Five Things to Look Out for at the Saudi Arabian GP

Following a frustrating start in Bahrain, our sights are set on the high-speed circuit in Saudi Arabia, where the FW46 will face the second track of its young life.

Here are five things for Williams Racing fans to look out for as we prepare to tame the fastest street circuit on the F1 calendar.

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit's layout is dominated by a rapid succession of corners to test the aerodynamic efficiency and high-speed stability of our 2024 challenger in a way that Bahrain couldn't.

Our engineering team has been hard at work analysing the data from Bahrain to adapt the FW46 for its first few laps around a different track.

Unlike previous seasons when we would have a ‘Roll Out’ day at Silverstone, testing in Barcelona – or both – all of our new-car running has come at Sakhir.

How we fare in Saudi Arabia will help us understand our 2024 challenger even more, which in turn will aid us later in the season – so we want to get as many laps around the 6.174 km circuit as possible.

A flying lap around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit has the driver running the car at full throttle for some 70% of the lap.

That's despite the fact there are more turns here than anywhere else we visit, with 27 mostly flat-out corners showing how fast Alex and Logan will change direction in Jeddah.

After some struggles with overheating in Bahrain, we'll be ensuring both our pilots can run this weekend's 50 laps with as few problems as possible as they fly around the circuit.

Only Spa-Francorchamps beats Saudi Arabia in the 2024 calendar in terms of track length, with the legendary Belgian circuit's 7.004 km notching in 830 m longer than Jeddah.

Taking on such a long circuit adds different strategies for drivers and engineers to consider when preparing for the race.

With only 50 laps, there are fewer chances to overtake into the final Turn 27 hairpin, for example, compared to the 71 attempts our racers have at Austria's Turn 4.

Equally, finding the optimal performance from the car's hybrid power system across the lap isn't as straightforward as at some shorter circuits, so our engineers have plenty of number crunching to get through.

There have been some unfortunate visits to Saudi Arabia for us since the Grand Prix joined the F1 calendar in 2021.

We'll hopefully see both Williams Racing cars cross the line in 2024 after misfortune hit one or both of our drivers at all three previous events.

George Russell was involved in a multi-car collision during the first Saudi Arabian GP, neither Nicholas Latifi nor Alex finished in 2022, and brake problems meant Albono retired last year.

Keeping out of trouble and finding reliability will be the all-important priorities on the Saudi streets this Saturday.

A new driver in Williams Racing colours will join us in Saudi Arabia to make their racing debut.

Lia Block, our Williams Racing Driver Academy entry to F1 Academy, is starting her season at Jeddah alongside 15 other racers ready to support the Grand Prix weekend.

With a background in off-road racing rather than in single-seater Formula cars, Lia will hope to learn fast at one of F1's most demanding tracks as she gears up for the seven-round F1 Academy calendar.

Keep an eye out for Lia's Academy peers, Zak O'Sullivan and Franco Colapinto, with F2 also racing in Saudi Arabia this weekend.