-Francorchamps. However, he was unable to complete the full season due to funding obstacles.

    However, his plans for this year has already been announced and the Brit is competing in the highly competitive Japanese Super Formula Championship for the 2025 season.

    I’m very excited to be going to Jeddah to test a Formula E car for the first time. It is going to be a new challenge for me. The session itself will provide a good opportunity for me to learn the car and I will also be making sure I spend as much time with the team as possible across the race week, so I absorb as much as I can.
    O’Sullivan on the news.

    We are thrilled to have Zak joining the team and drive in the first rookie session of the year. We have been very impressed with his results to date and look forward to watching how he adapts to Formula E and integrates within our team.
    Sylvain Filippi, Managing Director & CTO.

  • Rookie Free Practice for Jeddah E-Prix

    The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship will introduce a Rookie Free Practice session as part of the Jeddah E-Prix, specifically designed for drivers who have never raced in the Championship.

    The 40 minute session, scheduled for Thursday 13th February, will provide experienced racing talent from other motorsport championships valuable track time to discover the new groundbreaking technology of Formula E’s GEN3 Evo car.

    The rookie free practice is only open to experienced racing drivers from other series, with a free practice only e-licence.
    It offers hand on experience with the latest Formula E technology, capable of 0-100km/h in 1.82s.

    Teams must nominate a driver and allocate a race car number seven days prior to the event, with the teams announcing drivers already.

    This initiative follows the successful inaugural Women’s Test in Madrid in October, and further emphasises Formula E and the FIA’s dedication to creating diverse and inclusive pathways for the next generation of racing drivers.

    Following on from the success of our Official Women’s Test in November, we’re thrilled to introduce this dedicated Rookie Free Practice session at the Jeddah E-Prix. It’s a crucial next-step in fulfilling our commitment to nurturing the next generation of racing talent, including young women. This opportunity to drive the cutting-edge GEN3 Evo car will provide invaluable experience for these young drivers, and we believe it will significantly contribute to developing the future stars of Formula E and motorsport as a whole.
    Alberto Longo, Co-Founder and Chief Championship Officer.

    It’s crucial for the FIA to allow drivers to develop their careers through FIA World Championships, and the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has one of the most competitive grids around. Many of its current stars gained their first Formula E experience in one of these rookie sessions or tests, and to provide such opportunities for the next generation of promising talents to discover the specifics of Formula E and EV racing – and adapt their driving style accordingly – is essential for the championship’s continuing growth.
    Pablo Martino, Head of Formula E Championship, FIA.

  • F1 Academy – RND 1 Day 1

    Free Practice-

    Doriane Pin quickly got up to speed around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit topping the timesheets in the opening Free Practice session of the 2024 F1 Academy season.

    Keeping pace with the PREMA Racing car, Alpine’s Abbi Pulling secured second only two tenths behind. Williams driver, Lia Block made the most out of her final effort leaping up to P3.

    Once the lights went green to signal the start of Round 1, the 16 car field ventured out on the medium tyres. Pin set the initial benchmark at 2:09.664.

    Times quickly tumbled with both Maya Weug and Bianca Bustamante going top of the leaderboard before Pin once again went fastest with a 2:06.050.

    Pushing it to the limit, track evolution meant there was plenty of pace still to be found. Pulling went over a tenth ahead of Pin, but the French driver quickly regained the time to beat, becoming the only driver inside the 2:04s, finishing 0.212s clear of Pulling.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Pin, P2: Pulling, P3: Block, P4: Marti, P5: Weug, P6: Lovinfosse, P7: Chambers, P8: Schreiner, P9: Hausmann and P10: Edgar.

    Qualifying-

    From start to finish, Doriane Pin was the driver to beat in the first qualifying session. Setting a 2:03.472 with six minutes remaining, the Mercedes driver hold on the top spot remained firm, taking both pole positions by 0.785s and 0.684s.

    Abbi Pulling and Ferrari’s Maya Weug were locked in a battle for second, with the Alpine driver beating out the Dutch driver for a spot on the front row for both races.

    10 drivers bolted out the pits at lights out and immediately set about getting the medium tyres ready underneath them.
    Pin was the first to get a time on the board, before Pulling went top.

