from
https://www.pitpass.com/74735/Perez-leads-Red-Bull-1-2-at-Jeddah
To be perfectly clear, just in case you haven't got the message; we
don't like this track. Indeed, we really, really, really don't like this
track.
It's got nothing to do with human rights, Pride or any of the virtue
signalling stuff, it's just that we regard it as unnecessarily
dangerous, the proverbial accident waiting to happen.
Indeed, with the barriers either side, barely a landmark worth
mentioning, and the total lack of character it's as if little Johnny got
sick of his Hot Wheels track, with its ludicrous loop-di-loop that only
looks good in TV ads, and opted for a flat version.
Sure, like last year's cat and mouse stuff with Charles and Max it will
create lots of camera friendly moments for the blessed ads and PR bumf,
but any mouth wide open experiences will be down to the sheer fear of inevitability as opposed to the type of jaw-dropping stuff we see at
'proper' circuits.
Sadly however, as with most things these days, the little man's voice
doesn't matter and while promoters are willing to pay the big bucks we
will get more and more horrible little tracks like this, and less of the classics, where superlatives take precedence over spectacle, PR over
passion.
So, accepting that we've got to "make Do", let's look at the positives...
The first of which being that Charles starts from 12th and Max 15th,
ensuring that both have their work cut out, not only in terms of getting
to the front but battling one another.
Then there's that little battle at the front, with Sergio up against
Fernando, a man who not only knows every trick in the book but invented
most of them. Let's face it, the Spaniard's best hope today is getting
ahead of the Mexican at the start, so those first few moments should be
worth the price of admission alone.
Of course, with Max demoted due to his driveshaft failure, there will be
nobody to help, while Lance is starting from 5th, and though he will
have battles of his own, could still assist his Aston Martin teammate.
From there it's anyone's guess, with Russell, the Alpines, Hamilton and Piastri just ahead of a midfield battle that could fall in anyone's favour.
As if this wasn't enough, not only is there the threat of the dreaded
Safety Car and VSC but the continuing fear in terms of reliability,
especially with the Ferraris.
Indeed, in many ways it's like little Johnny doesn't feel that his
flattened Hot Wheels track is enough, and has hit the old game of
Monopoly box under the stairs and extracted a few of the 'go to jail'
and community chest' cards to add some extra spice.
Here is where we really got to experience the DRS train for the first
time last year, and we fear that it will play as part again this
afternoon, while the stewards also appear determined to crack down on
track limits.
Though the season has barely begun, another aspect of interest is that
of the various teammates. At Mercedes and McLaren, one drivers appears
to be buckling down and making the best of what they have, while their respective teammates pout and moan to the media.
At Haas we have Pierre already giving Esteban a run for his money, while
Zhou is looking strong, especially in qualifying, and Nico appears to be getting the better of Kevin.
The fastest strategy is set to be a one-stopper. Simulations show the combination of medium and hard to be slightly quicker than the other two options available, even though the differences are relatively small. To
run this optimal strategy, the pit stop window is between laps 18 and
25, while the pit stop window for a soft-hard strategy is between laps
13 and 20. For a medium-soft strategy, the time to change is between
laps 27 and 34.
The only two-stopper to consider would involve starting on the soft and
then swapping to medium between laps 10 and 15, before going back onto
soft with a second stop between laps 32 and 38.
There's always a high risk of neutralisations and stoppages, as Sergio
will well remember. Having taken the first pole of his career last year,
he pitted a lap before the safety car came out in the race - which cost
him the chance to stay in the lead.
The pitlane opens and Stroll is first out, followed by Zhou, Bottas,
Leclerc, de Vries and Sainz.
The air temperature is 26 degrees C, while the track temperature is 33
degrees.
Verstappen complains that his brake pedal is slippery and his heel keeps sliding.
Lots of practice starts at the end of the pitlane before the drivers
head to the grid.
(They go on to recount the race. Go to citation to read it all.)
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