Free Practice 2 has drawn to a close on the sun-baked Red Sea shores at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as we continue towards the second race of the 2024 F1 season. Thursday’s practice sessions involved a great chunk of action, defined by the hair-raising one lap pace and race-relevant long runs. As Saturday’s night time race draws closer, it is time to draw some conclusions and predict the action that lies ahead.
Max Verstappen dominance continues; Ferrari and McLaren roar back to form
Max Verstappen’s utter dominance looks set to continue following his unparalleled long run in FP2. The Dutchman cleared the field by some margin, despite his one lap pace being hampered by a reduced engine mode. Outside of Verstappen’s vacuum at the peak, there are still plenty of intriguing questions to be answered with regard to the other podium positions.
Sergio Perez famously won the Saudi Arabia GP last year after a fascinating battle with his Red Bull teammate, and the Spaniard will be looking to use the mighty machine at his disposal to secure consecutive 1-2 finishes for the Austrian outfit.
Although McLaren slightly underwhelmed in Bahrain after a promising qualifying, the switch in circuit characteristics this week from a traction-limited circuit to a high speed, aerodynamically limited circuit suits their package this year – expect to see them at the sharp end of Q3 on Friday.
Ferrari have also emerged as a serious threat after solving Charles Leclerc’s braking problem that had reduced his effectiveness last week. If all goes to plan, they should show some of the promise of their top end speed that was exhibited in pre-season testing. Unfortunately, with Carlos Sainz missing the media day on Wednesday due to illness, the high-speed twists and extreme sustained G-forces of this circuit will undoubtedly reduce his potential in qualifying.
The biggest losers at the front appear to be Mercedes, who have plenty of work to do overnight. Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton complained of severe instability at high speed in FP2, a major concern considering that is most of the lap around the white-knuckle ride that Jeddah provides. Additionally, Aston Martin do not look to be in the mix over race distance, despite a fantastic lap by Fernando Alonso that topped the timing sheets on Thursday.
Midfield Margins; Nico Hulkenberg qualifying dark horse
The rest of the grid is the closest matched that it has been during the Turbo-hybrid era, with marginal differences set to separate the winners and losers in qualifying. William’s team principal James Vowles has promised improvement after the team underperformed in Round 1, meaning Alex Albon will be in with an outside chance of a slot in Q3.
HAAS and RB Racing Bulls stand as the next closest challengers, with both teams experiencing an upturn in fortunes from Bahrain. Following the fireworks of HAAS’ Nico Hulkenberg’s Q2 lap last week, the German also finds himself set to compete for a credible qualifying position.
In the doldrums, Sauber continue to underwhelm and will be at the foot of the grid alongside Alpine. The latter of which have had an extremely turbulent week following the resignation of two senior engineers and now stare down the barrel of an engineering revolt in their French base at Viry-Chatillon.
Predicted Performance Table
- Red Bull
- McLaren
- Ferrari
- Mercedes
- Aston Martin
- Racing Bulls
- Williams
- HAAS
- Sauber
- Alpine
Teammate Battle Predictions
- MAX VERSTAPPEN / Sergio Perez
- CHARLES LECLERC / Carlos Sainz
- GEORGE RUSSELL / Lewis Hamilton
- FERNANDO ALONSO / Lance Stroll
- DANIEL RICCIARDO / Yuki Tsunoda
- LANDO NORRIS / Oscar Piastri
- ESTEBAN OCON / Pierre Gasly
- ALEXANDER ALBON / Logan Sargeant
- VALTERI BOTTAS / Guanyu Zhou
- NICO HULKENBERG / Kevin Magnussen
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