Mercedes and Red Bull are bracing for ‘high risk, reward’ Jeddah F1 circuit for this weekend’s Saudi Arabian GP amid an intense title fight.
With five and eight points gap in the constructors’ and drivers’ championships, Mercedes and Red Bull are bracing for this weekend’s F1 Saudi Arabian GP at a fast flowing Jeddah street circuit. The characteristics points towards ‘high risk, reward’ situation.
From all the onboard videos presented via simulations and the general characteristics of the circuit, it is expected to be quite fast and flowing with considerable danger due to the closeness of the walls too. That means the risk will high, especially for title duo.
On Mercedes side, they lead the constructors’ standings but are behind in drivers’ side, but the recent progression from their end has risen their hopes. Also the track characteristics are such that could suit their car and also their engine.
“Two races to go, and two Championships still to be decided,” said Wolff. “We are all excited to still be in the fight at this stage in the season, it’s a privilege and a testament to our resilience when we see where we stood in the early summer. Both titles are wide open, and our mission is clear.
“The car has been performing well recently and is probably in the best place it has been all season, with the drivers confident to push it to the limit. That’s encouraging for the final races and gives us strong momentum to take forward.
“Jeddah is another completely new challenge, an all-new track to get to grips with and a lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to ensure we hit the ground running on Friday, because getting as much information as we can during those initial sessions will be vital.
“It’s a fast street circuit with long flat-out sections and several high-speed corners, lined by barriers meaning it’ll be high risk and reward. We’re more motivated than ever and we expect to be in the hunt, so we are all looking forward to the debut grand prix in Saudi Arabia,” summed up Wolff.
On Red Bull side too, Max Verstappen agree to the fast flowing nature and the dangers that it brings, having tried it on his simulator. “I’ve driven the track on the simulator and it seems like a really fast track, so there’s no room for error,” he said.
“Of course, there will always be a bit of guess work as we haven’t driven on the track there yet. It’s going to be interesting and I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s been fun to go to different tracks again this year.
“I’m feeling calm, I know that I will always try to do the best that I can and we’ll just find out where we are going to end up. Nothing has been decided yet and we are all up for the challenge, there’s still a lot of racing left to do and we are going to give it our all that’s for sure. It’s going to be an exciting end to the season,” summed up Verstappen.
Here’s Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen on title fight so far
Here’s Toto Wolff and Christian Horner on high stakes
Here’s Honda on Mercedes’ reliability issues
Here’s the whole F1 drivers’ briefing chat
Here’s Christian Horner, Michael Masi, Toto Wolff on yellow flag situation
