► Thoughts from the second round of F1 2022
► Red Bull vs Ferrari again
► Time time Verstappen comes out on top
After last week’s thriller in Bahrain, Formula One returned to the infamous Jeddah circuit on Sunday. The venue of Verstappen’s infamous brake testing stunt, as well as some interesting racing throughout the field, Jeddah gave us drama in 2021 – and this year was no different.
Eventually it was Verstappen who took maximum points, closely followed by Leclerc and later Sainz to round out the top three. There were stories up and down the field, in what had to be one of the most uncomfortable races I’ve seen in a while.
1. Missile attacks won’t stop the racing
Just two day before the race, an Aramco facility near the track was targeted in a Houthi rocket attack. Although only ten miles from the track, the strike was near enough to see plumes of thick black smoke during FP1.
After a Saturday drivers’ meeting which appeared to suggest the drivers understandably didn’t want to race, the FIA finally revealed the race was going ahead after all.
Mick Schumacher’s qualifying crash only added to the ominous vibe, but thankfully the Haas driver and the rest of the grid escaped the weekend unscathed.
2. Mercedes *really* weren’t sandbagging
If 3rd and 4th were a dream result for Mercedes in Bahrain, then the team’s 5th and 10th place in Jeddah were more representative. The issues started for the team on Friday when their car continued to bounce on the straight, and on Saturday a last minute set up change left Hamilton qualifying 16th.
The seven-time world champion has gone the wrong way in set up many times before, but it’s usually meant being second or third; not so with Mercedes’ current pace.
Despite being out in Q1, Hamilton was able to wrestle the car as high 5th before a VSC and slow pit wall resulted in him finishing tenth overall. Still second in the constructors’’ championship thanks to RB’s double DNF last week, the Brixworth team need to fix their car soon if they’re to be in with a shot of either championship. Upgrades are planned for the coming races, but they need to work.
3. RBPTs still look sketchy…
Three out of the four RBPT-powered cars didn’t finish the Bahrain GP, and this weekend one didn’t even start the Saudi Arabian GP. After a similar issue on Saturday, Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri didn’t even make it to the grid, meaning every Red Bull-powered car has had at least one PU failure over two races.
4. But so does everyone else
After a commanding performance, Perez became unstuck when a VSC disrupted the race entirely. Originally caused by Latifi – who we’ll deal with later – it also seemed to cause three DNFs in quick succession.
Ricciardo, Alonso and Bottas all retired their cars within laps of each other, with the McLaren and Alfa Romeo having clear engine issues. Three different power units, and three seemingly similar issues. Overheating, gearbox issues or otherwise, reliability is something to watch for the rest of the year.
5. Charles still has Max’s number
Verstappen managed to take the win by 0.5 seconds, but for much of the race – and much like Bahrain – he had no real answer for Charles Leclerc’s racecraft. Just like in Bahrain, Max used DRS and the Red Bull’s top speed to pass, only to be repassed by the Ferrari later in the lap. At one point Max tried to goad Leclerc into crossing the DRS line ahead of him, only to lock up when Charles saw it coming.
Ultimately Max’s race win can partially be pinned on the VSC and Alex Albon’s incident; the former allowed him to catch-up, and the latter made sure Charles was unable to gain in the last lap – when the Monegasque driver looked capable of passing.
6. Another Latifi crash
Nicholas Latifi crashed two days in a row, and in two of the last three races he’s taken part in. Still, he scored as many points as his teammate Albon this weekend, who ploughed into Lance Stroll and has earned himself a three-place grid drop at the next race.
7. Ocon made notes when battling Perez
A lull in the race action was ultimately filled when Alpine’s Ocon and Alonso seemed to have a full-on battle for several laps. There were hard moves throughout, with Esteban seemingly pulling moves Perez would’ve been proud of. Perhaps the pink, BWT-livery gave Ocon flashbacks, and he thought he was racing against Checo after all.
Either way, it provided great racing, proving that cars can follow, and battles can turn into strategic drawn-out affairs. That was by far the best thing about this weekend; Jeddah was another tick against the new F1 2022 regulations. Brawn and Symonds are 2/2.