Five things to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

We are heading back to the Middle East for the second round of the Formula 1 World Championship, racing under the lights of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Though we may have had just two previous Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, both delivered their fair share of thrills and spills throughout the weekend.

Here are five things you should know ahead of the third instalment on the Red Sea coastline.

It’s an iconic quote, often coined by our founder Sir Frank Williams, and it’s the perfect way to describe what it is like to race here.

This place is quick. Seriously quick. With an average lap speed of roughly 250km/h, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit comfortably lives up to its billing as the world’s fastest street circuit.

In fact on the 2022 calendar, it was second only to Monza – The Temple of Speed – in terms of average speed, and quicker than venues like Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps.

Unlike those traditional circuits, there is very little margin for error here. The walls are waiting for anyone who pushes fractionally too hard and some corners are like threading the eye of a needle. Speaking of which…

The nature of this fast and flowing street circuit meant that sightlines for drivers in the cockpit were limited.

At some of the really high-speed turns, you couldn’t see what was around the corner, causing issues in sessions like qualifying where some cars would be on a cool-down lap.

This year, the organisers have taken on board the feedback and made several alterations.

Turns 14 and 20 have had the walls pushed back by at least five metres on each side, with similar fencing changes at Turns 22 and 23.

It’s not just the sightlines that have changed in Saudi Arabia, with more alterations conducted to deliver “smoother, safer, and even more exciting racing.”

Bevelled kerbs have replaced the previous steel kerbs at Turns 4, 8, 10, 11, 17 and 23, with rumble lines, designed to shake a car to lose traction and, subsequently, its speed, have been placed at Turns 3, 14, 19, 20 and 21.

With some of those corner numbers mentioned above – 20, 21 and 23 – you’d expect to be rounding the final corner by the time you reach them, but that’s not the case in Jeddah.

The 6.174km venue boasts a whopping 27 corners, the most of any circuit we race at.

And because of the high-speed nature of the circuit, they just keep on coming, one after another.

The drivers hardly get a moment's rest in certain sections, with constant changes of direction demanding the full attention of the 20 talented athletes behind the wheel.

This might just be Logan Sargeant’s second-ever Formula 1 race but we are at a venue where our American driver has more experience than his teammate across the other side of the garage.

LS2 made his Formula 2 debut here in 2021, competing in a one-off weekend with HWA Racelab before returning the following season with Carlin.