Max Verstappen clinched his 56th victory on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, however Ferrari’s junior driver Oliver Bearman stole the present because of his eye-catching efficiency at his F1 debut. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó picks out some key numbers following the opening two rounds of the 2024 F1 season.
Domination – Reigning world champion Max Verstappen began the season simply as he concluded the 2023 marketing campaign by completely dominating proceedings. Taking his fifty fifth and 56th F1 victory, the Dutchman received the opening two rounds of the season which he has by no means accomplished beforehand.
In Jeddah, the reigning champion secured his a centesimal F1 podium end. His win on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was his ninth consecutive triumph which implies that he solely wants so as to add a single win to this streak to match his earlier document of ten consecutive victories.
Spectacular kind – Crimson Bull secured their a hundred and fifteenth F1 victory in Jeddah which implies that they’re fourth on the all-time record, solely Mercedes (125), McLaren (183) and Ferrari (243) positioned forward.
Third youngest driver – After Carlos Sainz had been identified by an appendicitis, Ferrari elected to switch him with their reserve driver Oliver Bearman. The Briton made his F1 debut on the age of 18 years and 304 days, changing into the game’s third youngest driver after Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll.
The F2 driver grew to become the 68th driver to attain on his F1 debut, and the primary British driver to take action since Paul Di Resta in 2011. Moreover, he grew to become the fourth driver to attain factors when making his Grand Prix debut for Ferrari, after Ignazio Giunti and Clay Regazzoni in 1970, and Arturo Merzario in 1972.
Six – Six groups have scored factors to date this season. Crimson Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes collected factors with each vehicles in each races. Aston Martin scored with Fernando Alonso each in Manama and Jeddah, however Lance Stroll solely managed to complete within the prime ten within the opening race as he retired from the motion in Jeddah as a result of a heavy crash. The final point-scoring spot in Jeddah was occupied by Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg.
Quickest lap – The Bahrain Grand Prix noticed Max Verstappan submit the quickest race lap. His quickest race lap of 1:32.608 on the third and ultimate stint was greater than a second sooner than the remainder of the sector.
Though he was unable to problem the Crimson Bulls in Jeddah, Charles Leclerc displayed eye-catching efficiency each in qualifying trim and within the race. The icing on the cake was the bonus level for the quickest lap across the 6.175km Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Leclerc clinched it in a battle on the final lap with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
From securing pole place in F2 to scoring factors with Ferrari 🥳
Expertise Ollie Bearman’s unimaginable Jeddah weekend 🤩#F1 #SaudiArabianGP
— Components 1 (@F1) March 12, 2024
Quickest pit cease – Ferrari have perfomed the quickest tyre change to date this season with the Scuderia servicing Charles Leclerc’s automotive in Bahrain in simply 2.23s. The second quickest tyre change additionally belongs to Ferrari with a time of two.27s, achieved in Manama as properly.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix noticed Crimson Bull change the tyres on Max Verstappen’s automotive in simply 2.44s, changing into the quickest crew within the pit lane. Intestingly, Ferrari had been much less profitable within the pits in Jeddah with their quickest cease solely being a 3.48-second tyre change. Nevertheless, it was all the way down to the hectic pit stops through the security automotive intervention which meant that each Oliver Bearman and Charles Leclerc had been pressured to attend for the rival vehicles to cross earlier than they may rejoin the quick lane.
New document – Max Verstappen secured the pole place for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with a time of 1m27.472s which grew to become the quickest ever lap across the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Comparable efficiency – Apparently, the identical 5 drivers had been knocked out within the opening qualifying session in Jeddah as in Bahrain. It included the 2 Kick Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, the 2 Alpine racers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly and Williams driver Logan Sargeant.
First time ever – It has occurred for the primary time that each driver completed the opening spherical of the season after your complete area managed to cross the end line in Bahrain.
Two retirements – In contrast, the Jeddah spherical noticed two drivers retire from the motion. Pierre Gasly retired on lap one as a result of a gearbox downside, marking the primary DNF for any driver of the season. Simply 5 laps into the race, Lance Stroll clipped the wall in a high-speed nook, breaking his entrance suspension and crashing into the next wall.
Monitor limits – Monitor limits have established themselves as a focus in latest seasons. Though there have been no actual points within the opening races, a number of drivers got here near incomes a penalty for exceeding the observe limits.
A complete of 20 lap instances had been deleted in Bahrain with Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Lando Norris having collected three observe limits infringements apiece, that means that yet another mistake would have seen them acquire a time penalty.
Though the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is generally confined by punishing partitions, drivers are keen to search out each probability to search out some minor features. It meant {that a} complete of sixteen lap instances had been deleted through the 50-lap race in Jeddah. Kevin Magnussen exceeded the observe limits on 4 events which meant that he was handed a ten-second time penalty.
Developments – Since groups must submit their updates, it’s a lot simpler to comply with every crew’s improvement path over thecourseoftheseason. In Jeddah, a complete of 13 new components had been submitted with the Visa Money App RB crew bringing 4 new components to the Saudi Arabian Grad Prix.
Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, Williams have all introduced two upgrades apiece whereas Crimson Bull tried out three new components in Jeddah. Mercedes was one of many two groups to introduce a efficiency improve in Jeddah, bringing a modified rear decrease deflector to their W15.
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