F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2023: Find out the Number of Laps, Weather Forecast, Expected Strategy, and DRS Zones
Find out here the weather forecast for the upcoming Saudi Arabian GP, as well as the track details such as DRS zones and expected strategy.
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Pictured: The Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which currently hosts Formula 1's only Saudi Arabian GP
The F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2023 weekend will get underway shortly. This will be the third edition of the event, which was first held in 2021. As you may know, it takes place in Jeddah, which is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia and its principal port. The weekend is set up on the ‘Jeddah Corniche Circuit’ along the red sea. In the previous two weekends, it’s served up great entertainment, but also controversy.
The ‘Jeddah Corniche Circuit’ is a 6.174 km (3.836 miles) circuit, which means it’s the second longest track on the calendar. There will be 50 laps of racing action, with a total race distance of 308.450 km (191.662 miles). Being a street circuit, there is no margin for error here – Mick Schumacher, who is not on the grid this season, will remember that. He crashed there in both 2021 and 2022 – the first time in the race, and the second in qualifying. Then, he wasn’t cleared to enter the race.
The first race was won by Lewis Hamilton, while in 2022, Max Verstappen narrowly beat out Charles Leclerc. The Dutchman is the favorite coming into the weekend, even if he has been dealt a bit of a setback in the form of a stomach infection. He will only arrive in the city on Friday. Likewise, his main rival from 2022, Leclerc, will also be a bit on the back foot – as he will take a 10-place grid penalty. This has given a rather interesting spin to the weekend.
As for the various details about the upcoming race:
Read More: Saudi Arabian GP to double down on security in 2023 after last year’s missile attack scare
F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2023: Weather Forecast
As it is part of the Arabian desert, it rarely ever rains, or is cloudy, in Jeddah. However, the temperatures remain hot for the entire year. The average daytime high temperature, according to the Jeddah Regional Climate Center, is 32 degrees Celsius. And there will be no freak weather this weekend. It’s expected to be sunny and dry, with mostly clear skies.
The full weather forecast for the upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, as per AccuWeather, is as follows:
Friday, March 17:
FP1 (16:30 AST, GMT+3): Sunny and dry, with 0 percent cloud cover. Temperatures should range between 29 to 28 degrees Celsius. The wind conditions will vary between NW at 24 km/h, to NW at 20 km/h. The wind gusts will vary between 41 km/h to 37 km/h.
FP2 (20:00 AST, GMT+3): Mostly clear, with around 10 to 15 percent cloud cover. Temperatures should range between 27 to 26 degrees Celsius. The wind conditions will vary between NNW at 17 km/h, to NW at 15 km/h. The wind gusts will vary between 30 km/h to 26 km/h.
Saturday, March 18:
FP3 (16:30 AST, GMT+3): Mostly sunny, with around 13 to 11 percent cloud cover. Temperatures should range between 30 to 29 degrees Celsius. The wind conditions will vary between WNW at 22 km/h, to NW at 19 km/h. The wind gusts will vary between 35 km/h to 32 km/h.
Qualifying (20:00 AST, GMT+3): Clear, with around 7 to 5 percent cloud cover. Temperatures should range between 30 to 29 degrees Celsius. The wind conditions will vary between NNW at 15 km/h, to N at 13 km/h. The wind gusts will vary between 24 km/h to 22 km/h.
Sunday, March 19:
Race (20:00 AST, GMT+3): It will be sunny all day. According to BBC Weather, temperatures will hover around 27 to 25 degrees Celsius during the race. The wind conditions will vary between NNW at 14 km/h to N at 11 km/h.
F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2023: Expected Strategy
The Saudi Arabian GP is expected to be vastly different from last weekend’s Bahrain GP. The first is a purpose-built circuit, while the latter is a street circuit. A very narrow, high-speed street circuit. The track, considering there are not many slow-speed and twisty-turny bits, requires relatively lower downforce than Bahrain. Then there’s asphalt abrasion – which was a major factor in Bahrain, because of the rough track surface. Here, it won’t be as large a problem.
The tire compounds in use at this weekend’s race: The Pirelli C2 will serve as the hard tire, the C3 as the medium, and the C4 as the soft. These are, as expected, softer than tires used in Bahrain. As for setup – it is important to have stability through the fast corners. If the car is destabilized – you’re looking at a terrible and hefty crash coming your way. In 2022, a single pit stop to hard tires (due to a safey car) proved enough for most drivers. This might be the way to go once again.
F1 Saudi Arabian GP 2023: DRS Zones
The ‘Jeddah Corniche Circuit’ is already one of the fastest on the calendar, and the fact that there are a whopping three DRS zones makes it even more of a spectacle. This massively helps the overtaking process in Jeddah, as it would in any circuit. Watching the drivers attempting to overtake is a thrilling experience in Jeddah, especially because there are some ‘games’ with the detection zones. Particularly so in 26-27, but this won’t be a factor in 2023.
There have been changes to the final DRS zone in Jeddah. Earlier, the detection zone was located just before the turn 27 hairpin. Now, however, it has been shifted so that the detection zone starts after turn 27. This likely means the end of the cat-and-mouse games, like drivers not wanting to be ahead at the final corner, in order to get a helping of DRS down the pit straight. Max Verstappen was involved in two such moments, in 2021 with Lewis Hamilton and in 2022 with Charles Leclerc.
But F1 drivers are smart: They will surely look for other ways to gain an advantage, though it’s unlikely the turn 27 trick will work anymore. Apart from this, there have also been other changes in the interest of safety, The barriers on turns 14 and 20 have been moved back, to aid drivers through fast and blind apexes.
In case you missed it:
- Cristiano Ronaldo to attend 2023 Saudi Arabian F1 GP featuring Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, and others
- Trouble for Charles Leclerc as he will be forced to serve a grid penalty for Jeddah
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)