[Official] Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 21 of 22

[Born Racer]

As the climax of the ferociously-fought Formula 1 drivers' and constructors' championships approaches, a battle which has seen seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and the (still) young pretender to the throne Max Verstappen rise to the peak of their craft almost race-in, race-out, Saudi Arabia has the honour of playing host to this fight for the crown in its own kingdom.

In running a night race, the brand new Jeddah street circuit becomes the fourth track to stage a full F1 night race after Marina Bay, Sakhir and Losail, the latter just a fortnight ago. It acts as the second in this year's Middle Eastern triplet of season-closing Grands Prix, before Abu Dhabi brings down the curtain on an extraordinary year.

The history

Saudi Arabia has little motorsport history, although there is a push to change this in many forms now, including big sponsorship deals, such as Aramco's. In the late 1970s, the late Sir Frank Williams, who will be much mourned this weekend after his death less than a week ago, secured Saudi sponsorship. The Race of Champions took place in Saudi Arabia in 2018, while the Diriyah ePrix Formula E race has been run three times so far on the Riyadh Street Circuit, and Extreme E off-road racing was held in the country in April of this year.

In 2019, it was announced that a Qiddiya motorsport complex would be developed for the entertainment hub in Riyadh, and it is anticipated that a Grand Prix will be staged there at some point. In the meantime, Jeddah has stepped forward. Situated on the Corniche, a coastal area by the Red Sea, the track is composed of a whopping 27 corners near the waterfront, although many of these are fast kinks, rather than big turns per se.

The track

Jeddah has a lot of muscle when it comes to challenging the statistics. It is thought to be about to become the second-fastest circuit, with simulations anticipating an average speed of 252.8km/h (11.6km/h slower than Monza, but just edging Silverstone), while it will become the fastest F1 street circuit ever (Albert Park has an average speed of around 237km/h and Baku 215).

It will also be the longest street circuit in use recently, at just over 6km, pipping Baku, and the second-longest track in F1, a kilometre shorter than Spa.



Turns 1 and 2 are made of of a chicane including a 90-degree left, followed by a right, maybe taken in 2nd gear, before and the left-hand kink at Turn 3. Turns 4 and 5 are fast left and right-handers, 5th or possibly 6th gear ones. The semi-circular Turn 5 is followed by a similar shape but in mirror image at Turns 6 and 7. Turns 8, 9 and 10 are fast and gentle turns, probably taken between 250 and 260kmh. The drivers will just shuffle through 11 and 12 before the big banking at 13, a fast and long hairpin, not falling below 140km/h or 3rd gear.

After the fast sweepers of 14 and 15, the right-left sequence of Turns 16 and 17 looks mighty, driven at around 200km/h and in 5th gear before immediately getting detection for the first of three DRS zones. After the slight kinks of 18, 19 and 20, we have DRS Zone 1, immediately chased by DRS Detection Zone 2 and the quick Turns 22, 23 and 24, before the long Turn 25, whose curvature levels off into Turn 26 (all this in DRS Zone 2) before the hairpin at Turn 27, one of the slowest turns on the track, tackled in 2nd or maybe nudging 3rd gear, with DRS Detection Zone 3 just before it and DRS activation on the start-finish straight.

Other information

Circuit length: 6.174km
Number of laps: 50
Race distance: 308.45km
Dry weather tyre compounds: C2, C3 & C4
Race lap record: n/a

First Grand Prix at this circuit: 2021
First Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: 2021

Join the fun in the Predictions Contest and Fantasy F1:

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156703

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