It might be a fairly new addition to the F1 calendar, but the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has certainly delivered plenty of entertainment since its debut in 2021. Lewis and the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team won the inaugural event here, also achieving pole position and having both drivers on the podium over the same race weekend.
This Jeddah Corniche Circuit is fast and flowing, and the definition of a ‘risk versus reward’ track for the grid. Lewis and George will need to carefully navigate the 6.174km circuit which has an outstanding 27 corners - the most of any track on the calendar! Lewis holds the lap record here, a time of 1:30.734s, which he achieved at the first Grand Prix.
The race is held at night and is known for pushing the entire grid to its limits. It has had several changes over the years to continue to improve safety, with George having an important role in this as the GPDA (Grand Prix Drivers’ Association) director.
There have been Safety Cars deployed in all three races here, as well as two red flags.
It’s a challenging track to master, but Lewis has the opportunity to be the first two-time winner at this Grand Prix.
Much like the first race of the season in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia follows a similar change to the schedule. The race weekend has been shifted forward a day, meaning Free Practice falls on Thursday, Qualifying will move to Friday and race day is now Saturday. This has been done because of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins on the evening of Sunday, 10 March.