Formula 1 continues to try to fully understand the new cars, heavier and with different tires, and the first grand prix of the course already left surprises. The degradation is higher than expected and getting the strategy right this Sunday at the Saudi Arabian GP seems more important than ever.
It is the second F1 race on the Jeddah Corniche street circuit, which will have 50 laps remaining. And the Pirelli tires are softer than the ones they took to Bahrain. In fact, the same choice is repeated as in the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP, when the Italian manufacturer took the medium compounds of its range.
In other words, in the Saudi Arabian GP race, the drivers and teams have at their disposal the C2, C3 and C4 , which will act as hard, medium and soft respectively. But how will they use them and how many stops will they make this Sunday in Jeddah?
The best strategy for the race in Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah, to make a stop? or how many pitstops? Which tires are best for the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP?
Pirelli, after analyzing the data collected during the three free practice sessions and qualifying, sees it as very possible to do a one-stop race at the Saudi Arabian GP , albeit using the harder tyres.
However, they are aware that everything depends on the degradation they find, and of course on how the race unfolds, since a red flag allows you to change tires freely without losing time and a Safety Car at the right time also helps in the pitstops. And after what was seen in 2021 and so far in 2022, none of those interruptions would be something strange in Jeddah.
If there is high degradation, doing two stops combining other compounds would also be a good choice for Saudi Arabia, given that, according to Pirelli’s calculations, it is just as fast a strategy. If the drivers decide to go for two stops in Jeddah this Sunday, the most successful combination would be to start with medium, then put on hard and finish with medium again (or soft if the previous stints are extended).
It is noteworthy that Pirelli rules out a priori going to three stops in this race in Saudi Arabia.
Even so, we insist, one thing is the calculation for a clean race and another is the possible appearance of red flags or safety cars that make the teams have to rethink in an instant which way to go, and completely change what they had planned. .
In graphic, the best pitstop strategies for the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP
| Number of stops | What tire to go with? | When to stop? | Second stop? |
| One stop |  Medium (yellow) |
return between 15 and 20 (make hard |
Nope |
| two stops | Medium (yellow) |
Return between 13 and 18 (make hard |
Lap between 31 and 37 (put media |
| two stops |
 soft (red) |
Return between 9 and 13 (make hard |
Lap between 32 and 38 (put media |
)What tires does each driver start with in the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP race?
One of the great novelties of F1 is that it has eliminated the Q2 rule, so that each driver can freely choose which tire to start the race with without having to use the one they were wearing when they qualified for Q3 on Saturday. .
Thus, it is not known which tires each driver starts with until a while before the start of the race, when they are already on the grid.
For example, Fernando Alonso was clear, saying that they were not yet sure whether to start with medium or hard, ruling out the soft. In fact, if they follow Pirelli’s recommendation, in theory few would go out on softs in the Jeddah race.
And what will Lewis Hamilton do? the Briton starts from far behind (15th, on the seventh row of the grid), with more options to risk it.
In addition to everything that has been said, we must bear in mind that on this circuit, this weekend the good lap is not achieved the first time, but at least a couple of laps are needed to prepare the tyres. In that sense, going out on softs, despite being the fastest compound, can be a disadvantage.
How many tires and what compounds does each driver have left for the race in Saudi Arabia?
After the practice sessions (where several teams saved the compounds they consider most useful) and the three qualifying rounds (in which some drivers did not have to make two attempts in Q1 and Q2 with new tires, saving some game), these are the tires that each driver has used and new.
