Will We See a 4th Different Winner of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this Weekend?
So far, there have been 3 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix’s, with the first one taking place in 2021, and since then, there have been 3 different winners. Lewis Hamilton won the crazy penultimate round of the 2021 Season whilst Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have taken victory for Red Bull in the second Race of the last two years. So will the Different Winner run continue this weekend? It would be a surprise, but you just never quite know!
Will George Russell Beat Lewis Hamilton Again?
George Russell started his 2024 Season on a strong note, out-qualifying his 7-time World Champion teammate by 6 places before George came home to finish 5th in the opening Race of the Season whilst Lewis Hamilton could only manage 7th. Now in fairness to Lewis, he wasn’t too far behind his teammate in either key session, but it’s very interesting to note that in the two Saudi Arabian GP’s that Russell and Hamilton have been teammates, George has out-qualified and beaten Lewis on both occasions. George Russell is definitely good at starting seasons strong and he’ll be looking to continue that run in Jeddah.
What is Going on With Alpine?
There were plenty of concerns surrounding Alpine after Pre-Season Testing and it was ultimately even worse than expected as the pairing of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly locked out the back row of the Grid in Qualifying before Ocon and Gasly came home in P17 and P18 respectively (ahead of two cars that had issues of some sort). When you really think about it, the lack of paint on the Enstone-based team’s 2024 car makes a lot of sense now (it still looks terrible though). Since that Race, things have only gotten worse at Alpine as both their Technical Director and Head of Aerodynamics resigned, and yeah, things are looking pretty bleak for them right now. Given Alpine are usually pretty strong around Jeddah, this weekend means a lot more for them than last week.
Have Visa Cash App RB resolved their Driver Tension?
Towards the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the only noteworthy thing that happened was Visa Cash App RB telling Yuki Tsunoda to let Daniel Ricciardo through. Whether that decision was right or not, what happened afterwards certainly wasn’t. Not only did Yuki refuse to let Daniel through at first, but he then got out the way in a place that didn’t benefit him at all before a flying Max Verstappen ended up lapping them both before Ricciardo failed to pass Kevin Magnussen for P12. After the Race, Tsunoda showed a lot of immaturity by diving up the inside of his teammate on the cool-down lap and after just 1 Round, new Team Principal Laurent Mekies has a lot to do to ensure that his two drivers don’t start ruining things for the team. For now, I’m sure it’s fine, but if this happens again, I’d be very worried!
Can Sergio Perez Challenge Max Verstappen for the Race Win?
I know what you’re thinking, Max dominated the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend and he’s been basically unstoppable for the past year and more. If you think that, you’re correct! However, if Sergio Perez is ever going to beat Max Verstappen, there’s a good chance it’s going to be at Saudi Arabia. If you cast your minds back to two years ago, Checo Perez managed to take Pole Position ahead of Max and he probably would’ve won the Race if it wasn’t for an unfortunate Safety Car. Last year, Perez took advantage of a Verstappen issue to take his second Saudi Pole before in the Race, he kept his World Champion teammate at bay to take a great victory. Whilst Max Verstappen will most probably run away with it this weekend, don’t count Checo out of it just yet!
My Predictions for Jeddah Qualifying
Max Verstappen
Sergio Perez
Charles Leclerc
Carlos Sainz
George Russell
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