Saudi Arabia: pre-qualifying 2022

And so to Saudi Arabia. But not for Vettel, who remains sick and replaced by Hulkenberg.

I saw a bit of first practice and while Leclerc was nice and smooth Sainz was seeing serious porpoising, though he should be able to correct that by copying his team mate’s setup.

Leclerc was a tenth ahead of Verstappen in first practice, with Bottas just two-tenths further back. Sainz was close behind, then a couple of tenths back was Gasly, ahead of his team mate Tsunoda. Perez, Ocon, Hamilton, and Alonso rounded out the top 10.

Because it’s an evening race, as per last time, the first and third practice sessions aren’t tremendously useful but so far it does look like another Red Bull/Ferrari contest. Note that second practice didn’t see competitive Ferrari times really because both had minor knocks with the wall late on. In P2 Magnussen stopped on-track, as did Tsunoda.

Leclerc was again a tenth ahead of Verstappen in second practice, with Sainz third, just half a tenth ahead of Perez. Hamilton and Russell were next, followed by Norris (who was within a tenth of the Mercedes), then came Ocon, Bottas, and Tsunoda.

In third practice Leclerc was again faster than Verstappen, but by just three-hundredths (and the Dutchmen never got in a representative fast lap). Perez was half a tenth further back, with Sainz a bit further off and barely ahead of Bottas. Ocon was a tenth behind the Finn and a hundredth ahead of Gasly (whose car stopped in the pit lane). Magnussen, Alonso, and Tsunoda rounded out the top 10 (Hamilton was 11th).

On pace, I think Red Bull might have the legs on the Prancing Horse but even with modifications the circuit is very tight. Bottas is looking good, likewise Alpine and AlphaTauri (the latter being a little fragile, though).

Hmm. Perez is 15 to ‘win’ qualifying (third the odds top two for each way) and Sainz 9. Both of these have some appeal as it’s looking again like a battle between Ferrari and Red Bull, and a small mistake (as Verstappen made last year) could easily sink anyone.

I’ve split a single stake backing both, each way. Three of the four fastest have had errors at high speeds, and Perez or Sainz could easily end up on the front row if woe (or even gusting wind, or traffic) interferes with Leclerc and Verstappen.

Qualifying is at 5pm. As usual, the pre-race stuff will be up tomorrow.

 

Morris Dancer

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