The great Sunday of the Saudi Arabian GP will only be a footnote in the history of F1, writes Janne Palomäki.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc thanked each other for a handsome race. AOP
A somewhat discreet Saudi GP was driven in Jeddah.
Usually, track events rise towards the end, and Sunday’s race is the brightest in the minds of fans.
This time, however, the missile strike of the Huth rebels on Friday and the expulsion of Mick Schumacher on Saturday made this race memorable.
The memory footprint is so large that Saudi Arabia’s position on the F1 calendar is still being considered for a long time.
– We need to discuss this after the race. What has happened here over the last 24 hours is just the starting point for considering what we should do in the future, Carlos Sainz put it after a time trial.
It is known that after Friday’s terrorist attack, the drivers were persuaded to abandon the idea of a boycott with the missile defense system introduced by the Saudi authorities.
But what it says about the F1 series is that does it hold races in a place that needs its own anti-aircraft station?
Similarly, the sudden shutdown of Schumacher ‘s 33 G proved that the new formulas are really easily degradable. In the event of an impact, cars that turn into a sneeze absorb most of the impact energy and thus protect the driver.
The German driver was back on the track as early as Sunday and would have been ready to race. However, Schumacher’s team boss Günther Steiner pulled on his braces on the race, as the rush now could have been recouped at the Australian GP two weeks from now.
In practice, Haas showed that car safety works in stark contrast to Volvo’s ads. Easy degradability can therefore be a safety factor.
However, the conversation between drivers will inevitably shift to should Jeddah be driven in a concrete gutter at all. The track is obviously too fast and too dangerous.
– We definitely need to think about how we can best take this sport forward, as Sergio Pérez said.
Saudi Arabia has a ten-year deal with Liberty Media, but Jeddah may not remain a venue for very long. There are already rumors of the GP moving to a theme park under construction in the suburbs of Riyadh.
It is appropriate to ask whether it is appropriate war-torn and persecution of its own citizens to host an international sporting event.
It is not advisable to send answers by postcard, at least to F1 actor Stefano Domenical.
Incidentally, the Italian assured over the weekend that there would be more tracks on the race calendar all the time. Perhaps he, too, should consider whether it is even in the interest of the species to keep its nail teeth from Saudi Arabia when Russia was also released quite easily.
What will inevitably be under these discussions is that on Sunday, Jeddah saw a rather fascinating and surprisingly neat race. Max Verstappen once again showed why he is the dominant world champion in the sport.
The story continues after the picture.
Verstappen grabbed the win after rising past Leclerc in the final rounds. AOP
The Dutchman might not have gotten into a winning battle if his teammate Checo Pérez had been left out because of an unfortunate depot visit. But when Verstappen smelled Charles Leclerc’s blood, nothing stopped him. The Monaco had to bend over and lamented the lack of direct speed.
– We tried a long game. The tires wore here quickly and as you can see, we had a little more momentum at the end, Verstappen explained.
– It wasn’t easy, but I finally got ahead. I’m happy we finally got the season off the ground.
Leclerc and Verstappen have been fighting each other for ten years. A delicious snippet can be found on YouTube where 14-year-old Verstappen is stabbing Leclerc for using prohibited means.
The hymn hadn’t changed in ten years.
– Now, Max, all you have to do is let us do our job. Chin to chest and focus on the race, race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase held out Verstappen yesterday.
The new F1 rules have restored the true spirit of rail racing to the series. For a moment, it seemed that Verstappen and Leclerc had competed on the go-kart track.
The 2022 season promises a lot, as Formula One offers an interesting package of drama, combat, fascinating personalities and strategic decisions.
In Saudi Arabia, there was just too much supply.
Watch a video of the 2012 battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.