F1 Saudi Grand Prix preview: An 18-year-old Ferrari driver shakes things up
The 2024 Formula One season continues Saturday in Jeddah with the fourth annual Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Red Bull's Sergio Perez won the race last season after a fuel pump failure in qualifying left his teammate, Max Verstappen, starting in 15th.
Things already look different for Red Bull in the 2024 edition of this race. Verstappen cruised through qualifying with no technical issues and will start the Saudi Grand Prix on the pole for the first time in his career. Perez, after being beaten in the final seconds by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, will start third.
The big story in Saudi Arabia is Ferrari's personnel shakeup.
Spanish driver Carlos Sainz, who finished on the podium in Bahrain last Saturday, will miss the Saudi Grand Prix due to an emergency appendectomy. Stepping in to replace him is Ferrari's reserve driver, Oliver Bearman, an 18-year-old Englishman making his case for a full-time F1 seat. Bearman performed admirably in qualifying and will start in 11th.
The Saudi Grand Prix is one of the most dangerous tracks on the F1 calendar, with cars hitting race-track speeds in a street-track environment. Drivers achieve average lap speeds of 150 mph through narrow, concrete-walled corners with no run-off space.
The margin between success and failure in Jeddah is slim — Haas' Mick Schumacher missed a turn apex in 2022 and suffered a horrible crash that split his car in two and led to a seven-figure repair bill. (Schumacher, thankfully, walked away unhurt.)
The Jeddah circuit begins with a series of tight left-handed turns before looping around a hairpin alongside the Red Sea. It continues through fast corners before hitting an arena straight in Sector 3 that carries drivers back across the starting line. It's a scenic seaside night race that's often at the mercy of weather, be it high temperatures or harsh crosswinds.
But Jeddah isn't just dangerous on the track. It can be dangerous off it, too.
In 2022, bombings in Jeddah — a result of the Saudi-Yemeni conflict — threatened the Saudi Grand Prix. Drivers argued that racing in the city was dangerous, but the Saudi organizers used their influence to ensure the race went ahead as planned. The cars raced with plumes of smoke from the conflict visible on the horizon.
With its high crash risk and questionable safety record, the Saudi Grand Prix in Jeddah is the most controversial race on the F1 calendar. But it won't remain on the calendar for long. It's expected to be replaced in 2026 by a new race in Qiddiya, a developing Saudi sports complex west of Riyadh.
The Saudi Grand Prix begins Saturday at noon ET.
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