The FIA Method 1 World Championship is again in Jeddah this weekend for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, for the second a part of the season opening double header.
5 groups are but to attain factors, after lacking out at Bahrain. With the likes of Oracle Purple Bull Racing, Scuderia Ferrari and McLaren F1 Group competing on the entrance and within the prime ten, it’s doubtless that solely a handful of positions within the factors might be out there to groups within the midfield. Amongst others, Visa Money App RB might be desirous to get their first factors on the board after exhibiting promise on the Bahrain Grand Prix – Daniel Ricciardo topped the primary apply session on Thursday morning.
Learn what the groups within the backside half of the championship needed to say, in addition to Aston Martin Armaco F1 Group’s driver ambassador, Jessica Hawkins!
#24 – Guanyu Zhou – Stake F1 Group Kick Sauber
“Final week’s efficiency has been a giant confidence increase for everybody within the group. We all know the premise of our automotive is strong and that we are able to battle on the entrance of our group of groups, however we additionally know that we now have to maintain pushing to grasp tips on how to extract its potential and set it up in the best method.
“There’s a lot within the pipeline, and we are going to attempt to benefit from each alternative we could have. From a private standpoint, I’m very happy of what I might ship in Sakhir; it was a powerful begin of the season, and that made me hungry for extra.
“Jeddah is one other alternative to do nicely and everybody within the group might be eager to substantiate our place and battle for some factors.”
#77 – Valtteri Bottas – Stake F1 Group Kick Sauber
“One of many positives of back-to-back races is the chance to bounce again instantly after a disappointing race, and that is my goal for Jeddah. I desire to give attention to the positives from final weekend: we might see the strong race tempo our automotive can ship, not simply in Zhou’s efficiency but in addition in mine, regardless of the injury I suffered firstly.
“We are able to construct on that and make sure the different parts of the weekend additionally enhance, and I’ve full confidence in our means to be aggressive on each observe. The observe in Saudi Arabia is a enjoyable one to drive: it’s quick, it’s obtained some actually difficult corners and a few sections with an unbelievable move.
#27 – Nico Hülkenberg – MoneyGram Haas F1 Group
“The Jeddah Corniche Circuit, it’s a spectacular circuit – a brilliant high-speed road circuit, which may be very powerful and difficult however I prefer it there. It’s a really dynamic place, the observe particularly, and I’ve obtained good recollections from the 2 races I’ve performed to this point.
“I really feel very nicely ready for my third race right here and hopefully, I can break into the factors this time.”
#20 – Kevin Magnussen – MoneyGram Haas F1 Group
“I’m a giant fan of the Jeddah circuit, particularly as we scored factors there final yr. It’s an outstanding observe to drive, it’s thrilling and exhilarating as a result of it’s high-speed and at each apex, it’s a white line earlier than a wall.
“It’s a road observe that doesn’t get used all year long, so there’s a whole lot of observe evolution and it’s an evening race with some classes within the day, in order that adjustments rather a lot. Like in Bahrain or Singapore, it’s important to issue these situations in.”
#3 – Daniel Ricciardo – Visa CashApp RB
“Getting the primary race performed was a chance for everybody, together with myself, to mud off the cobwebs. Over the weekend, there have been some issues I did nicely and others not so nicely. Now I can’t await the subsequent one.
“I’m glad it’s a back-to-back and happy we get one other race instantly after the primary one. I stayed in Bahrain for a number of extra days, taking it simple however staying lively with low stress by taking part in Padel with a few of the guys!
“There was a whole lot of evaluation performed on Saturday evening after the race, and loads of good issues got here from it. Within the quick time period, it’ll take an ideal race from us to complete within the factors, however I consider that over the course of the subsequent few races, we’ll proceed to get stronger and stronger.
“I’ve raced twice in Saudi the place my greatest end result was a fifth place. It’s an important observe, one I take pleasure in rather a lot, and I’m actually joyful to be going again there. The grip is fairly excessive for a road circuit, so I’m wanting ahead to the high-speed problem and the adrenaline spike that comes with it.”
#22 – Yuki Tsunoda – Visa CashApp RB
“To be trustworthy, I wasn’t anticipating a lot from Bahrain, but it surely ended up being higher than I assumed when it comes to what the automotive might do, particularly in qualifying. Truly, even the race tempo was fairly good, however some elements meant this was arduous to see from the skin.
“It was a helpful weekend the place we learnt rather a lot about our automotive, its limitations and the place we are able to enhance. For instance, the adjustments we constructed from FP1 to FP2 didn’t work the way in which we wished, so we modified once more, and it was significantly better for FP3 and qualifying, so all these classes are going to be helpful in Saudi.
“Everybody may be very motivated to go sooner, enhance the automotive and rating factors as quickly as potential. We’ve seen how shut the midfield is, so we all know it received’t be a straightforward job, however we’re all decided to proceed pushing.”
#23 – Alex Albon – Williams Racing
“After a disappointing first race, it’s good to get proper again into it and put our efforts into this week. Jeddah is a enjoyable observe and all about confidence with its quick and flowing nature.
“It’ll be attention-grabbing to go to a different circuit and see how the FW46 performs. Hopefully we are able to take the learnings from Bahrain and put them to make use of this weekend within the midfield battle.”
#2 – Logan Sargeant – Williams Racing
“We’ve used the time between Bahrain and Saudi to grasp and deal with the problems we encountered final weekend. Regardless of the issues, there are positives from begin of the race that we are able to construct on coming into spherical two.
“From my expertise, Jeddah is one, if not the quickest road circuit on the calendar with a number of fast corners and little room for error. The midfield battle seems to be tight after the primary race with little or no separating the groups. We’ve obtained an important alternative to bounce again right away and have a optimistic end result.”
#31 – Esteban Ocon – BWT Alpine F1 Group
“We knew that going into Bahrain with a very new automotive it will be difficult, and that in the end proved to be the case with the place the 2 vehicles ended up on the end line.”
“Now that we now have a full race beneath our belt, it’s helpful to evaluate the comparability with different groups and analyse tyre efficiency. It was extraordinarily shut in Qualifying final day out – lower than 0.150secs from Q2 – so hopefully we may be nearer to the others this weekend in Jeddah.
“The Jeddah circuit is a extremely good check of the bodily preparation we’ve put in over the winter. It will likely be attention-grabbing to see how the A524 reacts on a distinct structure and hopefully we fare higher than in Bahrain.”
#10 – Pierre Gasly – BWT Alpine F1 Group
“The efficiency and finish lead to Bahrain was as anticipated coming into the season. Our goal was to continue learning and enhancing and attempt to maximise every thing we had in our arms. Ultimately, we didn’t put all of it collectively however that might not have made a lot of a distinction to our consequence.
“We’re holding our heads down, working arduous with the instruments that we now have and that may require some persistence. We’re nicely conscious of our scenario and it’ll take a while to get higher. That doesn’t change my mindset, although. I’m coming into this weekend able to go for it to come back away with the very best end result.
“We’ve got had a few days to evaluate and discover some enhancements forward of this weekend. There are definitely small issues we are able to take forwards into Jeddah.”
Driver ambassador and head of F1 academy – Jessica Hawkins – Aston Martin Armaco F1 Group
“There are a selection of positives to take from Bahrain. The automotive carried out in step with our expectations and, because the weekend progressed, we extracted extra efficiency from the automotive and continued to grasp it higher.
“We executed the weekend nicely and we now have a race weekend’s value of knowledge to review to proceed enhancing AMR24. Double factors is a strong begin to the season, and no imply feat after Lance was spun round on the first nook. He confirmed actual dedication and good tempo to get well.”