    Campos Racing’s trio opted to play the waiting game, holding off their outlaps until 18 minutes to go. It seemed to pay off as Nerea Marti slotted inside the top three on her second effort.

    Qualifying 1 results- P1: Pin, P2: Pulling, P3: Weug, P4: Marti, P5: Bustamante, P6: Lovinfosse, P7: Block, P8: Chambers, P9: Nobels and P10: Edgar.

    Qualifying 2 results- P1: Pin, P2: Pulling, P3: Weug, P4: Lovinfosse, P5: Martin, P6: Chambers, P7: Hausmann, P8: Nobels, P9: Edgar and P10: Bustamante.

  • F2 Jeddah- Recap Day 2 & 3

    This now concludes round 7 of 2021, lets take a look at the two Sprint Races and the Feature Race in Saudi Arabia.

    Day 2-

    Sprint Race 1- Lawson and Armstrong lined up together on the front row which saw them go wheel to wheel heading into the first turn but it was Marcus Armstrong who led the the Sprint Race.

    We got to Turn 4 where we had a Safety Car as a collision ended Samaia and Sato’s race which was caused by Olli Caldwell tagging Samaia’s Charouz, Caldwell was then handed a 10 second time penalty for this collision, so not the best start for Caldwells first weekend in F2.

    By the end of Lap 3, the safety car headed into the pits but there was further drama going on as Championship challenger Zhou spun and found himself facing the wrong way which he then dropped to back of the grid.

    During this chaos Boschung pulled a move on Vips for P3 but this didn’t stop Vips as he came for Boschung to get back the final podium place. Boschung then started to loose speed and started to tumble down the order. The next retirement was Pourchaire as he lost control at Turn 22 and hit the wall which brought out a second safety car.

    The top 10 of the Sprint Race was: P1: Armstrong, P2: Lawson, P3: Vips, P4: Drugovich, P5: Daruvala, P6: Shwartzman, P7: Lundgaard, P8: Ticktum, P9: Piastri and P10: Viscaal. However Daruvala got a penalty which was added on at the end of the race which saw him finish P10, so he starts the second Sprint Race on pole position.

    Sprint Race 2:

    Daruvala knew what he had to do as soon as the lights went out, he kept P1 going into the first turn. However Trident driver, Viscaal was unable to hold onto 2nd and dropped two places behind Piastri and Lundgaard.

    Armstrong was looking to build on from his brilliant sprint race earlier on in the day, unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way, as he was an innocent bystander in a four car crunch which saw F2 newbie Clement Novalak, Alessio Deledda and Samaia all getting caught up in the collision and forced to finish their race there.

    After the Safety Car went in Piastri was very close to Daruvala. But the action behind them was still going on with Drugovich stealing P7 away from Vips. Vips wasn’t ready to give up that spot as he started to re claim the position but the Estonian driver got too close to the back of the Virtuosi car which saw his front wing be ripped off and become the fifth retirement of the race.

    Daruvala then got another five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, as well as Lungaard handed the same punishment too. This didn’t stop Piastri though, he wanted to do this on track and not wait till the end of the race, and he did he took the lead of the race coming out of Turn 1 and built up a 1.5s gap.

    The race ended under the Safety Car due to Liam Lawson loosing the rear of his HiTech at Turn 13 where he spun into the barriers with two laps left, meaning the top 3 finishers from the first sprint race did not finish the second sprint.

    The top 10 of the Sprint Race 2 was: P1: Piastri, P2: Viscaal, P3: Shwartzman, P4: Ticktum, P5: Doohan, P6: Pourchaire, P7: Fittipaldi, P8: Zhou, P9: Boschung and P10: Drugovich. With fastest lap going to Piastri.

    Day 3-

    Well, where do we even start, first of all the race was delayed due to replacing the concrete barrier at Turn 13 in which we saw Liam Lawson have a crash there in Sprint Race 2.

    Once we got going finally, the racing didn’t continue for long, as Theo Pourchaire stalled on the grid which led to a big accident involving himself and Enzo Fittipaldi which saw the race be red-flagged.

