Saudi Arabian GP: work in progress to improve the track | FormulaPassion.it

The 2021 championship had presented the first edition of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, held on the circuit of Jeddah. A track that, even before the advent of the F1 single-seaters, had aroused a lot of curiosity for its very fast sections, soon supplanted by the controversy over the work in progress that had questioned the holding of the event. The latter, however, then took place regularly in the second half of the world championship, but on a circuit criticized not only for the final conclusion of the interventions, but also and above all for his safety standards. Not surprisingly, the absence of escape routes and the size of the track, considered rather narrow by the drivers, then highlighted the two accidents that occurred in the early stages of the two starts – there was a red flag due to the impact of Mick Schumacher – not to mention other episodes of a different nature such as the collision between Verstappen and Hamilton.

In 2022moreover, the Saudi GP was anticipated as second weekend of the year, which will host the Circus at the end of March after the inaugural race in Bahrain. Looking forward to this appointment, Martin Whitaker, CEO of the Saudi Motorsport Company, has thus listed what will be the most important jobs to be done in view of the return of F1: “The period after the race – commented as reported by the newspaper the-race.com – it allowed us to evaluate which aspects worked, and which didn’t. We tried to improve some areas for our second event: firstly, there will be one or two slight changes to the track. These changes are directly related to the view of the pilots from the cockpit. This is minimal work, but it will help improve forward visibility in a couple of corners. Secondly, we will make some small changes to the barriers, which will favor the trajectories of the pilots. There are lessons we have learned – he added – and now we have time to address these issues to make sure everyone can have a better experience. The most important thing is that the long-term future of a race in Saudi Arabia is safe – commented Whitaker on the move from Jeddah to Qiddiya – the construction of Qiddiya is underway, but the main focus is on maximizing and enhancing the qualities of Jeddah ”.