If in 2021 Jeddah was the scene of one of the greatest duels on the track for what concerns Formula 1, the one between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, but also of one of the most controversial days in the history of the world champion Circus, in 2022 it will host the second appointment of the new World Cup which will start this weekend in Sakhir, Bahrain.
Last year the city track that rises in Saudi Arabia was prepared in a few months and impressed with its high speeds, but also with the blind corners that forced the drivers to take various risks in qualifying and in the race.
For this reason, the FIA asked the promoters of the event to modify the route and, above all, escape routes and visibility. The intent, as is often the case, is to improve safety to ensure that riders can push without worrying about what they might find on the next corner.
The changes made in the last 4 months, i.e. since the first edition of the Formula 1 Grand Prix was held in Jeddah and the next, may even have made the track much faster than it was last year. Martin Whitaker, CEO of the promoters of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, explained why.
“Obviously the circuit was built between the months of May and December last year which I think was quite a remarkable achievement in the first place. But there were a number of issues, particularly with visibility, so we fixed all of that. in the last three months. As you can imagine, it’s been a pretty intense three months, going from one race in December and then getting the next race in March was certainly a challenge. “
“The FIA and Formula 1 had requested that we watch I think it was 12 or 15 points on the circuit. Nothing that was a problem as such, it was more on sight lines, because obviously the speed of the circuit is such that the drivers were coming. very quickly on slower cars. And I think the main problem was not so much the race, but more in qualifying, where you have cars that slow down and then take advantage of a decent lap. “
“The FIA can do things about these aspects of course, because in the drivers briefing they can tell the drivers that they cannot slow down in certain corners or around certain areas. But mainly, it was easier for us as well as for the promoter and organizers of the race. circuit think and work on what we could have done. So we changed a certain number of points on the track from the point of view of the drivers. “
In short, many changes just outside the asphalt strip of the track, but also some significant ones inside which, however, did not change the dimensions of the track. Even within the layout, everything that has been changed has been done to increase safety, but also to give the drivers the possibility of not having to pay dearly for some burrs in certain points.
“The size of the circuit does not change, so all lines of sight are inside, the circuit footprint remains the same, apart from Turn 27,” continued Whitaker. “The footprint, the circuit board lines remain the same. We just moved some of the barriers a little back in some areas to improve the view through certain curves. The changes made could make it a little faster, we imagine. , if that’s not fast enough … Most of the changes have actually been made this year. “
“Turn 27 has been widened. There the track limits have changed, so you will see it. If you remember, coming to 27, it felt like the track was quite narrow all the way to the pit straight. So now there is a more opening. wide at the exit of turn 27. So I think that will make a difference. Essentially, everything else on the circuit looks more or less the same as before. We just believe that what we have done will help the riders in most cases. There are a few more areas on which we will work after this race “.
“I think we made between seven and ten of the changes we were looking for. The rest will take a little longer. So, for example, the view inside Turn 23/24 is a bigger task, and we didn’t have to. time to do it. This is one area where I think the FIA Race Director can help in terms of telling the driver to be cautious when he is passing, or not to slow down there when he is on a qualifying lap. But essentially , we have moved the barrier in some places “.
The last modification that Whitaker talked about is also interesting. It is a steel plate used to join concrete blocks and fences. In this way, if the drivers were to kiss the walls with the wheels, they would have less chance of having significant damage to their cars.
“We have added a steel plate in others to effectively eliminate the effect of what F1 calls shoulders in curves, because the cinder blocks of the debris and the debris fence on top are straight lines, they are not curved, so when put them together, there is a shoulder where the two meet. That’s where we used a steel plate to effectively increase the opportunity for the drivers to kiss the barrier without any chance of damaging the car, “he concluded. Whitaker.
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