    Because of the first delay and then the red flag we finally went racing again but only 20 minutes + 1 lap, 10 minutes in we got a safety car which saw quite a few drivers take their mandatory pit stop including championship leader Oscar Piastri, but because of the crash which involved Olli Caldwell and Guilherme Samai. The race then got red-flagged and then decided the race would not continue.

    So half points would be awarded and they would take the grid positions from lap 5, which saw Oscar Piastri in 1st, Rober Shwartzman in 2nd and Ralph Boschung in 3rd.

    The full top 10 are: P1: Piastri, P2: Shwartzman, P3: Boschung, P4: Zhou, P5: Drugovich, P6: Vips, P7: Lundgaard, P8: Armstrong, P9: Lawson, P10: Ticktum.

    Oscar Piastri is still leading the championship with a gap of 51.5 points to his team-mate Shwartzman, we then have Guanyu Zhou in 3rd and Dan Ticktum in 4th. Prema have now won the teams championship for the second year in a row!

    The main thing we can take away from this weekend in F2 is that Theo Pourchaire and Enzo Fittipaldi are okay, even though Fittipaldi does have some injuries i’m looking forward to them returning to the race track.

  • Round 21- Jeddah Race

    EPIC. CHAOTIC. BWOAH.

    Where do I even start with the race, we all knew the race would feature a safety car during the race after seeing the 3 F2 races this weekend, but I don’t think we expected what we all just saw!

    Lewis Hamilton takes win number 103, with Max Verstappen in P2 and Valtteri Bottas on a late charge to take the final podium place. Lewis also took fastest lap too.

    The top 10 are: P1: Hamilton, P2: Verstappen, P3: Bottas, P4: Ocon, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Gasly, P7: Leclerc, P8: Sainz, P9: Giovinazzi and P10: Norris.

    Esteban Ocon of France driving the Alpine A521 Renault during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on December 05, 2021 in...
    JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 05: Esteban Ocon of France driving the (31) Alpine A521 Renault during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on December 05, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

    The first of the accidents during the race was Mick Schumacher who spun and hit the barrier at Turn 23. This brought out a safety car which many of the drivers had pitted, however this then turned into a red-flag which then gave Verstappen a free pit stop.

    We went onto a standing start which saw Lewis lead, but then Verstappen went wide and off track at the first chicane which saw him cutting across Hamilton who dropped to P3 behind Esteban Ocon. The racing didn’t last long as we had two separate incidents the first involving Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez in which Perez’s race ended there with too much damage. The other incident involving Mazepin and Russell, which saw Nikita go into the back of the Williams car, this caused the second red flag of the race.

    After many radio messages back and forth from Mercedes to FIA or Red Bull to FIA, the restart was Ocon 1st, Hamilton 2nd, Verstappen 3rd. But Verstappen made a good move on his shiny new mediums.

    If you thought the drama was over after that, you are very wrong, we then had three VSC periods from Lap 28 to Lap 36. Lewis attempted a move on Lap 36 for the lead of the race but Max braked too late in which he run wide at Turn 2 and retained the lead. Max was instructed to give back P1 so on Lap 37 max slowed for Hamilton to get caught up in mixed messages and clip the rear of the Red Bull in which Lewis now had front wing damage.

    Whilst the drama was going on with Mercedes-FIA-RedBull, Lewis wanted to keep the fight on track in which on Lap 42 he was looking to get past the Dutchman but Verstappen again went wide . At this point the stewards gave Max a fixe second time penalty.

    Then the rest is history after Lewis managed to over take Max and build up a big enough gap so Max didn’t have chance to push and keep on fighting each other, but further down the field the drama was still going on.

    Valtteri Bottas was keeping the pressure on Esteban Ocon during the race so much so that Bottas beat him by a tenth of a second, literally securing P3 on the checkered line! Obviously gutting for Ocon but for me he deserves driver of the day, he was there where it mattered and stayed out of trouble and he was rewarded with a P4.

    A lovely race for Daniel Ricciardo today, after a disappointing number of races not scoring he managed to bring his car home in P5 and he fully deserved it! As well Gasly a nice strong finish in P6 brings a good set of points which he will be more than happy with.

    The Championship-

    Well, we all know what that has done to the championship now… Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are equal in points going into the final race which hasn’t happened since 1974!

