Pirelli Insists Entirely Different Challenge Awaiting F1 Drivers at High-Speed Jeddah

The first race of this season is over, with Ferrari dominating the season opener. Now the F1 calendar will move to the second race in Jeddah. But the Pirelli boss shares his concern about the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Pirelli will be supplying C2, C3, and C4 as soft, medium, and hard tires for the upcoming race. But Mario Isola shares that the Saudi Arabian GP is going to be a completely new challenge for the F1 teams compared to the season opener in Bahrain.

The F1 teams got an opportunity to drive on the Bahrain circuit with the new cars during the pre-season testing. So, the teams had an advantage in Bahrain. But the Jeddah race will be different because they never took the new cars on the Jeddah circuit before the race weekend ahead.

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Imola said, “Jeddah marks a completely different challenge to Bahrain. The circuit is very different, both in terms of layout and asphalt. The drivers will use softer compounds this weekend, which we have adapted to the specific demands of a track that is almost as fast as the one in Monza. In addition, the teams arrive here without experience.”

What is the Pirelli boss suggesting for the Saudi Arabia GP?

As the Jeddah Corniche Circuit became part of the F1 calendar last season, it is still very new for F1 teams. Also, it’s been one year since the last race and the track has undergone some upgrades. The teams still didn’t have any chance to run their 2022 challengers with the new 18-inch tires on this circuit.

So, the Pirelli boss is suggesting that every team should take the free practice sessions seriously for gathering data on the Jeddah track. He further shares that the second practice should be the most important one. Because it is the only practice session that replicates the time and condition for the Saturday qualifying and main race.

“The conditions will also be different from the first visit to Saudi Arabia, as the race takes place in a different month and there are also some modifications. The compounds are the same as last year, but the form has changed.”

“Therefore, the teams will have a lot of work to do, especially in Free Practice 2, which is the only representative session for qualifying and the race,” Imola added.

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It would be interesting to see which team would adapt the best to the Jeddah circuit and will dominate in the second race of this season. Let the Saudi Arabian GP begin!