The Jeddah circuit hosted its first Formula 1 race last December, but the drivers criticized the safety of the track due to its high number of blind corners on a street circuit where very high speeds are reached.
Last year’s race was interrupted by two red flags and several crashes, prompting George Russell, director of the GPDA (drivers’ association), to tell Motorsport.com that the track “has a long way to go from a safety perspective and a racing perspective.
Saudi Arabia will host its second grand prix in four months on March 27, which will also be the second round of the 2022 season. Event CEO Martin Whitaker said last month that adjustments would be made to the track to improve the pilot visibility.
With a month to go before the race takes place, it is already known which curves will be modified to improve sight lines. This can be achieved by moving the barriers and widening the circuit at some points.
“It has already been confirmed that some adjustments will be made to the circuit in order to improve the drivers’ lines of sight from their position, improving visibility in several of the circuit’s corners, including turns 2, 3, 14 and 21, whose barriers will move back between 1.5 and 2 meters,” says a statement from the Saudi Motorsport Company, promoter of the race.
“Also, the barrier on the right hand side of turn 27 will be moved back about 1.5 meters to make the track wider at that point. In all cases, except for turn 27, the track limit or edge will remain the same.”
“In addition, other modifications will also be made to turns 4, 16, 22 and 24 after consulting the drivers, who requested a softer barrier at the apex of the turns to be able to touch it when passing.”
“To accommodate all of this, Saudi Motorsport Company will install a steel plate that will surround the concrete barriers, thus giving them the smooth surface that is required to favor the lines that drivers follow around the track looking to break records.”
The circuit’s blind corners caught a number of drivers by surprise throughout last year’s Grand Prix weekend, particularly during free practice sessions and qualifying when there were drivers on fast laps and slow laps on tarmac.
An accident between Russell and Nikita Mazepin at the exit of Turn 2 was the cause of the second red flag. Russell tried to avoid colliding with Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, who were blocking much of the track, but Mazepin couldn’t see him due to the blind corner and had to call it a day after crashing into the back of the Williams.