    Leclerc now moves up to P5 with a 4 point gap from Lando Norris, so i’m sure we will see an entertaining race next week for the battle for 5th position in the standings!

    Mercedes now have a gap of 28 points which separate them and Red Bull, this makes next weekend even more exciting with both Bottas and Perez needing to do there all so either of the teams can win the Constructors.

    Now onto next week for the final round of the 2021 Formula 1 Championship, we are back in Abu Dhabi at the newly changed Yas Marina Circuit, all drivers will need to get used to what has changed on the track.

  • Round 21- Jeddah Quali

    That is now qualifying over for today and what a qualifying it was! This circuit is something else and it shows with how close the cars get to the walls!

    It is a 1-2 for the Mercedes boys in Saudi Arabia, get in there boys!!! Lewis Hamilton takes pole position, with his team-mate next to him in second. Max Verstappen joins the pair in third position.

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Leclerc, P5: Perez, P6: Gasly, P7: Norris, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Ocon and P10: Giovinazzi.

    Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W12 during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at...
    JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 04: Valtteri Bottas of Finland driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W12 during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on December 04, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

    Well lets start with the final lap from MV, he was doing an outstanding lap but he was very much pushing the limits and there was a couple of close calls with the wall during the lap until he got to the final corner… where he did indeed touch the wall quite harshly which ruined his chance of pole position. There could be a potential gearbox change which he already had a new one in this weekend but another new one means a penalty… So we will await and see if there is significant damage to his car.

    It really is not Aston Martin’s weekend, they have been somewhat off there normal pace and that showed even more so during qualifying when both of the cars qualified 17th and 18th.

    Yuki Tsunoda must really like new circuits, last time out in Qatar he qualified P8, and today it was again P8, either that or he is very happy with the car and puts it all together in qualifying for a good lap! His team-mate Pierre Gasly a good qualifying for him too, possibly a good race for both Alpha Tauri drivers tomorrow and score a good set amount of points?

    Now Carlos Sainz… What didn’t happen with him in Q2! He had a big moment on his first flying lap which saw his rear wing touch the wall, so he dived straight into the pits afterwards so his team could assess the amount of damage. Then on his second flying lap he went wide which again ruined his lap… Hence him qualifying P15, this could have a big impact on the Constructors now.

    Predictions-

    I am going to say Hamilton for the win, with Bottas in P2, the final podium place going to Perez, P4: Leclerc, and P5: Verstappen. With fastest lap going to Bottas.

    Hopefully we get a McLaren up there in the points, Norris seems to be enjoying this circuit quite a bit and he will more than likely be wanting to redeem himself after the awful triple header for him and the team.

    Times for tomorrow-

    Sunday 5th- Race: 17:30pm (GMT), 18:30pm (CET).

  • F2 Jeddah- Day 1

    Our first day of having Formula 2 cars back on track today and I don’t think we was disappointed. All 22 cars took to the new track in Saudi Arabia with 4 of the drivers moving up from Formula 3.

    Free Practice-

    We had a bit of a delay to the start of our Friday due to temporary operational delays but once we got started it was Armstrong who led the grid out onto the 46 degree track!

    Twenty of the drivers went back into the pits after the installations but both MP drivers Novalak and Doohan went round the circuit for another lap to get to terms with the car/grip of the track.

    One of the four debutants didn’t have the best afternoon, Logan Sargeant lost control of his HWA in Sector 3 where he collided with the wall which caused a Red Flag.

    PREMA are just on fire this season but it being their other driver Robert Shwartzman who topped free practice with a 1:42.623 ahead of Ralph Boschung and Carlin’s Dan Ticktum.

    The full top 10 were: P1: Shwartzman, P2: Boschung, P3: Ticktum, P4: Drugovich, P5: Armstrong, P6: Vips, P7: Zhou, P8: Doohan, P9: Lundgaard, P10: Piastri.

