The new Jeddah track proved to be one of the fastest in modern F1, just as it promised. The drivers only had one day of free practice and the Saturday afternoon session to find the limits and pass with the single- seaters skimming the walls at speeds in excess of 300 km/h.
Lewis Hamilton was quickest in qualifying and put his Mercedes into first position thanks to an average lap of 253.984 km/h. This mark could have been even better had it not been for Max Verstappen’s accident on the last corner of the final attempt in Q3, as he was running four tenths off the Briton’s time.
The Dutchman took too many risks and ended up paying dearly for his mistake, so he will be forced to start from 3rd on the grid for the Saudi Arabian race. When a driver as talented as the current World Championship leader ends up crashing into the guards, it becomes clear that the Saudi track is one of the most difficult and dangerous on the calendar.
His teammate, Sergio Pérez, who was fifth, spoke about the complexity of the track, expressing that its nature, with the walls so close and blind vertices, makes it very risky to drive an F1 single-seater in Jeddah.
“It’s a very nice circuit, but very dangerous. There are a lot of straights where there are corners and you’re turning the wheel, and also blind spots, where I hope nothing happens. There’s no real reason for this, but it’s dangerous. said the Mexican.
“When you see some of the replays on board, it’s quite scary, I just hope nothing serious happens here. I feel like the track is too risky, with other cars going slow, and that’s unnecessary, but I think we’ll be able to look at that after the weekend,” said the Red Bull driver.
Checo Pérez showed his concern for the physical integrity of his teammates , and believes that everyone should join forces and express their opinion before returning to Jeddah next season. In addition, he said that having curves where you go all the way, is useless.
“We cannot forget that safety must have priority, I have spoken with other drivers and we all think that we are the ones sitting in the car. With the speed difference between them when doing the fastest lap, if something goes wrong, it can Something serious will happen,” he said.
“There are only straights where you go flat out. It is something that characterizes the track, but we will have to talk after the race”, concluded Pérez.
