Gedda low degradation circuit
A few days after the seasonal debut in Bahrain, Formula 1 moves from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea for the second race, scheduled from Thursday 7 to Saturday 9 March. The distance as the crow flies that separates the permanent circuit of Sakhir from the city circuit of Jeddah is approximately 1260 kilometers but the technical characteristics of the two tracks are very different. From a track characterized by a very abrasive asphalt, where thermal degradation is particularly significant and where braking stability and traction are determining factors, we move on to a rather smooth asphalt and a very fast track (over 250 km/h on average), second only to Monza.
With its 6.174 kilometers in length, to be repeated 50 times, the circuit has a particularly sinuous shape and is the second longest on the calendar but the first in terms of number of corners (27), many of which are driven at medium and high speed, subjecting thus tires with high lateral forces. As in Bahrain, qualifying and the race will take place in the evening (8pm local time), with temperatures therefore significantly lower than those of the first free practices on Thursday and Friday.
Along the lines of what happened in the three previous editions of this competition, the Pirelli has selected the three central compounds of the range: C2 as Hard, C3 as Medium and C4 as Soft. Another difference with Bahrain is the race strategy. Last Saturday we saw how the vast majority of drivers made two stops, with three pit stops as the only possible plausible alternative, while in Jeddah it is very predictable to see a race based on a single stop, with drivers alternating Medium and Hard also based on the position on the starting grid. Since it is a city track, the escape routes are rather limited and the risk of accidents is quite high, with a consequent high possibility of seeing the safety car on the track or even witnessing an interruption. Overtaking is not particularly easy: the easiest point to overtake is the braking section of Turn 1.
As often happens on city tracks, the evolution of the track will be very fast and in qualifying it will be crucial to choose the ideal moment to set the lap timeas will be making optimal preparation of the launch lap: in previous editions we have often seen how the pilots did as many as two before bringing the Softs to the right temperature, with the consequent traffic problems that could arise.
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