🔵Verstappen vs 🔴Leclerc

Even though top speed was similar (331km/h vs 330km/h), VER was WAY quicker on the straights: see the upward trend of the 'time gap' (dashed white line) on each straight!

LEC gained significantly by braking later... but not enough

Top Speed (Drag, Vertical axis) vs Mean Speed (Overall performance, Horizontal)

🟠McL's top speed (326km/h) was terrible: the lowest by far; still, their loaded wing improved their cornering significantly

🟢Mercedes' less loaded wing successfully reduced their drag (332km/h)

Through his pole, Verstappen BARELY takes Hamilton's record for the fastest lap ever around Jeddah!💡

254.1 km/h AVERAGE speed (vs 254.0)

Laptime evolution:
2021 1:27.511 (Old-gen)
2022 1:28.200 (Ground effect era)
2023 1:28.265 (Raised floors)
2024 1:27.472

Additionally, in 2023 a few corners were tweaked to make the track slightly slower, which explains the 2023 times being slightly slower than in 2022.

So the record is even more impressive: the ground-effect cars get closer to the best all-time performance the faster a track is.

🗒Notes on Saudi Arabian GP:

RedBull was quickest, then Ferrari (Fastest lap!)
Close pack between Aston/Merc/McL.

MEGA debut by Bearman: great pace and battling were worth 6 points and DOtD in his longest race ever!

Low wear➡️Less loaded wing was better

What’s YOUR opinion?🤔

RACE PACE #F1

RB>>Ferrari>McL>Merc>Aston
Bearman: 0.61s/lap away from LEC (traffic)

Change vs 2023 (Faster driver, s/lap)
McL -1.88📈
Ferrari -1.15
Williams -1.11
Haas -0.93
Sauber -0.64 (and one less stop)
Merc -0.59
RedBull -0.52
VCARB -0.34
Aston -0.27
Alpine +0.15📉

TOP SPEEDS - Saudi Arabian GP
Albon reached 344km/h! He drove many laps in traffic➡️He got many strong tows and could use DRS very often.

Norris never used the DRS on the main straight➡️just 314km/h due to the draggy wing.

In analogous conditions, RUS reached 325km/h, HAM 323.

The interest you folks have shown in my analyses has been unbelievable❤️

To thank you, l'm making my this Post Race in-depth article (normally exclusive to the page's supporters) FREE for everyone!🤩🏎📊📈

Enjoy the read, and let me know your opinion!👇

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/f1dataanalysis/saudi-arabian-gp-a-low-degradation-raced-confirmed-several-trends

Bearman got closer to Leclerc throughout the 2nd stint: from a 1s/lap difference to similar laptimes
LEC was managing; BEA's confidence was growing.👌

Mind blowing: BEA rested his head on the headrest when cornering, as his neck was exhausted!😳
(More laps/higher forces than in F2➡️hard to...'Bear'😁)

McLaren had a severe drag issue in the race due to the more loaded wing they ran.

PER overtook PIA with a 41km/h (‼️) top speed advantage. Piastri reached just 289km/h.

Instead, HAM defended from NOR with a 316km/h top speed: NOR needed a massive tow to overtake him!

Russell had an issue on the last lap, and BEA almost caught him!

He lifted massively from T4 onwards, losing 3s in one lap➡️Lucky to still finish 2.7s ahead.

Ferrari's tyre wear on the Hards was excellent: even lower than RedBull's, per Marko's admission.

Through a tense team radio, Russell told his engineer to check his front right pressure.

The race engineer said that everything seemed fine, but Russell insisted that something about the front right tyre definitely wasn’t right.

https://twitter.com/russellius/status/1766536170756850099

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RUSSELL'S DRAMATIC LAST LAP

On Turn 4 (🟡Arrow), Russell asked his team to immediately check the pressure of his front right tyre

He had to lift massively in all the remaining corners (🟣Arrows), losing 3s in less than a lap (🟢Arrow)

Bearman cut his gap from 5.7s to 2.7s

MERCEDES' RADICAL WING CHANGE

In Bahrain, they had the lowest top speed (Bottom): just 313km/h📉

For Saudi Arabia (Top), they drastically reduced their rear wing load: they gained 19km/h (‼️) and were 2nd fastest📈

This, however, clearly hampered their tyre wear and cornering.

It seems that the car has inherently high drag, or at least higher than most:
- In Bahrain, when they ran a wing in line with the competition, they were slowest;
- In Saudi Arabia, despite running by far the skinniest wing, they were still 2km/h slower than Haas.

Something to work on...

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FERRARI'S BEAM WING CHANGE

Even though Jeddah is a much faster track, Ferrari ran the same rear wing as in Bahrain.🤔

Instead, they reduced drag by removing their upper beam wing.💡

Their 'low load' rear wing was deemed inappropriate for the many fast corners in Jeddah.

AVERAGE GAP TO FASTEST QUALI LAP📊

Ferrari got closer to the top (+0.18% vs +0.26% last year)
Aston: 4th➡️3rd fastest, but its race pace got worse
Merc: 3rd➡️5th fastest

Improved the most: McL📈 (-0.28%)
Receded the most: Alpine📉 (+0.95%, or ~0.8s farther from pole!)

Last year's average, for comparison:

Keep in mind that, even though Aston and McLaren were on average equal in qualifying, they did so with opposite trajectories: Aston was much quicker in the first half of the season, and the opposite for McLaren.

Ferrari, Mercedes, McL, and Aston to bring major upgrade packages in Imola (Race 7)

Teams hope to reduce the gap to RBR: this might shake up their running order, too

Current Weaknesses:
⚫️Merc: Porpoising+High speed cornering
🟠McL: DRS effectiveness
🟢Aston: High-fuel pace

RACE START - SAUDI ARABIAN #F1 GP

📈Perez was the best starter, but Leclerc was close (0.1s slower to reach 200km/h)

🛞The Soft compound didn't help Bearman and Bottas off the line: they were among the slowest drivers to reach 100km/h

📉Worst starter: Gasly

To add context and for those wondering why: even though Perez’ onboard showed that he was moving BEFORE the lights went off, his movement didn’t trigger the sensor, and the start was declared regular.