Saudi Arabian Grand Prix: track and statistics

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix debuted at the end of the 2021 season, becoming the fourth round on the Middle East calendar. Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar will be joined by the circuit in Jeddah, in line with the ambitions of the largest country in the Arabian Peninsula.

Initially, the project of the track was presented within the framework of the large urban park Qiddiya, 45 kilometers from Riyadh, but work had just begun there and the race wanted to be held early.

To do this, we decided to build a temporary city track in Jeddah, and later move the stage to Qiddiya when everything is ready there. In 2020, the national oil company Saudi Aramco became a global partner of Formula 1, and in the fall, when the situation with the pandemic returned to normal, a ten-year contract was immediately signed to host the podium.

Jeddah is the second largest city in the kingdom after Riyadh, the economic capital, the main port on the Red Sea, on the coast of which is the Corniche resort area, where Hermann Tilke’s architectural firm was commissioned to build a wide, modern and fast highway in just one year.

Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al FaisalPresident of the Saudi Arabian Automobile Federation: “Given the time we have, we realized that it is best to contact Tilke directly.

We didn’t want it to be just another race. I wanted to create something special, different from everything else, so that our stage would be the best. We don’t want a boring race without overtaking – we want the crowd to have fun, the Formula 1 round is exactly what we do.”

Deadlines were pressed. Construction began in April 2021, with the first Grand Prix scheduled for December. Work continued around the clock, the crew was constantly changing – in the fifty-degree heat, local law limits time spent in direct sunlight.

3,000 contractors from 50 countries of the world took part in the work. 37,000 tons of asphalt, 600,000 tons of cement, 30,000 square meters of bricks and 1,400 tons of glass were laid. There are seven grandstands around the circuit and it is fully lit for racing after dark.

Follow features

Tilke’s office was given the daunting task of creating the best track in the Middle East – fast, with overtaking opportunities, challenging for drivers and unlike any other track in the desert – Yas Marina, Sakhir and Losail. The configuration was designed by Carsten Tilke, Hermann’s son. More than 600 light poles have been installed for artificial lighting.

Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the largest urban circuit on the calendar. With a lap length of 6175 meters, it is second only to Spa this season. When designing, they tried to avoid the 90-degree turns typical of urban routes, integrating three DRS zones with the ability to fight for position in the most beautiful places. It is one of four circuits on the calendar this season, along with Bahrain, Spielberg and Mexico City with three DRS zones.

The configuration includes a record 27 corners surrounded by barriers, which at an average speed of 252 km/h – higher than at Silverstone – will make the race truly spectacular. One of the most spectacular and difficult turns is the profiled 13th turn with a slope of 12 degrees, the estimated speed in it is up to 322 km/h.

Jeddah is a track with powerful engines, with the accelerator fully depressed, the riders will go 79% of the circle. The slowest corner is the second, it is passed at a speed of about 90 km/h.

The highway on the embankment has typical problems for such an arrangement – sand on the sidewalk and a change in wind direction day and night. Cars are tuned to a small level of downforce, it is important to minimize drag. There is a good chance that the safety car will leave.

Weekend schedule

You can follow the progress of all Formula 1 sessions on our live streaming page.

Tire sets given to teams for the weekend

Pirelli has traditionally chosen for Jeddah the “middle” trio of compositions – C2, C3 and C4.

One set of the softest tires must be kept for the qualifying final – then those who drove in the final must return this set to Pirelli.

One set of Medium and Hard tires must be retained for the race – unless declared wet, riders must use at least one of these sets.

Fernando Alonso: “In Jeddah there is always a high load on the tyres, which will increase the interest in the race – on different machines the level of degradation will be different, which will increase the difference in speed. Combined with the fact that it is now easier to chase opponents, this will lead to exciting battles.”

Performance of active drivers in Saudi Arabia

Lando Norris: “I’m happy to be back on track in Jeddah, it’s great and very fast for a city. With fighting spirit we prepare for the coming weekend. The stage in Bahrain was difficult, but the team continues; we will apply everything we learned two weeks ago and try to perform as best we can.

I trust the team, all its people, both on track and in the base in Woking, because I know they are working around the clock to make sure we in Saudi Arabia are better at handling our tasks.

We know we can do it, so in Jeddah we will have to give everything.”