The FIA Formula 1 World Championship arrives in Jeddah this weekend for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with Oracle Red Bull Racing touted as favourites to take victory on Saturday.
The return of Formula 1 last weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez secure a Red Bull 1-2 finish, with the Scuderia Ferrari of Carlos Sainz Jr. behind in third. As expected, Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, McLaren F1 Team and Aston Martin Armaco F1 Team secured points and their position as the top five constructors.
Red Bull may look like they are a long way ahead, but the four teams behind them will be battling for the places behind. Read what top four teams had to say ahead of the first practice session in Jeddah.
#1 – Max Verstappen – Oracle Red Bull Racing
“The team had a great first race of the season and I am looking forward to Jeddah, which is a proper high speed semi street circuit, seeing less degradation on the tyres.
“It is going to be a bit warmer too compared to Bahrain, so will be interesting to see the difference in performance between all teams, as the track layout is completely different to last week.
“Last year it was a good track for us so let’s hope we can do something similar and secure a great performance for the team.”
#11 – Sergio Pérez – Oracle Red Bull Racing
“I am looking forward to heading to Jeddah this weekend after such a good team result in Bahrain. Things weren’t totally perfect in the first race and there is plenty of evolution to be done with the car but we have a good base to work from now.
“There is always plenty of action at this race and it could be a really tight one. Last year I had a great win and would love to repeat it.”
Team Principal – Fred Vasseur – Scuderia Ferrari
“The first race of the season confirmed that we worked in the right direction over the winter. In Sakhir, we saw that the gaps in qualifying have closed up even more, although the distance to Max Verstappen in the race is still significant. However, it’s encouraging that we have reduced that gap compared to last year, which is a good starting point.
“In Jeddah we will face a completely different test and we want to check if the positive signs we have seen from the SF-24 in the past couple of weeks are repeated on this very different track.
“The track surface is very smooth so tyre degradation should be negligible, while for the first time we will deal with very high speed corners that will highlight the cars’ downforce and aerodynamic efficiency.
“Charles and Carlos have always gone well at the Jeddah Corniche and I expect them to be front-runners again, although once again it will all be very close. They should be able to do well in both qualifying and the race.”
Team Principal & CEO – Toto Wolff – Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
“Our race in Bahrain was best described as underwhelming. We were hopeful of a stronger showing after our performance in practice and qualifying.
“Both drivers were pleased with the balance earlier in the weekend, and the more stable platform provided by the W15. Unfortunately on Saturday evening, our cooling performance didn’t match our predictions.
“That forced us into management mode early on, which had the knock-on impact of reducing tyre temperatures below optimum. That cost us the opportunity to show something closer to our true potential. It was a frustrating way to start the season but one we will learn from.
“We’ve got an opportunity to take a step forward immediately. Jeddah is a street track with a lot of high-speed content. It will be good to continue our learning with the new car on a very different circuit to Bahrain. We will be aiming for a more consistent weekend and to understand our true performance relative to the rest of the grid.”
#4 – Lando Norris – McLaren F1 Team
“Jeddah up next! We’ve started the 2024 season well, and we’ll hopefully take that momentum into the Saudi Arabian GP. We had some things to look at after the Bahrain GP, which we want to keep working on, but we’ve made a good start and can build from here.
“It’s great to start the season with points in the bank, let’s bring home some more this weekend!”
#81 – Oscar Piastri – McLaren F1 Team
“I’m looking forward to returning to the Saudi Arabian GP. We’re in a better position this year and it feels good to have already secured some points in the first race. We noted some things to improve on over the week, which we’ll aim to address this weekend.
“We’ll do our best to close off this double header with another double points.”
