Martin Whitaker, chief executive of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, has confirmed that several improvements will be made to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and facility as Formula 1 returns for the second event this year, in March (the second round of the 2022 F1 championship).
During the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, driver feedback revealed concerns of a lack of visibility around certain higher-speed corners with the barriers and tight confines preventing sight of a potential incident or driver coming from behind, especially on a warm-up or cool-down lap, which led to several close incidents in the free practice sessions.
Ahead of this year’s Formula 1 event, which is scheduled to take place on March 27, CEO of the Saudi Motorsport Company Martin Whitaker explained the venue is committed to ‘improving’ on this potentially dangerous situation
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“We have been striving to improve on some areas for our second event,” explained Martin Whitaker – “Firstly, there are going to be one or two slight changes to the track. These tweaks are directly related to a drivers’ sight-line from the cockpit. It’s minimal work, but it will help improve forward visibility in a couple of corners. Secondly, we will make some small modifications to the barriers that will favour the lines the drivers take around the course.” – he added.
Ahead of the inaugural Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last season, there were concerns regarding the fact that the circuit and facility would not be ready in time for the event to actually take place. Work continued at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit even during the race weekend, yet after the successful running of the first Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Martin Whitaker feels the new changes will lead to better and safer racing this year: “There are a couple of areas that we are working on to enhance the experience for the fans who return to the track in March. We are planning on shifting some of the angles of the grandstands to improve visibility and, at the same time, we plan to increase the size and develop the fan zones, which proved to be extremely popular.” – the Saudi GP chief executive concluded.
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