Saudi Arabia award: Lewis Hamilton celebrates debut in ‘incredibly fast’ Jeddah to lead from the front in key weekend

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The first day on the new Saudi street track suggests that the early advantage once again lies with Hamilton and Mercedes, but Red Bull were also encouraged by Max Verstappen’s speed and nature of first place; Watch qualifying for the penultimate race of the season at 5pm on Saturday on Sky Sports F1 by James Galloway

Last update: 03/21/12 at 11:33 PM

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Martin Brundle joins Anthony Davidson to analyze the Jeddah Corniche Circuit

Martin Brundle joins Anthony Davidson to analyze the Jeddah Corniche Circuit

Lewis Hamilton said he enjoyed driving the “Fast” Jeddah Street track for the first time after it topped the opening day in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but Red Bull also felt there was cause for optimism as it headed towards what they described as the “Cup Finals”. A surprisingly close and tense title duel.

The championship battles that this year turned into one of the sport’s greatest seasons in recent memory will finally be settled over the next nine days, with the 2021 drivers and manufacturers champions crowned.

Verstappen has a first calculating chance to snatch the drivers’ crown, as does Mercedes with the constructors, this weekend, but the biggest possibility remains that the two championships will descend in Abu Dhabi next week.

Unless that’s if the newest F1 venue and its 3.8-mile-long, wall-to-wall design stand out from any of the main competitors.

On the shores of the Red Sea, the track is characterized by a combination of fast corners, flat straight lines and blind peaks. Martin Brundle of Sky Sports Formula One described Friday’s race as “Silverstone with the walls of Monaco”.

“Quick. Unbelievably fast, he’s really fast,” Hamilton said in his assessment of the track after the first day of running.

“Lots of stability too. If you can get the rhythm, it’s nice to drive.”

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Martin Brundle seen on the side of the road at Turns 22-23 during second practice before the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia

Martin Brundle seen on the side of the road at Turns 22-23 during second practice before the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia

One concern was that the massive closing speeds seen in approaching the last corner of the lap between drivers preparing for hot laps and those finishing at top speed.

“This is definitely much worse than a lot of the places we go, Monaco.

“But the closing speed on the other cars is definitely getting into a bit of a danger zone.”

Hamilton topped both sessions. It narrowly beat Verstappen in the opening day one before the Dutchman slipped back to fourth in a straight hour of the night. Following his Dutch rival in the standings, a win is essential for Hamilton this weekend.

“We tried two different things with the setup,” the seven-time champion added.

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Lewis Hamilton leads both Friday practice sessions on the first day of F1 racing at the Jeddah street track

Lewis Hamilton leads both Friday practice sessions on the first day of F1 racing at the Jeddah street track

“We’re not as fast on one lap I can tell compared to the others, but my pace in the long race looked like it wasn’t too bad. So who knows what’s going on.

“It’s definitely not in a bad place. It’s very fast during one lap, so we have a little bit of work to do.”

Permutations: How Verstappen can be a champion on Sunday

In a season in which the performance pendulum regularly swings between Mercedes and Red Bull, previous predictions of the event have regularly proven incorrect. Mercedes has been duly pinned as a top candidate for Jeddah, but Christian Horner on Friday saw signs of encouragement for Red Bull.

“The circle is a bit narrower than the data suggests,” Horner told SkyF1.

“The two corners are a little bit next to each other. So it’s not all of the focus on horsepower that we thought it would be. So that’s encouraging, and you can see, there’s a tenth or two between the two cars, between the drivers.

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Christian Horner assesses the first day of training at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and says Max Verstappen will take care of everything before the last two F1 races

Christian Horner assesses the first day of training at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and says Max Verstappen will take care of everything before the last two F1 races

“In that kind of circuit, you can find that and that’s really encouraging for that.”

Eight points ahead in the drivers’ title race with Verstappen and five points behind Mercedes in the two-team title race, Red Bull remained in a strong position and Horner said Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are now “like two cup finals”.

“I think you just have to do it,” said the Briton of a team looking to win their first title since 2013.

“[Max] He worked incredibly hard, as did the whole team, to get into this position to be here two races to the finish, we just have to throw everything at him.

“This is kind of a Max circuit — high speed, walls, hurdles. So you could see he was going down faster than everyone else. [at the start of P1]. I spoke to him after the session and he is definitely enjoying it.”

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