2022 Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Formula 1 Haas Team.jpg

Who will win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

  • Charles Leclerc

    Votes: 270 43.7%
  • Carlos Sainz

    Votes: 81 13.1%
  • Lewis Hamilton

    Votes: 32 5.2%
  • George Russel

    Votes: 4 0.6%
  • Max Verstappen

    Votes: 183 29.6%
  • Sergio Perez

    Votes: 30 4.9%
  • Other driver

    Votes: 18 2.9%

  • Total voters
    618
  • Poll closed .
Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the next location the 10 F1 teams will do battle, with the long-term rankings of those teams still very much unknown.

Shortly after an exciting 2022 season opener in Bahrain, the field moves to Saudi Arabia for round 2. Bahrain was the first real test of the 2022 cars that adhere to updated regulations, and there has been significant shakeups in the field from recent years.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc claimed pole, fastest lap, and a race victory, though he spent much of the race with Red Bull's defending world champion Max Verstappen within striking distance. Leclerc's teammate Carlos Sainz ran in 3rd position for much of the race, and ended up claiming second place at the end of the race.

Verstappen's race had an unfortunate ending, as various mechanical issues that had been discussed with his team throughout the race finally ended the race for car #1 with just three laps to go. His teammate had an even more unfortunate result, as Sergio Perez' car spun mid-corner in turn 1 and was unable to continue.

The late exit by the Red Bull cars left a door open for a Mercedes team that was off pace versus the Ferrari and Red Bull front-runners, but ahead of the remaining seven teams. This put Lewis Hamilton onto the podium, and gave George Russell a 4th place finish in his first race as an official Mercedes team driver.

While the Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes teams were predictably leading the way, further down the field there were some significant surprises.

Kevin Magnussen's return to Formula 1 was a tremendous success, as he finished 5th in his HAAS, a car not expected by many to finish in the points at any race this season. In fact, his 5th place finish gave his team more points that they had scored in the previous two years. His teammate Mick Schumacher finished outside of the points, but still a respectable 11th.

Valtteri Bottas is a name we are used to seeing finish in the points, though not in a car thought to be a non-contender. His Alfa Romeo finished in 6th, ahead of teammate Zhou Guanyu who finished an impressive 10th in his Formula 1 debut.

The biggest surprise near the bottom of the running order was McLaren, whose performance last season included a 1-2 finish at Monza. The team of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo ran near the back of the order the entire race, and ended up 14th and 15th, respectively.

Whether Bahrain was merely an extended test session for the top teams to work out bugs and shortly return to the form we've seen in recent seasons, or whether the team rankings in F1 have truly been upset remains to be seen, but Saudi Arabia will be a telling session for trends.

Who do you expect to come out on top at Jeddah? Let us know your predictions in the comments below or share your votes via the poll.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

I feel like a lot of people are writing off redbull too early. There might be a 50/50 chance they figured out that fatal flaw in the last week's mechanical failures and all signs point toward them having a car that is on par with the ferraris.

But I'm personally rooting for Zhou Guanyu this year, being ethnically Chinese myself, I hope to see a Chinese man thrive in F1.
 
I feel like a lot of people are writing off redbull too early.
People were writing off Red Bull? They do realise that both cars were just a couple of laps on the wrong side of being fine and being on the podium right? 2-4 if they both held out. It's at least as much bad luck as it is poor design that they gave up so close to the end.
 
I feel like a lot of people are writing off redbull too early. There might be a 50/50 chance they figured out that fatal flaw in the last week's mechanical failures and all signs point toward them having a car that is on par with the ferraris.
Red Bull was not on par with Ferrari, it was a few tenth off. But I definitely agree that these tenth can be made up easily within a short time, so I agree with your general point and think the race is far from decided yet.
Even Mercedes can catch up within a couple of month. This season is going to be interesting.
 
People were writing off Red Bull? They do realise that both cars were just a couple of laps on the wrong side of being fine and being on the podium right? 2-4 if they both held out. It's at least as much bad luck as it is poor design that they gave up so close to the end.
Red Bull was not on par with Ferrari, it was a few tenth off. But I definitely agree that these tenth can be made up easily within a short time, so I agree with your general point and think the race is far from decided yet.
Even Mercedes can catch up within a couple of month. This season is going to be interesting.

What I meant was that a lot of people are speculating about a Faustian bargain that red bull had to make to get straight line performance by sacrificing reliability after the Bahrain GP. But my analysis is that overall RB has a very solid car and I am confident they can iron out what they need to iron out for the mechanical failures, and if they can do that then they'll have a very competitive package. Whereas the general consensus is that Ferrari is the team out there with the most complete package out of the box.
 
The Red Team. . Again will win.
".. most complete package out of the box." Would be nice to have three teams on the podium... ;)
 

Who will win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?​

At least it will not be THAT Haas driver in the headline :roflmao:
 
Premium
Wolff said Mercs and RBs were likely heaviest, which is a bigger disadvantage in slower corners,
which are less problematic at Jeddah.
 
The track, Saudi Arabia, of course, turned out to be outstanding, it is quite possible to repeat last year's race with red flags and restarts, but it was interesting to watch
 
I was impressed by round 1 in Bahrain. The tables are turning with new rulles. Red Bull had retired 2 fast cars due to technical problems with fuel. McLaren is at the back, I cant picture a team like that falling so far down the grid. The teams have work cut out to fix problems with new airo concept. This may be a opportunity for a mid pack or back of the pack team to get points. As Murray Walker used to say "There is nothing predictable about F1"
 
I feel like a lot of people are writing off redbull too early. There might be a 50/50 chance they figured out that fatal flaw in the last week's mechanical failures and all signs point toward them having a car that is on par with the ferraris.

But I'm personally rooting for Zhou Guanyu this year, being ethnically Chinese myself, I hope to see a Chinese man thrive in F1.
I agree it was a fuel isue. Bottom line they have pace and speed. You will have technical problems. Just make shore they are resolved. Like grandma said Mistakes are ok just few and far between.
 
Red Bull was not on par with Ferrari, it was a few tenth off. But I definitely agree that these tenth can be made up easily within a short time, so I agree with your general point and think the race is far from decided yet.
Even Mercedes can catch up within a couple of month. This season is going to be interesting.
Its just one race. Teams will haul containers of upgrades later. Usualy the European end. You dont want to be carrying to mutch to tracks outside Europe. The 1st 3 rounds are more like a test session. There are a lot of bugs to solve with the cars.
 
AND. . . it even is the first time that happened to them. *cough cough*



Sauber is Alfa Romeo btw, not Haas.
Yes youre right. Now i am confused. And i am the guy who explained this to my dad at Montreal. He worked out Schumacher was in the red car. The rest went over his head.
 
Wolff said Mercs and RBs were likely heaviest, which is a bigger disadvantage in slower corners,
which are less problematic at Jeddah.
Problem at Mercedes is they went for a long wheelbase. Along with Aston Martin. Evreyone else is short. Meaning they car run more RAKE. The long wheelbase will work at Monza becuse of long straights but the calender is full of twisty tracks with short straights and lots of turns. So short wheelbase is better.
 

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