F1 | GP Saudi Arabia, possible strategy for a stop in Jeddah

On the very fast Jeddah street circuit, Sergio Perez (Red Bull) achieved the first pole of his Formula 1 career, using P Zero Red soft C4 tires like most drivers from the start to the end of qualifying. Perez used four sets of softs in the three qualifying sessions, interrupted by red flags in both Q1 and Q2, with the second crash (to Haas driver Mick Schumacher) causing a long stoppage of around an hour.

The qualifying session started at 20pm local time and ultimately concluded two hours later, with an ambient temperature of 00 degrees centigrade and 25 degrees asphalt at the start of the session, then decreasing by a few degrees towards the end. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) was fastest in FP30 which took place three hours earlier with track temperatures around 3 degrees higher. All the riders concentrated on the softs in preparation for qualifying but also to preserve the medium and hard sets for the race.

The evolution of the track seen yesterday continued throughout today and the wind also remained persistent. Mercedes were the only team to use the medium in qualifying, with both cars running it at the start of Q1 and George Russell also using it at the start of Q2.

Perez received his first ever Pole Position Award from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, a well-known Formula 1 and car enthusiast who hosts numerous food-themed television programs and runs several restaurants around the world. Ramsay was one of the first celebrity chefs to open restaurants in the Middle East, mainly in hotels, but his roots are in Scotland, where he trained to be a professional footballer before injury. Perez now becomes the first Mexican driver to win a pole position in Formula 1.

GP Saudi Arabia, notes for the strategy

For the 50 laps of tomorrow's race, on paper the fastest strategy should be a one stop using the hard and medium compounds, considering that to start the first ten qualified drivers are no longer forced to use the tires with which they overtook Q2. But much will depend on the levels of degradation. If they are tall, then a two-stop strategy is also a good option, being almost as fast as a one-stop strategy.

In this case, the medium appears to be the preferred compound to start the Grand Prix, followed by the hard for a central stint and again by the medium for the final run. But there is also the possibility of using all three compounds, perhaps keeping the soft for the final stint. As seen in qualifying and Formula 2 sessions, there is a high possibility of red flags, safety cars and other delays, which can completely upend the strategy. So, while there is a theoretically optimal strategy to work towards, in reality teams will just need to be able to best react to race circumstances, which can change very quickly.

Mario Isola, head of F1 and Car Racing at Pirelli

“Pole is only seven tenths slower than last year, which is a great achievement considering this is the second race with these brand new cars. The teams focused on the soft compound in this morning's free practice in preparation for its use in qualifying this evening.

This also means that most riders have preserved two sets of mediums and one set of hards, which probably indicates that they will prefer to use these two compounds in the race. But all of today's runs, both in free practice and qualifying, were relatively short, so it's difficult to know exactly how graining levels have evolved. Consequently, the strategy for tomorrow is still open between one and two stops, depending on the actual levels of degradation that will be encountered during the race and which obviously depend on a series of different factors. Best wishes to Mick Schumacher for a speedy recovery after the accident suffered during qualifying: it's nice to see that the new generation of cars is as fast as it is safe."