FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2025 - Pre Race Thread

Yep, another hot one for a night race....all 3 days.

Hopefully no terrorists rockets an oilfield 9km away.....again.

 

Yes, concerned about that, just an hour away from where Houthis shoot missiles at western ships in the red sea....

 

Will the Houthis be Ferrari's next excuse? How on earth can teams spend all that money and show up not knowing if anything they've done will actually work? So far the entire season is a hype-filled farce. Before all this anti-testing and budget stupidity by the FIA, on Monday morning after a race, Schumacher and Ferrari would be on the test track, trying out new parts and settings. As would the other teams and drivers. Not in a simulator,in a real race car that gave them real results. When the next race rolled around, everyone brought their A game. That was racing. The idea of practicing during the day, in extreme heat, and then qualifying and racing at night under totally different conditions, all for the sake of television audiences, it another example of the massive stupidity now governing the sport.

 

Also Ferrari use to have a new engine for every race

This limiting of engines is rubbish

 

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However stupid some think the rules are, they are the same for all the teams.
The winning team is the one who does best within the parameters imposed. Ferrari hasn't done that for many years.
True, there is less testing allowed, but simulators are made huge progress since Schumacher's days.
Maranello failed to overcome the loss of its empirical "trial and error" methods that gave them an advantage years ago.
Now the engineers have access to many different tools and programs to guide their choices.

 

I prefer to refer to it as the “throwing darts at the target blindfolded” approach.

 

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Hopefully they have better TV coverage this week. They could start with sacking Nico Roseburg, and Simon for starters.

 

And still they show up and find that their modern simulators aren't worth the money they paid for them. What the computers tell them is not what the drivers tell them. The "modern" way has proven to be a false god.

 

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The banning of testing is stupid, this is the only sport where you´re not allowed to train. OK, maybe free testing was too expensive, but they went to the other extreme. Why not allow a reasonable amount of test days?

 

I am hoping to see Ferrari can finally break McLaren’s early-season dominance at the fast-paced Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Leclerc has been consistent as ever and Hamilton is clearly still hungry for success in red. The car has shown a promising pace. Now it is all about converting that into results under the lights in Jeddah.

Fans attending the race this weekend are in for a treat beyond the track as well. The best fan zones and events at the Saudi Arabian GP highlights everything from racing simulators and VR arcades to live performances by Jennifer Lopez and Usher. The F1 Fan Zone is packed with fun and free activities for all ticket holders, plus it’s the best spot to gear up in Ferrari red.

With the final race of the first triple-header upon us, all eyes will be on whether Ferrari can deliver a statement performance under the lights in Jeddah.

 

Race Stewards


- Nish Shetty
- Loic Bacquelaine
- Enrique Bernoldi - Drivers' Representative
- Hasan Alabdali - National Steward

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I kind of like Sky’s pre-race show. They often have some fun and engaging bits with the drivers.

But for everything else, I went with F1TV a couple of years ago and haven’t looked back. And as an added bonus, I get all sessions of F2, and though I don’t often watch, all sessions of F3 and F1 Academy as well.

 

I'll have to investigate F1TV. Thanks!

 

They didn’t ban testing. They just moved it into the season to make it more exciting for the paying fans.

 

I used to watch the Sky coverage religiously. However I now watch F1TV. I still record the Sky pre-show but fast forward through the useless (Naomi really brings nothing to the table) content. Buxton going to Indycar was a great move - I now have yet another reason to not watch Indycar!

 

It’s worth it. I have the app on my Apple TV connected to my big screen surround sound set up.

There’s also an absolute ton of extra content in there. Want to watch a replay of a classic race from years ago? It’s there. Want to watch a summary of the 1974 season? It’s there. And no ads. Ever.

Go for it, my friend.