Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Jeddah.
A fantastic racing weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix….very different to our 1st GP in Bahrain. The entire CCJ (Corniche Circuit Jeddah) area is HUGE, we walked just over 20,000 steps on Friday alone! The carnival atmosphere we had in Bahrain was replaced by fun fair amusement park atmosphere. There were roller coasters, dodgems, heaps of stalls, ferris wheel, games, experiences – you name it, and everything was free to partake in. Thousands of people attending on all 3 days however, the majority of these people were not there to watch the practices, quali’s or the race. They were only there for the funfair. This led to a real family atmosphere, particularly on Friday and Saturday which is the weekend in Saudi. Another plus was the myriad of folk handing out free bottles of water – this was an absolute necessity as gates opened at 1pm and the sun only sets around 6.30pm and most the grandstands did not have cover (ours included).
Practice 1 & 2 was great to see the Aston Martin’s looking superior. Lots of testing of different tyres. Ferrari didn’t come to the party much but we all suspected they were holding back on speed for quali’s and the race and using P1, 2 & 3 for testing. It was exciting to see Mercedes holding their own after seeming to find some speed from somewhere. Before each practice session various teams come out to the fanzone for interviews, this GP we saw the drivers for Red Bull, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Ferrari, Alpha Romeo and Haas. As you all know I’m a massive Charles Le Clerc fan but he’s still looking and sounding a bit depressed and crestfallen. I’m worried about his headspace!!! Totally opposite for Fernando who looks years younger and his excitement at being back in a competitive car is contagious! Lewis, grateful as ever, still the most popular driver in the fanzone. He talked about still having a long way to get to where they want to be whereas teammate George was more optimistic. Every driver mentioned how the Red Bull cars are in a different league altogether. Personally I think this could make for a boring race if Red Bull dominate P1 and P2 for the rest of the season but hey ho!
Qualifiers was super exciting to watch – the cars were suddenly louder, more aggressive and obviously so much faster – the adrenalin was contagious! And then Max’s drive shaft gave in – as much jubilation as despair in our grandstand!! We were in the jubilation camp! It was really cool to see Mercedes up there in the top 10 – Lewis and George drove like demons! The Alpines were all over the place in a good way which was awesome to see, both through to top 10!! And Oscar Piastri on P8 – McLaren are lucky to have him (not sure Norris agrees). Again, Sainz didn’t seem to have pace, just kept holding his own in P4 and Stroll never caught up with Alonso. A thrilling quali.
The scene was set for an explosive start to the race with Alonso beside Checo and we were not disappointed. The whole place went up when he took the lead. I think fans of all teams were excited to see a different leader for once! The fact that Verstappen and Le Clerc were down the order also meant that the race was going to have some overtaking action. We got it!
Unfortunately, Alonso could not hold the lead and the difference between Red Bull and the rest really began to show. Max overtook all the cars between him and Checo with consummate ease. Max’s overtaking of Hamilton just illustrated the difference between the cars. Hamilton could do nothing as the superior Red Bull car went by. Max had a great race but, again, showed little in way of grace, sportsmanship or anything remotely like teamwork as he came in second to his “teammate” Checo. Checo had a really good race but seemed to have been told to “hold back” to save on engine wear, and being the team player he is did so, only to have his fastest lap taken off him by….Verstappen! Really Horner? You need to let Max grow up a bit and stop soothing his ego.
Alonso was a long way behind but still came in third, then fourth, then third again as there were arguments about his penalty pitstop and whether the rules were broken. However, the crowd loved the fact he came in third and in doing so has added a new factor to the season. Suddenly everyone is wearing green! Mercedes surprised everyone by placing above Ferrari followed by Alpine. McLaren were disappointing placing 15 and 17 and we were a bit sad about Alex Albon and Stroll not finishing as they both showed huge promise in the qualies.
Overall, it was a thrilling race to watch with super high speeds and lots to discuss, during and after the race! Finished with a spectacular firework display and followed by another concert. Fans (including us) buzzing !!