    Jack Doohan of Australia and MP Motorsport drives during practice ahead of Round 7:Jeddah of the Formula 2 Championship at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on...
    JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – DECEMBER 03: Jack Doohan of Australia and MP Motorsport (11) drives during practice ahead of Round 7:Jeddah of the Formula 2 Championship at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on December 03, 2021 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

    Qualifying:

    WOW, the amount of close calls I saw during the Qualifying session I had to hold my breath, this track is something else…

    Moving on to the result of qualifying, Oscar Piastri lapped a 1:40.878 so he claims his FOURTH pole in a row he is now the only second driver to do this! His team-mate Shwartzman will be starting next to him on Sundays Feature Race.

    It looked like Shwartzman had pole position during the majority of qualifying as no-one was improving their times until Pourchaire came all along and took it off him, but the Russian came fighting back and got pole position again.

    Zhou had been struggling quite a bit during this session, it may be because of temperature and getting the heat into tyres? The first half of the session he was down in 9th but once he pitted and came out with fresh tyres he managed to get 3rd on his first run.

    The top 10 for Sundays Feature Race are as follows: P1: Piastri, P2: Shwartzman, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Lundgaard, P5: Drugovich, P6: Zhou, P7: Boschung, P8: Vips, P9: Armstrong, P10: Lawson.

    So for tomorrows first Sprint Race we have Liam Lawson on pole position with Marcus Armstrong in second and Lawson’s team-mate Juri Vips in third!

  • Saudi Arabian GP

    Another weekend, another Grand Prix and this weekend we are in Saudi Arabia for the first ever Grand Prix here its round 21 out of 22 and it should be an exciting one!

    With the points gap between Lewis and Max slowly come down, can Lewis win his third race in a row? Or will max want to try and go into the final race next week with a bigger point gap than 8 points…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    Obviously both title contenders, Max probably more so than Lewis as Lewis has been on top form the past couple of races, with it being a new track both drivers are at the same level this weekend.

    Now moving onto the other Red Bull and Mercedes drivers, they will both be fighting each other on Sunday, to get more points for the Constructors, also both Perez and Bottas will be used to try and take the fastest point away depending on who has it and how the race is going.

    Again McLaren, it seems that lots of people think this track will suit the papaya team because of how fast its meant to be, but no-one really knows until we hit the track on Friday. Both McLaren drivers will need to have a good weekend and have the strategy perfect if they want to try and close the gap and also help Lando secure P5 in the championship as Leclerc is getting closer to that spot.

    Predictions for Qualifying-

    My top five are: Pole- Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Verstappen, P4- Perez and P5- Gasly. I don’t think you can count out Gasly from a good qualifying his been on such good form!

    Two other drivers you cant count are the Ferrari boys, they seem to have such a good understanding of the car and they always qualify near each other which is beneficial when strategies come into play during the race.

    Times for the weekend-

    Formula 1- Friday 3rd- FP1: 13:30pm – 14:30pm (GMT), 14:30pm – 15:30pm (CET). FP2: 17:00pm – 18:00pm (GMT), 18:00pm – 19:00pm (CET).

    Saturday 4th- FP3: 14:00pm – 15:00pm (GMT), 15:00pm – 16:00pm (CET). Qualifying- 17:00pm – 18:00pm (GMT), 18:00pm – 19:00pm (CET).

    Sunday 5th- Race: 17:30pm (GMT), 18:30pm (CET).

    Formula 2- Friday 3rd- Free Practice: 11:10am – 11:55am (GMT), 12:10pm – 12:55pm (CET). Qualifying: 15:20pm – 15:50pm (GMT), 16:20pm – 16:50pm (CET).

    Saturday 4th- Sprint Race 1: 12:30pm – 13:15pm (GMT), 13:30pm – 14:15pm (CET). Sprint Race 2: 18:40pm – 19:25pm (GMT), 19:40pm – 20:25pm (CET).

    Sunday 5th- Feature Race: 14:25pm (GMT), 15:25pm (CET).

  • Doohan stepping up

    Another Formula 3 driver is making their Formula 2 debut this weekend, this time it is Jack Doohan and he will be joining MP Motorsport for the final two rounds of 2021.

    Doohan took part in Formula 3 this year which saw him battle Dennis Hauger, where h won four times and took two more podiums, he finished 2nd overall.

