2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Jeddah, March 25 - 27

[JPower]

Last year this track required power, great traction and a pretty decent amount of downforce.

Don't see any reason why it won't be Ferrari and Red Bull at the front again. I imagine Mercedes will still be in no man's land for the moment.

I think it will give a better understanding of the midfield though. I'm interested to see how Alfa/Haas/AT/Alpine shake out.

If McLaren/Williams/AM don't bring any significant changes I don't expect too much change even though the track layout is far different than Bahrain.

[siskue2005]

Last year this track required power, great traction and a pretty decent amount of downforce.

Isnt that basically same for all tracks? (Excpet maybe monaco)

[chrisc90]

Last year this track required power, great traction and a pretty decent amount of downforce.

Isnt that basically same for all tracks? (Excpet maybe monaco)

I guess they vary. This is probably a more higher speed track with sweeping turns. You could have a medium speed track where better traction out the corners would be better (like we seen on the Ferrari last weekend). Be interesting to see how the cars fair up.

[JPower]

Last year this track required power, great traction and a pretty decent amount of downforce.

Isnt that basically same for all tracks? (Excpet maybe monaco)

Not really. Some have different dominant combinations. Monza needs power but not necessarily low speed traction or downforce. Spain requires downforce but isn't especially power sensitive or rear limited.

I think Jeddah needs a heavy dose of all 3. It's a pretty unique track, no?

[mkay]

Last year this track required power, great traction and a pretty decent amount of downforce.

Isnt that basically same for all tracks? (Excpet maybe monaco)

Not really. Some have different dominant combinations. Monza needs power but not necessarily low speed traction or downforce. Spain requires downforce but isn't especially power sensitive or rear limited.

I think Jeddah needs a heavy dose of all 3. It's a pretty unique track, no?

You don't really need strong traction at Jeddah. There are only 2 slow corners (T1/2 complex and T27). Everything else is either medium or fast.

Aero efficiency and strong PU are what's key at Jeddah.

[Bill_Kar]

Last year this track required power, great traction and a pretty decent amount of downforce.

Isnt that basically same for all tracks? (Excpet maybe monaco)

Not really. Some have different dominant combinations. Monza needs power but not necessarily low speed traction or downforce. Spain requires downforce but isn't especially power sensitive or rear limited.

I think Jeddah needs a heavy dose of all 3. It's a pretty unique track, no?

Jeddah is definitely more front-limited, so traction should play a less significant role here. If I recall correctly, out of the 27 corners only T1-T2 is low-speed and maybe T27.

[JPower]

Jeddah is definitely more front-limited, so traction should play a less significant role here. If I recall correctly, out of the 27 corners only T1-T2 is low-speed and maybe T27.

You don't really need strong traction at Jeddah. There are only 2 slow corners (T1/2 complex and T27). Everything else is either medium or fast.

Aero efficiency and strong PU are what's key at Jeddah.

Got it.

Makes sense on it being front limited.

Although on the aero efficiency, I don't remember cars like the McLaren or AlphaTauri being much if any quicker than the Ferrari or Alpine around Jeddah.

[wogx]

Aero efficiency and strong PU are what's key at Jeddah.

And that's what Mercedes is possibly lacking
It's interesting if RB has to compromise their performance to increase reliability.
Ferrari should be strong here, it might not be an easy peasy 1-2, but a podium is very, very likely.
Maybe we will see the first podium for Haas? So far their best result was 4th place (Austria 2018, RoGro). That would be great for them, especially after last seasons.
A podium for our old fox Alonso would also be nice, but....

[Big Tea]

Last year this track required power, great traction and a pretty decent amount of downforce.

Don't see any reason why it won't be Ferrari and Red Bull at the front again. I imagine Mercedes will still be in no man's land for the moment.

I think it will give a better understanding of the midfield though. I'm interested to see how Alfa/Haas/AT/Alpine shake out.

If McLaren/Williams/AM don't bring any significant changes I don't expect too much change even though the track layout is far different than Bahrain.

I think if Ferrari had to pick a banker track it would be this or monza. Really cannot see them under serious pressure from anyone

[Neuron]

It's interesting if RB has to compromise their performance to increase reliability.

Here is big question - whether or not RBR will be forced to compromise antyhing or their problems from Bahrain are fixable with ease?

[Mansell89]

Agree you would think Red Bull would have been warm favourites here without reliability concerns.

I’d suspect they’d sooner take 3rd and 4th in a safe drive this week than turn up the wick and go for the win. They know it’s a long season and they would back themselves to fight Ferrari in a development race.

Quite keen to see Alpine over one lap here as they were nifty in the Bahrain speed traps and I believe it was Pat Fry who started the McLaren turnaround post 2018 where he designed a pretty nimble car which was then Renault powered, and they went well.

Wonder how the tyre wear will be on this track?

[AeroDynamic]

Mate red bull struggled to fight off Ferrari while there was a drag disparity between how much wing both cars ran. The Ferrari had more wing. If both cars reduce wing level in Jeddah, who’s going to have more power? Surely the Ferrari. Probably doesn’t matter if Red Bull fix their engine or turn it down.

They might have to worry about Mercedes if they turn their engines down and Mercedes unlock more pace at that circuit.

[wogx]

So you think that Mercedes won't be floor/porpoising limited on straights and in fast corners?

[Henri]

I.m confident merc can nick p2 pr p3 if the is a safety car ecen with less engine power.. orcon dod well last year with less power than merc and redbull

[AeroDynamic]

They keep changing tracks to accommodate drivers that can't keep it on track. First eu rouge and now Jeddah. They should leave these circuits alone, the challenge is supposed to be that – A challenge!