The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix track is perhaps one of the most dangerous on the Formula 1 calendar. Though it has of course passed all the requisite FIA safety checks, there have been a number of high-speed accidents since its debut.
Organisers at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit have proclaimed as it as the fastest road course in the world. The average speed is a whopping 155mph, second only to Monza among current racetracks.
Given the proximity of the walls, it’s inevitable that there will be crashes. The biggest to date came in 2022, when Haas driver Mick Schumacher slammed the barriers at 170mph, leading to a hospital visit.
Schumacher would miss the remainder of the weekend on medical advice. Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda and Charles Leclerc have also come a cropper since the inaugural race in 2021.
Esteban Ocon was the only driver to acknowledge the real dangers of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
According to journalist Julianne Cerasoli, who was speaking on the Pit Pass F1 podcast, many drivers were asked about the safety of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix circuit in light of previous incidents.
Most of them insisted that they love the challenge, though Leclerc hinted that the limited layout options may be an issue. Haas driver Esteban Ocon went furthest without outright calling the track dangerous.
Ocon admitted that he’s glad just to see the chequered flag here, such are the risks he has to take. There has been at least one safety car in all four runnings of the event.
“A lot of drivers were asked about how dangerous this track is,” Cerasoli said. “Nobody can really say ‘it’s really dangerous, we shouldn’t be racing here’. Of course they’re not going to say that.
“They say they love it. What Charles Leclerc said was interesting – he said there is less freedom to make it safer, which is a very gracious way of saying it’s dangerous.
“The only driver who got close to saying that this is too dangerous was Esteban Ocon, who said ‘it’s one of the races where I’m glad after it finishes that I’m in one piece’.”
Esteban Ocon suffered one embarrassing Nikita Mazepin moment for Haas
Ocon has already crashed his VF-25 car this season. He lost control at turn three during Q2 in Bahrain qualifying and slid into the wall.
F1 fans compared Ocon to Nikita Mazepin, the notoriously poor Haas driver, after he repeated the Russian’s 2021 mistake. However, he rallied to finish the race in an excellent P8.
Ocon occupies a top-10 spot in the championship after the first four rounds, with the highlight a P5 in China. If he manages to stay there, he’d be one of the stars of the season.
During an appearance on the Beyond the Grid podcast this week, Ocon said it was ‘extremely hard’ to leave Alpine early at the end of last season. Flavio Briatore insisted that he give up his cockpit to replacement Jack Doohan if he wanted to drive for Haas in the post-season test.
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