https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-details-jeddah-f1-track-changes-ahead-of-saudi-gp-/9283015/ FIA details Jeddah F1 track changes ahead of Saudi GP FIA race director Niels Wittich has detailed the final changes made to the Jeddah Formula 1 street track ahead of this weekend's second Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Image Unavailable, Please Login By: Luke Smith Mar 24, 2022, 11:13 AM Image Unavailable, Please Login F1 made its first visit to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in December last year, and while the track won praise for its thrilling, high-speed layout, some drivers were critical of the safety standards and lack of visibility in places. GPDA director George Russell told Autosport the track was "lacking a lot from a safety perspective and a racing perspective", while suggestions from the FIA prompted the organisers in Jeddah to make some tweaks for this year. It had already been confirmed that the sightlines would be opened up in a number of corners to aid visibility, as well as widening the final corner where Max Verstappen crashed at the end of his Q3 lap. The FIA has now formally detailed what changes have taken place ahead of this weekend's second Saudi Arabian Grand Prix via Wittich's event notes that were issued on Thursday. In the tight Turn 2-3 complex where a crash in the race led to one of two red flags last year, the barriers on the left-hand side of the track have been moved back, improving visibility. A similar move has been taken at Turns 14 and 21 to try and make the sightlines better for drivers coming through the kinks at high-speed, while a smooth face has been added to some of the barriers, allowing drivers to brush up against them more. Wittich's notes also confirmed the track had been widened to 12m at the final corner, up from 10.5m last year. Image Unavailable, Please Login Jeddah Street Circuit last corner detail Photo by: Motorsport Images Changes to the circuit Turn 2-3: The left hand side barriers have been moved back to improve visibility from Turn 2 to Turn 4 Turn 4 Apex: A smooth face has been added to the concrete barriers Turn 14 Apex: The barriers have been moved back approximately 1.5m to improve visibility Turn 16 Apex: A smooth face has been added to the concrete barriers Turn 21 Apex: The barriers have been moved back approximately 1.5m to improve visibility Turn 22 Apex: A smooth face has been added to the concrete barriers Turn 24 Apex: A smooth face has been added to the concrete barriers Exit of Turn 27: The track has been widened to 12m Saudi Motorsport Company CEO Martin Whitaker said in Bahrain that the changes could make the fastest street track on the calendar even quicker, with the average speed for pole in qualifying last year coming in at 157 mph. Not all of the requested changes were able to come into force ahead of this year's race, including an improvement of the sightlines at Turns 23-24, which Whitaker felt would be addressed via instructions to drivers by the race director. The event notes state that drivers will be informed of the maximum in-lap time after practice, ensuring they do not go too slowly and impede other drivers on hot laps during qualifying.
. You might you're wish : https://the-race.com/formula-1/vettel-still-not-in-saudi-arabia-aston-martin-delays-decision/
Max was right to cancel netflix.....i never saw that crap...it it looks to me like it's as bad as listening to elton speak!
I think there’s a delicate balance with the whole Netflix show. It’s extremely helpful to really show some of the story lines that are absolutely true and fascinating behind the scene stuff HOWEVER they don’t need to do fiction or tabloid stuff. F1 is inherently political and a difficult sport. There is enough natural stories for them to use.
Correct. We don’t need him in ANY way, shape, or form. I even thought it was a bit curious and perhaps not so veiled “hey” to the Scuderia with his monochromatic red suit today. If he were to join the Scuderia it would be quite difficult to accept.
Sainz about to get a 2 year extension, Leclerc locked down for another 4 still. It'll never happen. Thankfully.
F1 is like anything else in the media, the normal everyday good guy does good story rarely makes the news, so they have to cover the wars, crime, drugs, blah blah blah.
What is the jeddah circuit when it's not a circuit? Did they just leave all that stuff up from last fall? sjd
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/how-new-f1-gearbox-rule-reduces-jeddah-crash-grid-penalty-jeopardy/9275325/ How new F1 gearbox rule reduces Saudi Arabian GP crash grid penalty jeopardy A largely unheralded change to Formula 1’s gearbox regulations has removed some of the jeopardy associated with a heavy pre-race crash around the tight confines of the Jeddah track. Image Unavailable, Please Login By: Adam Cooper Mar 24, 2022, 12:12 PM Image Unavailable, Please Login Under the 2022 FIA sporting regulations there is no longer a penalty associated with a change of gearbox after the start of running on a Saturday. Street and temporary tracks like Jeddah, Melbourne, Monaco, Baku and Montreal – where it’s all too easy to heavily damage a car – are no longer such a tightrope walk for teams and drivers. Speculation about whether a heavy rear or side impact could trigger a gearbox change and potential a penalty, at least in the early part of the season. This is because until last season drivers had to use a gearbox for six consecutive events, with an event defined as Saturday and Sunday only – on Fridays they could use a practice gearbox that was outside the main allocation. What that meant was that a heavy impact in either FP3 or qualifying often led to a gearbox change for the race and a five-place penalty. The system has changed for this season, and there is now a pool of gearboxes that can be swapped around in much the same way that there is a pool of power unit components. Penalties now only kick in when the limit for the year is exceeded. Henceforth gearboxes are now classified as “restricted number components” or RNCs. In fact they are divided into two elements – firstly the gearbox case and cassette, and secondly the gearbox driveline, gear change components and auxiliary components. A driver is allowed to use four sets of each of those two elements for a 22 or 23 race season (there is a sliding scale based on the number of events), and if a driver takes a fifth element, a five-place grid penalty will result. Image Unavailable, Please Login Mick Schumacher, Haas VF-21, climbs out of his car after crashing out of the race Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images If a driver changes more than once on single race weekend only the second example can be kept in the pool and used in subsequent race weekends, so there can be no stockpiling if someone is already at the back