Ahead of the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon is wary of the high speed corners and narrow walls of the Jeddah circuit.
The 2021 Saudi Arabian GP was the inaugural race in the country. After a huge delay, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit’s construction was completed on the nick of time.
It turned out to be the fastest street circuit on the calendar, and the race itself was incredibly chaotic. We saw multiple safety cars, and two re-starts on race-day.
The drivers suggested that it was a good track to drive on, but it’s narrow walls along with it’s high speed corners, make racing difficult.
FAO: Our fans, please see attached . ➡️ We’re heading back to Jeddah. #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/9IZo5WNewl
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) March 21, 2022
The circuit will host the 2022 season’s second race next Sunday. Ahead of the race, Ocon said that he navigating through the track on the new cars, would be tricky.
F1 stopped using 13-inch tyres after the end of the 2021 campaign. The tyres are now 18-inches long, and there’s added bodywork on top of them. There were concerns that this would lead to visibility problems for the drivers, and Ocon feels that same.
Also read: Watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic get a tour of the Fiorano circuit with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
Esteban Ocon and Alpine are ready for the Saudi Arabian challenge
Pre-season wasn’t a particularly promising event for Alpine F1 team. Their car faced multiple performance and reliability issues, and people predicted it would carry over to the Bahrain GP.
Both Ocon and teammate Fernando Alonso finished in the points in Sakhir last Sunday. The Frenchman finished P7 ahead of Alonso in P9. Team CEO Laurent Rossi admitted that he was happy with how they started their journey in this new era of F1.
Double points and P5 in the Constructors’ Championship. We go again in Saudi! Allez Alpine pic.twitter.com/9FXZhB9JI0
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) March 22, 2022
The Enstone based outfit will be looking to carry forward this strong form into the next race in Jeddah. The high-speed twisty and turvy track is dangerous to drive on, as we saw last year.
However, with the regulation and tyre-changes, driving around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit will be even more challenging.
“It’s going to be tricky for sure,” Ocon said to Race Fans. “The first time we are going to be in real conditions and trying to get close to the rails it’s going to be a challenge, but we’re ready to take it.”
Ahead of this year’s event in Saudi Arabia, the organizers announced that they had made slight changes to the circuit to make it safer for the drivers.
Also read: Ferrari boss does not want to make any mistakes going ahead with the improvements