    The Australian will be replacing Richard Verschoor, due to the Dutchman having financial issues play part in the final two rounds of 2021 which is a massive shame just like all the other drivers this year. Doohan will be partnering up with his 2021 Trident teammate Clément Novalak who will also be making his Formula 2 debut this weekend.

    “I am very excited and very happy to be partnering with MP Motorsport for the final two rounds of the Formula 2 Championship,” said Doohan. “It is an amazing opportunity. I cannot thank the team enough, as well my family and everyone who has enabled me to do these last two rounds. This opportunity will give me a little bit of a foundation and a base before I start my prep for next year. I am super excited. I don’t have any real goals as I haven’t been in anything higher than a Formula 3 car before. Free Practice will be my first time in something higher than Formula 3, so my expectations are very minimal. My goal is to get as much track time as possible and to constantly be learning. I am really excited, it is awesome to be heading to the circuits in Jeddah and Yas Marina, I can’t wait.”

    My Opinion-

    Mixed feelings on this, but only because I liked seeing Verschoor race! Obviously gutting for him but it is all about money in F2 and sometimes it just isn’t possible to carry on, but i’ll be keeping an eye on what to see he does in his future!

    Now onto Jack, this is exciting a lot of F3 drivers this weekend in F2 which makes it exciting and gives them a step up for next year if they manage to get a seat. I definitely think a few teams will be watching Jack especially more so after his year in F3.

  • Sargeant racing in Jeddah

    Logan Sargeant, who raced in F3 this year will make his Formula 2 debut this weekend in Jeddah with HWA Racelab.

    Sargeant who got announced as a member of the Williams Academy in October, has had a good streak of winning, he won this year in F3, he was also a title challenger with Prema in 2020 as he just missed out on the Championship to Alpines Reserve and current F2 leader, Oscar Piastri.

    HWA has had a rough time this year with drivers, their original line up being Alessio Deledda and Mateo Nannini, but Nannini wanted to focus on Formula 3 more so Jack Aitken came in and raced in Monaco, Baku and Silverstone, it looked like he was going to be in for the rest of the season until he had a nasty crash during the big F2 break.

    To replace Aitken as his injuries were to severe to race, Jake Hughes comes in to play who has won in F3 multiple times. Hughes was in for Monza and Sochi. And now enters Logan Sargeant… It will be more than likely he will race in Abu Dhabi next week to.

    My Opinion-

    Finally!! Well deserved in all honesty, it will be interesting to see what he can get from the car this weekend, I have no doubt he will put his all in to impress teams to hopefully get a seat in 2022.

  • Tyres for Jeddah

    The tyres for this weekends Grand Prix has been announced, just like Qatar no-one has any data from previous years, but this track is a little different to Qatar as this circuit has only just been built!

    The three compounds which have been chosen are: C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft), this is the most common selection which has been picked this year.

    Jeddah and Qatar are two very different circuits, both new to the F1 calendar, but the teams knew the Qatar circuit would put stress on the Pirelli tyres during the race. With only the simulations from the teams for Jeddah it is suggested that the middle compounds in the range are the best, it should be well suited to the fast and flowing street race with over 50 laps on Sunday.

    The Track-

    The track itself has been designed by well known circuit architect Hermann Tilke, he has designed circuits such as Bahrain International Circuit, Istanbul Park Racing Circuit, Shanghai International Circuit, Yas Marina Circuit and the Circuit of the Americas.

    The track is a 6.174-kilometre track, its the longest street circuit on the calendar and the second longest of the year after Spa. It is also set to be one of the fastest with an average speed of 250kph, that is only just behind the Temple of Speed.

    Now onto the most demanding turns, is Turn 13 a left hander which features a 12 degree banking that should place high g forces on the tyres. Jeddah has a total of 27 corners which will keep the tyres working hard throughout the race.

    The track looks quite unforgiving in the sense that parts of the track are quite narrow and the walls close to the side of the track which could lead to a high possibility of seeing the safety car during the race which will affect teams strategy.

    As its a new track, the track itself will be quite slippery to start off with on Friday but with Formula 2 and a Porsche competition throughout the weekend this will help with track evolution.

    We also have Formula 2 this weekend, the tyres which have been chosen is the Medium and Super soft compound, which is the most common combination picked this year.