F1 | Saudi Arabian GP | Drivers' thoughts on a "productive day" and having "work to do"
Post-FP2 comments from all drivers - except those at Alfa Romeo - after a turbulent Friday in Jeddah
Friday Free Practice sessions are an opportunity for teams to try out different race programmes and get up to speed. Rarely does an on-track event on a Friday capture the global headlines and so it proved to be again. However, Jeddah was in the news as a result of the well documented explosion at the nearby oil refinery. Nevertheless, there were cars on track for Free Practice 1 and 2 and their comments (albeit unsurprisingly brief) were shared with the media…whilst plumes of smoke billowed in the distance.
On an unforgettable Friday of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the drivers were quizzed as to how the performance of the car was with the new design around the slightly altered Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Having seen their cars fail to make it to the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix, both Red Bull Racing drivers are eager to bounce back this weekend and score points at the very least. Even though yellow flags interrupted Max Verstappen getting clean laps in on the soft compound in FP2, the Dutchman stated: "The sessions ran quite smoothly today, we completed our programme and tried out lots of different tyre sets…there's plenty of room for improvement.” Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, agreed with the reigning F1 Drivers’ Champion and claimed “We have some work to do tonight. It was difficult to get the lap in…I think it could be another straight shootout with Ferrari on Saturday but at the moment we are focusing on ourselves and hopefully tomorrow we are able to make the steps we'd like with the car.”
As much as Sergio Perez may expect Scuderia Ferrari to be battling at the front, it was mixed fortunes on Friday for the team currently setting the standard in F1. Charles Leclerc was quickest in both free practice sessions but made the life of his mechanics more complicated after hitting the barrier during FP2 which brought his session to an end earlier than planned: “It was an unfortunate end to an otherwise good day. In FP2 it was a small mistake, but not one that makes me lose confidence…Focusing on tomorrow, I think the pace is there.” Leclerc said.
If Scuderia Ferrari are the real deal in 2022 as expected, then both drivers will need to perform. Fortunately, Leclerc’s teammate also showed pace before repeating the Monegasque’s move as he too hit the barrier with his F1-75. Carlos Sainz does not yet seem as settled as Leclerc so it was little surprise to hear the Spaniard say “As expected these cars are behaving differently here in Jeddah compared to Bahrain. Porpoising was a bit of an issue at a certain point but I'm not concerned. Unfortunately, we didn't do the long run at the end of FP2 after I brushed the wall and we had to stay in the garage. We'll see what tomorrow brings.”
If Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team has any chance of retaining their F1 Constructors’ Championship for an unbelievable 9th time, they need an upward trajectory in performance and fast. FP2concluded with Sir Lewis Hamilton in P5 but the Brit told media “It's been an OK day, we still have many of the same problems we had in the last race but we're working through them.” His teammate George Russellwas P6 on the FP2 timings and concurred with his illustrious teammate: “We are still experiencing the same issues we faced last weekend in Bahrain. We know we still have a lot of work to do to close the gap on Red Bull and Ferrari.”
The soundbites from further down the grid saw McLaren have a productive day of running with Lando Norrisdeclaring “We're feeling a little bit more confident, but it's all very close and we're still lacking in many areas, so we'll continue to work on some of the progress we've made.” This more positive outlook was followed up by Daniel Ricciardo giving McLaren fans a reason to believe as he said, "We've got some small changes to work on overnight, but all in all it's been a good day and I think we're in a little better shape than Bahrain."
Over at AlphaTauri, Yuki Tsunoda continued to "gather a lot of crucial data” whereas Pierre Gasly feels he is “in the mix of the top 10” and expects “a very intense battle tomorrow amongst all the midfield teams.”
Such a battle will surely involve BWT Alpine F1 Team who run the pink livery for a final time this weekend. The team showed an optimism that things may come up rosy this weekend as Esteban Ocon was happy with his “good day of learning…and aiming to continue the momentum." Teammate Fernando Alonso also seemed pleased to see that “the overall lap times looked quite competitive too…this generation of Formula 1 car is perhaps better suited to this track.”
After being officially labelled as the slowest car at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Aston Martin continued to “work on the balance of the car” according to Lance Stroll. Whilst Sebastian Vettel’s super sub stand in Nico Hulkenberg enjoyed his “exciting experience” on a track brand new to him and felt he has learnt as much as he could out on track.
A man also encountering the challenge of Jeddah for the first time is Alex Albon and the Williams racer was quickly up to speed and dialling his car in which led him to say “I think we've got a fairly decent handling car. We've got a bit of work to do on the short runs, but on the long runs the pace looks promising and looks positive for the weekend.” Such positivity was not evident from his teammate Nicholas Latifi as the Canadian told the media: I think we're still struggling for pace…we have some work tomorrow to find more speed.”
Unfortunately, many a motorsport fan’s Driver of the Day from last week, Kevin Magnussen, had a Friday to forget – through no fault of his own. The returnee to Haas F1 Team was limited to just 2 installation laps before a hydraulic leak resulted in his VF-22 remaining in the garage for repairs. Further heartbreak followed in FP2after mechanical issues ceased his running early on. Magnussen said afterwards: "It wasn't ideal to get the limited running but on the laps I did have, the car didn't feel too bad. I'm just hoping for a consistent FP3 tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, having just missed out in the points at F1’s season-opener, Mick Schumacher should be very satisfied with his day’s running which also saw him record a high-fuel run. With 49 laps in total recorded from the day, Schumacher is aware of the team’s change in fortune in 2022 and stated that “overall, we know what we have as a package and it's up to us now to put it all together."
So those were thoughts from the drivers on a day which saw them have a 4 and a half hour meeting as to whether the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix would go ahead. The conclusion of that meeting is that it will be. However, whether it should be is a discussion now being widely had in the motorsport community.
They say no publicity is bad publicity but there will be many people in the paddock and the grandstands eager for this race weekend to come to an end. One can only hope that the event continues without further incident and then the on-track drama will make the headlines as opposed to the events off it.
