(Motorsport news) The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is said to be the fastest Formula 1 track in history and it didn’t disappoint as Hamilton described it as “Rapid. Unbelievably quick, it really is incredibly fast”. The seven time World Champion was fastest on day one as the penultimate race weekend of the 2021 Formula 1 calendar draws closer in what has been one of the best championship battles in recent memory.
While the mathematical advantage lies with Verstappen who stands a good chance of winning the Drivers Championship if he wins the Saudi Arabian GP, the momentum lies with Hamilton and Mercedes with all indications pointing towards the championship going down the wire in Abu Dhabi next week. Hamilton topped both the sessions on Friday, getting his fastest timings on the medium tyre instead of the soft. Verstappen on the other hand finished fourth, behind Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and 0.195s off the race leader. Verstappen’s team mate Sergio Perez finished a disappointing ninth in the other Red Bull.
Speaking after Friday practice, Lewis Hamilton said “The track is rapid. Unbelievably quick, it really is incredibly fast. A lot of grip as well. If you can get your rhythm, it's beautiful to drive. I'm generally happy. We've made some changes between sessions, I'm just unsure which one I want to stay with. It's definitely not in a bad place, but on a single lap they're [Red Bull] quite quick so we've got a bit of work to do."
Christian Horner, Red Bull boss said “You can see it's pretty tight. It's a challenging circuit, high speed with walls, and it's going to be who gets the most out of the tyres, the car, gets a clean lap. This is Max's type of circuit. He's certainly enjoying it."
The major talking point of the practice session was Charles Leclerc’s crash as the Monegasque driver lost control of his Ferrari through the high-speed turns 22 and 23 and slammed the barriers at 150mph, resulting in red flags and the car suffering big damage. Thankfully, Leclerc was unhurt but it remains to be seen the extent of the damage on his car and how it might impact qualification on Saturday.
Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon finished 5th and 6th respectively, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who was 7th while AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda finished eighth, posting his best time on the hard tyre. Leclerc finished 10th ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris and Ferrari would hope it remains that way for the team to finish above McLaren in third position for the Constructors Championship.
