F1 | Race pace analysis in Jeddah: Verstappen and Perez unattainable? Leclerc tries with the soft tyres

The second free practice session of the season has just ended. In Saudi Arabia, la Red Bull it still seems like the best car in managing race pace, with Verstappen e Perez in great shape. The Mexican seems to have an important feeling with the track Jeddah, and his simulation confirms it. However, there is work to be done regarding the flying lap, which he saw Fernando Alonso fastest with 1: 28.827, but probably theAston Martin he revved a little faster as he usually does in free practice. There Mercedes seems to be very fast, both in terms of the qualifying simulation and in terms of the pace with a full tank of fuel, but the W15 it appeared a bit "fragile", and the riders were not very happy in the last part of the session, lapping little although with interesting times.

Saudi Arabian GP: Ferrari free practice analysis

La Ferrari deserves a separate chapter: today, on the two SF-24 di Leclerc e Sainz a rear wing with a higher downforce than expected was tested, the same as seen in Bahrain last week. In Maranello they hope to compensate with the power of the power unit, so as to also have good agility in the corners. At the moment this solution doesn't seem to be paying off 100%, given the times, but it must also be said that Ferrari is almost certainly running under boost, as usual on Friday (Thursday in these first two races). Nothing prevents the Scuderia from fitting the weakest wing in tomorrow's third free practice session so as to make a comparison and then decide which configuration to use for qualifying and the race.

GP Saudi Arabia, the time table in free practice

Times table: 2024 Saudi Arabian GP

As previously stated, the Red Bull seems to have an edge. We always talk about petrol loads and engine maps that are impossible to know, but we believe that they are all more or less on the same working methods, otherwise it would all make little sense. Perez has a particular feeling with the Jeddah track, but he is Verstappen the one who seems more on the ball. There Ferrari he attempted a different job, differentiating the first part of the race with sainz, who got through middle school like everyone else, and Leclerc, having mounted the soft tires and which in theory would be the ones to be discarded, a bit like what happened last year. Charles, after a quieter start to the stint, set interesting times, but not so good as to justify the choice of the reds instead of the yellows. As already written, the Mercedes it doesn't seem to be in bad shape, but the pilots, especially Hamilton they complained of several problems during the last hour of free practice.