The 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 2nd round of the 2024 season taking place in Saudi Arabia between the 7th and the 9th of March.

The event timetable for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Thursday
1st Practice 16:30 local time - 13:30 GMT
2nd Practice 20:00 local time - 17:00 GMT

Friday
Practice 16:30 local time - 13:30 GMT
Qualifying 20:00 local time - 17:00 GMT

Saturday
Race 20:00 local time - 17:00 GMT

Note that this is a Thursday through Saturday event.

[cmlean]

The first practice session is just about to commence. What are your thoughts?
Mine are that Max will be at the top of the charts but not by too much. It's too early in the weekend for him to show just how much he has in hand.
Possibly, it will be the Ferrari duo fighting it out for the top of the charts with Mercedes and McLaren in close proximity.

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:29.659	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:29.845	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
3	1:29.868	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
4	1:29.939	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	1:30.030	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
6	1:30.164	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
7	1:30.231	Lando Norris	  McLaren
8	1:30.236	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
9	1:30.580	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
10	1:30.747	Alexander Albon	  Williams
11	1:30.783	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
12	1:30.917	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
13	1:30.945	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
14	1:30.966	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
15	1:30.977	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
16	1:31.036	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
17	1:31.046	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
18	1:31.131	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
19	1:31.411	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
20	1:31.577	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas

[cmlean]

FP2 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:28.827	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
2	1:29.057	George Russell	  Mercedes
3	1:29.158	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
4	1:29.180	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
5	1:29.300	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
6	1:29.336	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
7	1:29.455	Carlos Sainz	  Ferrari
8	1:29.504	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
9	1:29.528	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
10	1:29.594	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
11	1:29.666	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
12	1:29.758	Lando Norris	  McLaren
13	1:29.777	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
14	1:29.789	Alexander Albon	  Williams
15	1:29.901	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
16	1:29.934	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
17	1:29.985	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
18	1:30.077	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
19	1:30.088	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
20	1:30.153	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber

[cmlean]

Day 1 is over and the cream has risen to the top.
Most teams are running low drag configurations creating loose rear ends. Trying to find the balance of ride height for maximum down force versus bottoming out is causing heartache across the board. That and the situations drivers are placed in when flying up on cars on slow laps through lack of forward visibility. I do realize that teams have to be on the ball in notifying their own drivers of cars on fast laps notifying their own drivers of cars on fast laps approaching at insane speeds.
Bring on FP3!

[cmlean]

The dawn of a new day and the debut of a new driver.
Carlos Sainz was diagnosed with appendicitis and his place in this event will be taken by Ferrari Academy driver Oliver Bearman.

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:28.412	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:28.608	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:28.906	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing 
4	1:28.964	George Russell	  Mercedes
5	1:28.971	Lando Norris	  McLaren
6	1:29.038	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin 
7	1:29.127	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin 
8	1:29.213	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren 
9	1:29.268	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
10	1:29.306	Oliver Bearman	  Ferrari
11	1:29.485	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas 
12	1:29.546	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine 
13	1:29.572	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB 
14	1:29.575	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine 
15	1:29.675	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas 
16	1:29.740	Daniel Ricciardo  RB 
17	1:29.808	Alexander Albon	  Williams 
18	1:30.083	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
19	1:30.739	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
20	No Time		Logan Sargeant	  Williams

[cmlean]

Logan Sargeant clipped the wall with his left front and spent the bulk of the session undergoing repairs to his Williams.
Zhou Guanyu lost the rear of his Sauber in turn 7 and ended the turn 8 barriers bringing out the red flags. The driver is fine however there was substantial damage to his car.

[cmlean]

Qualitying

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Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:27.472	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:27.791	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:27.807	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing 
4	1:27.846	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin 
5	1:28.089	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren 
6	1:28.132	Lando Norris	  McLaren 
7	1:28.316	George Russell	  Mercedes
8	1:28.460	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
9	1:28.547	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB 
10	1:28.572	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin 
___________________________________________________________
11	1:28.642	Oliver Bearman	  Ferrari
12	1:28.980	Alexander Albon	  Williams 
13	1:29.020	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas 
14	1:29.025	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
15	No Time		Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
___________________________________________________________
16	1:29.179	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
17	1:29.475	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
18	1:29.479	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
19	1:29.526	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
20	No Time		Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber

[cmlean]

Q1 and Zhou Guanyu made it on track however didn't make the chequered flag in time and was knocked out.
In Q2, the Haas duo set up a slip stream for Nico Hulkenberg to set his lap. Unfortunately his car had a mechanical issue and stopped in the first sector.
Oliver Bearman, in his first qualifying for Ferrari, made it into 11th and missed Q3 by -07 seconds. Quite impressive as he only sat his bum in the car in FP3.

[cmlean]

Race

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	Sergio Perez	  Red Bull Racing
3	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
4	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
5	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
6	George Russell	  Mercedes
7	Oliver Bearman	  Ferrari
8	Lando Norris	  McLaren
9	Lewis Hamilton	  Mercedes
10	Nico Hulkenberg	  Haas
11	Alexander Albon	  Williams
12	Kevin Magnussen	  Haas
13	Esteban Ocon	  Alpine
14	Yuki Tsunoda	  RB
15	Logan Sargeant	  Williams
16	Daniel Ricciardo  RB
17	Valtteri Bottas	  Sauber
18	Zhou Guanyu	  Sauber
DNF	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
DNF	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine

Next: Round of Australia '23
Date: 22nd-24th March 2024