Official 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***
Discussion
Round 21 and we’re in Saudi Arabia. This will be the 2nd fastest track after Monza, so with Mercedes more powerful engine back in the car, it could well be a cakewalk for Hamilton.
Date(s): Friday 3 December to Sunday 5 December 2021.
UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)
All sessions are live on Sky F1 and as highlights on Channel 4.
Live timing for all sessions available here:
https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html
Lap times, PU component use, technical reports and Stewards' decisions for the weekend will appear here:
https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...
Weather forecast:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/105343
Tyre options:
Teams have two hard, three mediums and eight soft sets available per driver for each weekend.
2020 race result:
N/A
2020 Race Highlights:
N/A
Date(s): Friday 3 December to Sunday 5 December 2021.
UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)
All sessions are live on Sky F1 and as highlights on Channel 4.
Live timing for all sessions available here:
https://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html
Lap times, PU component use, technical reports and Stewards' decisions for the weekend will appear here:
https://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-c...
Weather forecast:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/105343
Tyre options:
Teams have two hard, three mediums and eight soft sets available per driver for each weekend.
2020 race result:
N/A
2020 Race Highlights:
N/A
As ever, cheers Pig. 
Assuming Mercedes swap back to the Brazil engine, it certainly looks like it should be Hamilton's race to lose, which bodes well for a final race showdown for the WDC. Although with so many tight corners and long straights it looks like a rear limited circuit, which will probably mean the Redbull is kinder on its tyres than the Mercedes?
Assuming Mercedes swap back to the Brazil engine, it certainly looks like it should be Hamilton's race to lose, which bodes well for a final race showdown for the WDC. Although with so many tight corners and long straights it looks like a rear limited circuit, which will probably mean the Redbull is kinder on its tyres than the Mercedes?
Edited by kambites on Thursday 25th November 20:25
kambites said:
As ever, cheers Pig.
Assuming Mercedes swap back to the Brazil engine, it certainly looks like it should be Hamilton's race to lose, which bodes well for a final race showdown for the WDC. Although with so many tight corners and long straights it looks like a rear limited circuit, which will probably mean the Redbull is kinder on its tyres than the Mercedes?
Depends how tuneable mercs 'sit down and beg' trick rear suspension is. If it works as I suspect then they actually have more control on rear tyre wear than RB with their more traditional high rake setup to achieve the same sort of benefit.Assuming Mercedes swap back to the Brazil engine, it certainly looks like it should be Hamilton's race to lose, which bodes well for a final race showdown for the WDC. Although with so many tight corners and long straights it looks like a rear limited circuit, which will probably mean the Redbull is kinder on its tyres than the Mercedes?
Edited by kambites on Thursday 25th November 20:25
Thanks as ever for starting the thread Pig.
With the high speed "corners" I am guessing the Mercedes tyre warm-up problem will be somewhat mitigated, but I can see that Red Bull's ability to maintain downforce without needing much wing may help them to maintain speed through the twisty bits. So this could be quite an interesting duel, if perhaps Mercedes are faster on the straights (trick suspension, "spicy" engine) but Red Bull can nail them on the "corners". Might come down to which driver is cleverest with their ERS/DRS/Positioning.
With the high speed "corners" I am guessing the Mercedes tyre warm-up problem will be somewhat mitigated, but I can see that Red Bull's ability to maintain downforce without needing much wing may help them to maintain speed through the twisty bits. So this could be quite an interesting duel, if perhaps Mercedes are faster on the straights (trick suspension, "spicy" engine) but Red Bull can nail them on the "corners". Might come down to which driver is cleverest with their ERS/DRS/Positioning.
A must win for Hamilton, if he does (and despite engine pool it's still a big IF) it's imperative that Bottas at least achieves something this weekend. If it's a Mercedes 1-2 this weekend I can see Red Bull imploding in the last race.
My biggest concern is that Max knows if he takes himself and Hamilton out, he goes to the last race not needing to win. Plenty have tried worse in the past.
Can McLaren get back into the mix as they did Monza?
My biggest concern is that Max knows if he takes himself and Hamilton out, he goes to the last race not needing to win. Plenty have tried worse in the past.
Can McLaren get back into the mix as they did Monza?
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Thursday 25th November 23:44
I don't think Max can risk trying to take both Bottas and Hamilton out. But I don't think he will need to.
I'm afraid I ecan't see Bottas doing anything other than going backwards again.
As you say, a Mercedes 1-2 here would really set Red Bull back. It would also make it trickier for them to sacrifice Perez to get fastest lap off Hamilton too.
But over the last few races Bottas has not managed to get close, other than Brazil where he at least brought it home in third (from pole though ...).
So, if Hamilton manages to stick it on pole, I can't see Max qualifying below 3rd or 4th. He'll then breeze past Bottas and then will have the option of sticking it up the inside of Hamilton.
And of course, Max could always qualify first or second and not even need to get past Bottas. Bottas' engines are older than Hamilton's now. He hasn't taken a new one since America. I think he "lost" his Monza one as it was stripped down?
Max has been lucky in a way that Spa didn't happen, as that's a significant amount of wear he has saved. Same for everyone of course, but it does mean he'll likely get to the end without any more engines (think there is a quote somewhere that Honda can only turn their engine up by 1/5 as much as Mercedes extra headroom so it's not worth taking a new one and turning it up. But also think the quote came from Marko or Horner so who knows).
If this track is rear-limited, that's the Mercedes weakness. So this may turn out to be a Red Bull track and end of championship, negating all our speculation. At least the guys who are going out to Abu Dhabi have other stuff to do!
I'm afraid I ecan't see Bottas doing anything other than going backwards again.
As you say, a Mercedes 1-2 here would really set Red Bull back. It would also make it trickier for them to sacrifice Perez to get fastest lap off Hamilton too.
But over the last few races Bottas has not managed to get close, other than Brazil where he at least brought it home in third (from pole though ...).
So, if Hamilton manages to stick it on pole, I can't see Max qualifying below 3rd or 4th. He'll then breeze past Bottas and then will have the option of sticking it up the inside of Hamilton.
And of course, Max could always qualify first or second and not even need to get past Bottas. Bottas' engines are older than Hamilton's now. He hasn't taken a new one since America. I think he "lost" his Monza one as it was stripped down?
Max has been lucky in a way that Spa didn't happen, as that's a significant amount of wear he has saved. Same for everyone of course, but it does mean he'll likely get to the end without any more engines (think there is a quote somewhere that Honda can only turn their engine up by 1/5 as much as Mercedes extra headroom so it's not worth taking a new one and turning it up. But also think the quote came from Marko or Horner so who knows).
If this track is rear-limited, that's the Mercedes weakness. So this may turn out to be a Red Bull track and end of championship, negating all our speculation. At least the guys who are going out to Abu Dhabi have other stuff to do!
LaurasOtherHalf said:
I've watched that clip twice, and still can't find the hairpiece 
Has to be a high chance of some random result here. Very high speed and all the walls. A number of accidents, lots of Safety cars squeezing the field and very fast / slipstreamy SC restarts…
If the circuit In isolation favours Lewis and Merc. The opportunities for points dropped through chaos favour Max and RedBull (with points in the bag)
If the circuit In isolation favours Lewis and Merc. The opportunities for points dropped through chaos favour Max and RedBull (with points in the bag)
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