Official 2023 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

[Piginapoke]

We’re back in Saudi, home of oil, money and 147 executions last year.

The key question for the season is whether Red Bull’s performance was flattered in Bahrain, or whether Mercedes or (more likely) Ferrari will be closer. Interesting to see if Alonso can repeat the previous round’s performance- let’s hope so.

McLaren, Piastri and Norris will be hoping for some kind of miracle, but you don’t feel one is coming soon.

Here’s to a great, and terrorist incident free, race.

Date(s): Friday 17 to Sunday 19 March 2023.

UK Broadcast Timings (and track time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1. Qualifying and the race are shown as highlights on Channel 4.





2022 Race Highlights:

https://youtu.be/5xgEars7_gA

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/documents/championships/fia-fo...

Weather forecast: (currently hot and sunny)

https://www.bbc.com/weather/108410

Tyre options:

Pirelli is bringing its medium compounds, so C2, C3 and C4



2022 Race Result:



Drivers’ Championship:



Constructors’ Championship:

[Derek Smith]

Thanks, PitP. Your efforts increase the enjoyment of the sport.

[Piginapoke]

Derek Smith said:

Thanks, PitP. Your efforts increase the enjoyment of the sport.

[anonymous-user]

Max at a canter

Stroll is under a fair amount of pressure after just one race which will be an ongoing factor all season. Alonso could do with a teammate closer, if the car has the pace as demonstrated by Alonso, Stroll can’t justify being behind both Mercedes’

Midfield battles need another race or two to develop but there are already signs that Alfa, Williams and Alpine have pace to fight out the battle for fifth.

[HardtopManual]

I'm no fan of Stroll's, but if you listened to the radio in Bahrain, he was clearly compromised by his injuries. I've smashed a wrist up following a cycling accident and I can't believe he was in the car at all.

[Gad-Westy]

pablo said:

Max at a canter

Stroll is under a fair amount of pressure after just one race which will be an ongoing factor all season. Alonso could do with a teammate closer, if the car has the pace as demonstrated by Alonso, Stroll can’t justify being behind both Mercedes’

Midfield battles need another race or two to develop but there are already signs that Alfa, Williams and Alpine have pace to fight out the battle for fifth.

Poor lance. Under pressure after he beats George Russell and only 16s behind Alonso 2 weeks after breaking his wrist. Tough crowd!

[MustangGT]

I thought that Lance put in a very creditable effort in the race and fully deserves his position in the team.

[PhilAsia]

My prediction is another Bahrain-v.2.

Going to be another wafty breeze win for Max and a waggy-tail Perez in his reserved #2 spot.

Tyre deg will let Ferrari and Merc down again. Ferrari may hang on to snatch #3-5.

Mercs in #6-8.

RBRv.2 (AM) aero and light tyre wear will see Alonso and Lance into similar positions again late in the race#3-6.

Also rans...

[PhilAsia]

MustangGT said:

I thought that Lance put in a very creditable effort in the race and fully deserves his position in the team.

Indeed he did. Many underestimate him.

Alonso had a great race too. The back--n--forth with Lewis was excellent to see and the outcome was the rightful one.

[Fundoreen]

Blah blah lance. The fact he raced meant it wasn't that serious. They never stopped talking about it to deflect from his stupid crash into Alonso at the start.
Expect Lance to do well here if he doesnt try to win the race on the first lap.

[PhilAsia]

Fundoreen said:

Blah blah lance. The fact he raced meant it wasn't that serious. They never stopped talking about it to deflect from his stupid crash into Alonso at the start.

Yup, you're right. A slight misjudgment in timing of the brakes never happens in the turmoil of the first lap, ever.

[Diderot]

Thanks as ever PinaP

[suffolk009]

Great opening PIAP, brief and to the point. I guess you won't be auditioning the Match of the Day job!

It'd be nice, if only for the sake of variety, if it is someone other than Max jogging home in first.

[Niponeoff]

I think we should change the poll to "who do you want to win" because we all know Max is unstoppable this season. The guy is a driving robot.

Mercedes aren't even in the fight up front, I don't think we will see much of if then until the promised upgrade in imola, hopefully they can fast track it.

So it's a Ferrari/Aston battle for podium dregs.

Alpine and Mac should be a scrap worth looking out for too. Piastri needs to show what he's made of and alpine will want to put them in their place

[PhilAsia]

Niponeoff said:

I think we should change the poll to "who do you want to win" because we all know Max is unstoppable this season. The guy is a driving robot.

This. Driving well within the vehicle's ability is making '23, and more-than-likely '24 and '25, a given.

[axel1990chp]

Voting for Max as a strong guess this week, safety car nirvana here though so could be some serious issues!

Be nice to see a fight between Alonso and Leclerc through the whole race!

Should be a blinder providing it isn’t excessively delayed with red flags.

[TheDeuce]

I opened this thread assuming it would already have broken down into a debate about where F1 should go and sportswashing etc...

I see PIAP covered that off in the first line of the OP

Piginapoke said:

We’re back in Saudi, home of oil, money and 147 executions last year.

So with that dealt with, on to the race. Its almost certainly a Max win of course although this circuit, even with the improvements, remains about as dangerous and as likely to throw up SC/reds as it gets in F1, so always a strong possibility of a slightly weird result depending on how dramatic the race is.

Also for the same reasons, qualifying here is extremely unpredictable, it can go wrong so quickly for anyone yet to set a commanding lap.

It's a guilty pleasure of mine this circuit...

[parabolica]

Rumours are the Jeddah circuit will suit the Astons more than Bahrain did, which if true means I'd expect them to be battling with Ferrari on merit. Otherwise, hard to see past a RB 1/2 again.

[Mark-C]

Thanks PIAP

Not got high hopes for the front of the race but think the weekend as a whole will be intersting given this is only the second race of the season.

[HustleRussell]

Fundoreen said:

Blah blah lance. The fact he raced meant it wasn't that serious. They never stopped talking about it to deflect from his stupid crash into Alonso at the start.
Expect Lance to do well here if he doesnt try to win the race on the first lap.

You don't need to (incorrectly) speculate about how serious it was, the information is public