of the grid. In addition, Friday is now considered as part of the whole event, so practice gearboxes that were not subject to penalties if damaged and changed are gone. However, each team can also play what are in effect four “jokers” meaning they can use a gearbox outside of the allocation on four Fridays during the season in FP1 and FP2. The reason for that is to give teams (or its gearbox customers) a chance to test updates that they would not otherwise be able to run on track. However, it also takes away a little bit of the pressure to get through a whole season of 23 full weekends with just four gearboxes. Indeed on Friday in Bahrain both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon did exactly that, with a document from the FIA confirming that “the following drivers have run a gearbox assembly outside of the RNC allocation during P1 and P2 of this Event.” The new pool system also means that drivers no longer get a free gearbox change at the next race if they retire. That means drivers outside the top 10 will no longer be encouraged by their teams to park in the closing laps, because there will be no benefit to so doing. Teams are allowed to undertake maintenance or make repairs in order to extend the life of components, although only if “the nature of the work to be carried out has been approved by the FIA and communicated to all competitors.” In addition the FIA requires that the “competitor takes all the necessary measures to satisfy the FIA that the provisions of this article are fully respected. This may include, but is not limited to, an accurate record of the repair work that gets carried out, photographs, the recording of part numbers, etc.” Image Unavailable, Please Login The damaged car of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, on a truck Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images The FIA adds that “change gears, dog rings and reverse (excluding final drives or reduction gears) may be changed under supervision for others of identical specification at any time during an event provided the technical delegate is satisfied there is evident physical damage to the parts in question.” What the new system means is that at least in the first part of the season F1 drivers won’t pick up gearbox penalties as a result of accidents. On the other hand if a driver does have reliability issues and gets to the end of that four gearbox limit, then the penalties will start to kick in. And given that, as mentioned there will be no “free” gearboxes handed out after retirements, in the pitlane as a whole more gearboxes are likely to have to do their full mileage allocation, potentially making it more likely that we will see some failures at some stage. And accidents could still play a role. If a driver gets to the last few races with only one usable gearbox, perhaps after failures have seen the other examples binned, crash damage sustained on a Friday, Saturday or even in a race could lead to a penalty if a fifth box has to be used. The bottom line is that as with the power units, the threat of gearbox grid penalties has now been moved to later in the season. In other words as the title battle is potentially hotting up it adds an extra layer of intrigue to those final races.
The physical nature of this track - limited sight and narrow fast flow could change things quickly for teams and impact the championship later. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ferrari-drivers-say-jeddah-f1-track-changes-not-big-enough/9287218/ Ferrari drivers say Jeddah F1 track changes not big enough Carlos Sainz Jr reckons Formula 1 drivers must keep improving their working relationship with the FIA amid complaints that safety modifications at Jeddah are the "smallest ever". Image Unavailable, Please Login By: Matt Kew Mar 24, 2022, 2:41 PM Image Unavailable, Please Login For the second instalment of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, the barriers have been moved back at numerous corners by up to 1.5 metres to improve visibility. FIA race director Niels Wittich has also revealed that the exit of the final corner, Turn 27, has been widened from 10.5m to 12m while a smooth surface has been added to some barriers to allow drivers greater capacity to brush them without sustaining major damage. This followed GPDA director and Mercedes racer George Russell previously telling Autosport the track was "lacking a lot from a safety perspective and a racing perspective". But the modifications garnered a muted reaction from the Ferrari team-mates on Thursday. Sainz reckoned the "tiny" changes proved more had to be done to improve the relationship between drivers and the governing body after expecting a greater "step in the right direction". He said: "I was commenting with Charles that they just moved the wall, but the driving line will still be close to the wall. "It means our visibility doesn't improve, which for me just shows that we need to keep making this relationship with the FIA tighter, better because we expected a step in the right direction. "In my opinion this is not much better. It is marginally a very small, tiny bit, smallest ever better." Image Unavailable, Please Login Jeddah Street Circuit last corner detail Photo by: Motorsport Images Following the changes, Saudi Motorsport Company CEO Martin Whitaker said in Bahrain that the fastest street track could become even quicker beyond its 157mph average speed. Bahrain GP victor Leclerc followed Sainz in asking for more to be done. He said: "It's going in the right direction, but I don't think it's enough, especially in the last part of the track from what I've seen. "But the first part, from Turn 4 to I think Turn 12, it didn't change much with what was probably the most critical part." Leclerc reckoned the minimal modifications would therefore not have a major effect on the nature of the race after a chaotic first instalment last December. "I don't know it will be so significant that we'll see a completely different situation," he said. "From one year to another, it can be just very different. It depends on how many crashes we have. "But I don't see the changes made doing a huge difference to the scenario of last year.
Can't wait to see how this race goes this weekend! It was such a joy and relief that Ferrari were not just the most talked about in pre-season and pre-pre-season testing, but they also had some real pace. Not to mention the delight that all Ferrari powered cars did so well while Mercedes power seemed to be lacking (with an engine freeze being active!)
I can't wait to see what the whole Ferrari gang can muster this weekend. Another 1-2 would be amazing! I never stopped believing that we have drivers who are capable of bringing both championships back to Maranello.
I think most of us weren't really worried about the drivers. It was the car and/or power unit that were worrisome.
