After an unusual season opener in Bahrain – where all the frontrunners bar the dominant Max Verstappen were hobbled to varying degrees – there was much to expect from Formula 1’s second 2024 round, taking place this weekend in Jeddah.
At F1’s second night event in a week, there was again only one session really worth paying close attention too – despite Verstappen leading the way in the sunny late-afternoon FP1 session for Red Bull.
In FP2, he ended up ‘only’ third and with Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin leading the way. But, digging a little deeper, the times logged so far suggest Red Bull retains its commanding overall edge even on Jeddah’s much smoother track surface and its higher-average speed layout compared to Bahrain.
Yet, there are some crumbs of comfort to be found for its rivals, at least based on today’s showing. Here’s everything we learned from the opening day of track action at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The story of the day
The F1 machines finally got rolling at 4.30pm local time, with the sun still beating down on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Its proximity to both the Saudi coast and desert made for some slippery early tours for the pack.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, as well as Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, were running right up to the wall that comes up fast out of Turn 2’s exit – what is effectively a small hairpin that follows the big stop of the first corner. That wall forms the Turn 3 kink, with both the works Ferrari and Haas customer car being taken right to its edge here even on their first tours, per Autosport’s FP1 trackside observations.
This pair showed little issue putting the power down, something that continued through FP1’s first half. Alonso, Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, however, were squirming as they accelerated away from this point early on. But with the track still hot from the boiling afternoon sun, grip was at a premium.
Alonso topped FP2 for Aston Martin, but Red Bull remains the major threat again
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Indeed, Verstappen seemed unruffled thereafter, as he went on to top FP1 with a 1m29.659s, from Alonso, who ended up 0.186s further back and ahead of Sergio Perez in the other RB20.
Later in FP1, Autosport clocked the leading pair taking different approaches to the exit of the fast, blind Turn 22 left that ends the second of three long, fast blasts on this course, with the rapid ridge kerbs of Turn…
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