The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 21st round of the 2021 season taking place in Saudi Arabia between the 3rd and the 5th of December.

To submit your 10 'n' Pole Picks for Saudi Arabia click here, to register in the competition click here

The event timetable for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 16:30 local time - 13:30 GMT
2nd Practice 20:00 local time - 17:00 GMT

Saturday
Practice 17:00 local time - 14:00 GMT
Qualifying 20:00 local time - 17:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 20:30 local time - 17:30 GMT

[cmlean]

This weekend, we are off to what is reported to be the world's fastest street circuit.
At over 6 km in length and a predicted race lap time in the low 1:30's, this will be an exciting weekend of Formula 1. And with the race being held at night, it should look spectacular!
My thoughts are that it will be Lewis at the top of the tree. He, and Mercedes, seem to find the setup that allow him to master circuits pretty quickly. Max won't go quietly though. As the current championship leader, it will be up to the silver arrows team to find a way to finish on the top step of the podium.
I do feel that the top 4 positions will be distributed among the usual suspects. It's the remaining 6 positions in the top 10 that will be interesting. Ferrari have found a way to unlock the potential of their red rocket and are just ahead of the rest of the mid-field. McLaren, on the other hand, have begun to go backwards. It could be that they are trying to may their car more agreeable to Daniel Ricciardo but it is to the detriment of Lando Norris' performance. Their driving styles just aren't similar enough. Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel should round out the ten.

[cmlean]

FP1 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:29.786	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
2	1:29.842	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
3	1:30.009	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
4	1:30.263	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
5	1:30.318	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
6	1:30.564	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
7	1:30.600	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
8	1:30.608	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
9	1:30.842	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
10	1:30.886	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
11	1:30.960	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
12	1:31.023	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
13	1:31.029	Lando Norris	   McLaren
14	1:31.044	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
15	1:31.099	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
16	1:31.296	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
17	1:31.343	George Russell	   Williams
18	1:31.525	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
19	1:31.821	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
20	1:33.464	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

[cmlean]

FP2 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:29.018	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
2	1:29.079	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
3	1:29.099	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
4	1:29.213	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
5	1:29.441	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
6	1:29.555	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine 
7	1:29.589	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
8	1:29.597	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
9	1:29.768	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
10	1:29.772	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
11	1:29.968	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
12	1:30.004	Lando Norris	   McLaren
13	1:30.110	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
14	1:30.276	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
15	1:30.442	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
16	1:30.502	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
17	1:30.506	George Russell	   Williams
18	1:30.652	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
19	1:31.039	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
20	1:31.629	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas 

Charles Leclerc brought out the red flags with 5 minutes to go in the session by crashing into the barriers when entering turn 23. The car has substantial damage but the driver walked away uninjured.

[cmlean]

FP3 Results

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:28.100	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
2	1:28.314	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
3	1:28.629	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
4	1:28.641	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
5	1:28.715	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
6	1:29.019	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
7	1:29.101	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
8	1:29.149	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
9	1:29.177	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
10	1:29.300	Lando Norris	   McLaren
11	1:29.418	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
12	1:29.590	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
13	1:29.689	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
14	1:29.717	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
15	1:30.030	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
16	1:30.034	George Russell	   Williams
17	1:30.296	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
18	1:30.366	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
19	1:30.933	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
20	1:31.000	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

Valtteri had a power unit problem which had to be replaced between sessions. The unit was from one of the pool so no penalties.

[cmlean]

Qualifying

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Pos	Time		Driver		   Team
1	1:27.511	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
2	1:27.622	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
3	1:27.653	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
4	1:28.054	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
5	1:28.123	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing 
6	1:28.125	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
7	1:28.180	Lando Norris	   McLaren
8	1:28.442	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
9	1:28.647	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
10	1:28.754	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
_________________________________________________________
11	1:28.668	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
12	1:28.885	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
13	1:28.920	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
14	1:29.054	George Russell	   Williams
15	1:53.652	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
_________________________________________________________
16	1:29.177	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
17	1:29.198	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
18	1:29.368	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
19	1:29.464	Mick Schumacher	   Haas
20	1:30.473	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas

In Q2, Carlos Sainz lost his Ferrari through turn 4 resulting in minor damage to the rear wing. It will be repaired prior to the race.
Max Verstappen was on a hot lap in Q3 when he hit the wall coming out of the final turn. The rear wishbone was broken and a gearbox could also be a problem.

[cmlean]

Race Results

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Pos	Driver		   Team
1	Lewis Hamilton	   Mercedes
2	Max Verstappen	   Red Bull Racing
3	Valtteri Bottas	   Mercedes
4	Esteban Ocon	   Alpine
5	Daniel Ricciardo   McLaren
6	Pierre Gasly	   AlphaTauri
7	Charles Leclerc	   Ferrari
8	Carlos Sainz	   Ferrari
9	Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing
10	Lando Norris	   McLaren
11	Lance Stroll	   Aston Martin
12	Nicholas Latifi	   Williams
13	Fernando Alonso	   Alpine
14	Yuki Tsunoda	   AlphaTauri
15	Kimi Räikkönen	   Alfa Romeo Racing
DNF	Sebastian Vettel   Aston Martin
DNF	Sergio Perez	   Red Bull Racing
DNF	Nikita Mazepin	   Haas
DNF	George Russell	   Williams
DNF	Mick Schumacher	   Haas