Formula: A Tale of Survival (Chapter 3. An Arabian Night)
Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
PRE-RACE BRIEFINGS
Crap. I've never been to Saudi Arabia and this is where things get interesting for me and the team.
The Jeddah Corniche Circuit. A 3.836-mile motor racing circuit built in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. The circuit staged the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as the penultimate race on the 2021 Formula One season calendar.
Right, before anyone forgets, here are the standings after the previous race from Bahrain:
DRIVERS STANDINGS:
M. Verstappen (27 pts)
S. Hedgehog (26 pts)
V. Wolff (25 pts)
V. Bottas (20 pts)
S. Perez (18 pts)
S. Vettel (16 pts)
E. Ocon (15 pts)
N. Mazepin (15 pts)
C. Leclerc (12 pts)
N. Rosberg (10 pts)
S. Bourdais (10 pts)
A. Giovinazzi (4 pts)
K. Magnussen (2 pts)
N. Latifi (2 pts)
R. Grosjean (1 pts)
L. Stroll (1 pts)
L. Hamilton (0 pts)
M. Ericsson (0 pts)
O. Piastri (0 pts)
K. Schumacher (0 pts)
CONSTRUCTORS STANDINGS:
Aptive Motorsports (51 pts)
Red Bull Racing (39 pts)
Mercedes (30 pts)
Devon Motorsports (30 pts)
Haas (12 pts)
Evano Transit Motorsports (16 pts)
Sauber (4 pts)
McLaren (0 pts)
Williams (0 pts)
FREE PRACTICE SESSIONS (MARCH 31)
And Free Practice Sessions are now under way. And since I'm not quite familiar with the track I ended up either exceeding track limits, spinning myself out of the Free Practice, or seeing someone crash in the wall I ended up doing the same as them!
In the end, I was dead-last in all practice sessions.
QUALIFYING (APRIL 1)
Qualifying was even worse, as I did not manage to get past Q1, and I was classified P18 after some slip-ups.
RACE DAY (APRIL 2)
Race day arrived. I was in my hotel room when someone knocked on the door. "Who's there?" I called.
It turned out to be no one other than Red Bull's driver, Verstappen. He chatted with me for a while, and gave me some advice on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
And so, it paid off. I did 12 overtakes by the end of Lap 1, and I was in P6 by the time Lap 2 had started, and Safety Car was eventually called in, as Rosberg was out of the Grand Prix as he spun in the middle sector, scattering a lot of debris.
By Lap 10, I pitted to change tyres, and it was the fastest pit stop ever at 1.83 seconds, just 0.01 seconds shy of the fastest pitstop done in the real-life Formula 1, by Max Verstappen in 2019, and came out seventh.
Five laps later, I was in P5 when Latifi overtook me with soft tyres.
22 laps later, I was pretty much in the clear and in the lead as Hamilton, Latifi, and my teammate trailed behind. All of a sudden, in P8, Verstappen had to DNF because of a major hydraulics issue on Lap 37.
By the time the chequered flag was drawn, I was in P2, while Hamilton was in P1. Latifi scored big points today for Williams, and so do Kelly in P5.
The race results are as follows:
L. Hamilton (50 Laps, +25 Pts)
A. Wolff (50 Laps, +18 Pts)
N. Mazepin (50 Laps, +15 Pts)
N. Latifi (50 Laps, +12 Pts)
K. Schumacher (50 Laps, +10 Pts)
S. Vettel (50 Laps, +8 Pts)
S. Pérez (50 Laps, +6 Pts)
C. Leclerc (50 Laps, +4 Pts)
K. Magnussen (50 Laps, +2 Pts)
R. Grosjean (50 Laps, +1 Pt)
S. Bourdais (50 Laps)
O. Piastri (50 Laps)
S. Hedgehog (50 Laps)
V. Bottas (50 Laps)
E. Ocon (50 Laps)
A. Giovinazzi (50 Laps)
M. Ericsson (50 Laps)
DNF:
N. Rosberg (2 Laps, Spun out)
M. Verstappen (37 Laps, Hydraulics Issue)
FASTEST LAP:
And here are the standings after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix:
DRIVERS STANDINGS:
A. Wolff (43 Pts)
M. Verstappen (27 Pts)
N. Mazepin (27 Pts)
S. Hedgehog (26 Pts)
L. Hamilton (25 Pts)
S. Vettel (24 Pts)
S. Pérez (24 Pts)
V. Bottas (20 Pts)
N. Latifi (17 Pts)
C. Leclerc (16 Pts)
E. Ocon (15 Pts)
K. Schumacher (10 Pts)
N. Rosberg (10 Pts)
S. Bourdais (10 Pts)
A. Giovinazzi (4 Pts)
K. Magnussen (4 Pts)
R. Grosjean (2 Pts)
L. Stroll (1 Pts)
O. Piastri (0 Pts)
M. Ericsson (0 Pts)
CONSTRUCTORS STANDINGS:
Aptive Motorsports (69 pts)
Red Bull Racing (42 pts)
Devon Motorsports (40 pts)
Mercedes (30 pts)
Evano Transit Motorsports (29 pts)
Aston Martin (25 pts)
McLaren (25 pts)
Williams (20 pts)
Haas (14 pts)
Sauber (4 pts)
PODIUM CEREMONY
Another win, another podium, and big points for our team.
Another podium for Aaron Wolff sets him ahead of Verstappen once again!
Find out next in Round 4: China, where he races in Shanghai for the first time!
NOTES:
- Max Verstappen's pitstop time of 1.82 seconds is indeed, the fastest pit stop done in the entire history of Formula 1, and it has never changed since 2019.
- Aaron Wolff's pit stop is the fastest pitstop of all time in the Formula series.