Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about Jeddah Corniche Circuit ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix!
Track length: 6.174km
Race length: 308.450km
Laps: 50
Turns: 27
Circuit opened: 2021
F1 first visited: 2021
Races held: 2
Track Record: 1:27.511, Lewis Hamilton, 2021
Lap Record: 1:30.734, Lewis Hamilton, 2021
RACE WINNERS
Formula 1 raced at Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the first time in 2021. It is the fastest street track on which Formula 1 has ever raced.
The circuit has hosted the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix twice so far, with the first two races having been held within 112 days of one another.
The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was held as the penultimate round of the 2021 season, while the 2022 event hosted the second round of the 2022 season. The event will be the second race of the year once again in 2023.
There’s yet to be a repeat winner at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The two races held at Jeddah Corniche Circuit so far have both had different winners. Lewis Hamilton took victory in 2021, while Max Verstappen won in 2022.
It means that Mercedes and Red Bull are currently tied for most team wins at the circuit, while British and Dutch drivers are tied for most wins for a nation at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
No team has recorded a 1-2 finish so far at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. In 2021, both Mercedes drivers finished on the podium (in 1st and 3rd), while both Ferraris finished in the top three in 2022 (in 2nd and 3rd).
Hamilton holds the record for largest Saudi Arabian Grand Prix winning margin
Lewis Hamilton currently holds the record for the largest winning margin at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, having taken victory in 2021 by 21.825 seconds.
In 2022, Max Verstappen crossed the line just 0.594 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, making it the smallest win margin so far at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
From the two races held here so far, the average win margin is 11.210 seconds.
ON THE PODIUM
Five different drivers have stood on the podium at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen is the only repeat podium finisher at Jeddah Corniche Circuit
In 2022, Max Verstappen became the first driver to record multiple podium finishes at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
All of the drivers who’ve finished on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix podium are on the 2023 grid. In addition to Max Verstappen’s two podium finishes, Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz each have a single top three finish in Jeddah.
Three teams share the record for most Saudi Arabian Grand Prix podiums
So far, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix podium places have been filled exclusively by Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari drivers. The three teams share the record for most podium finishes at the track, all with two each.
POLESITTERS
Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez share the record for most Saudi Arabian Grand Prix poles, with one apiece. Hamilton took pole for the inaugural race at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, while Perez took pole in 2022.
Hamilton and Perez’s poles mean that Mercedes and Red Bull are tied for most pole positions at the track.
The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the only race in Jeddah at which a team has secured a front row lock-out. Mercedes did so on that occasion.
The largest pole margin at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is 0.111s
The two qualifying sessions held so far at Jeddah Corniche Circuit have been decided by small margins. Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the largest pole margin at the track, having taken pole by 0.111 seconds in 2021.
Sergio Perez secured pole position by only 0.025 seconds at the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. It’s the smallest margin by which pole has been taken so far in Jeddah.
From the two Saudi Arabian Grands Prix held so far at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, the average pole margin is 0.068 seconds.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
Lewis Hamilton is the only driver to win the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from pole position so far, doing so in 2021. In 2022, polesitter Sergio Perez finished fourth.
There’s yet to be a race at Jeddah Corniche Circuit in which the polesitter has not led at the end of the first lap.
Max Verstappen holds the record for the furthest back position from which the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been won, having won from fourth on the grid in 2022.
Every podium finish has come from the front two rows of the grid
Max Verstappen’s 2022 win is the only podium finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which has not come from the top three on the grid.
The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the only race at the track so far in which all of the top three starters have finished on the podium. There’s yet to be a race here in which the top three finish in the same order as they started.
SUNDAY STATISTICS
So far, there have been 100 racing laps completed at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Seven drivers have completed all 100 Grand Prix laps raced at Jeddah Corniche Circuit to date: Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly.
Mercedes and Ferrari are the only teams to have seen both of their drivers complete all 50 laps in both races held at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
From the 40 cars which have entered a race here, 38 have started. Both Mick Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda failed to start the race in 2022. From the 38 cars which have started races here, 28 have reached the chequered flag. That gives a finish rate of 74%.
In both Saudi Arabian races to date, 12 drivers have completed every lap in the Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen holds the record for most points scored in Saudi Arabia, having picked up 43 points across the two races held so far at the track.
Two drivers share the record for most fastest laps
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc currently share the record for most fastest laps in Jeddah, each having set the Sunday pace once.
Verstappen has led the most laps here
Max Verstappen has led the most laps of any driver at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, having spent 37 laps at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Five drivers have led a lap in total at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
There’s yet to be a Jeddah race in which the eventual winner has led every lap. In fact, in both races held at the circuit so far, the winner was not the driver who led the most laps in the race. Hamilton led 18 laps on his way to victory in 2021, while Verstappen led just six in 2022.
Charles Leclerc holds the record for most laps led at Jeddah Corniche Circuit without taking victory. He led 30 laps of the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Both races held so far have featured three different drivers leading a lap of the Grand Prix.
Safety Cars and Red Flags at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
The Safety Car has made two appearances in both races so far at the track.
In addition to the two Safety Car periods in 2021, there were also six Virtual Safety Car periods and two formation laps which took place behind the Safety Car.
The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the only race to be red-flagged at the circuit. The event featured two red flags – one the result of a collision for Mick Schumacher and the other as a result of a pile-up at the race’s first restart.
There has never been a rain-affected race at Jeddah Corniche Circuit. We’re unlikely to see a wet weather race here, given that the city gets only half a day’s worth of rain in the entire month of March.
The 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is the Jeddah race which has seen the most cars finish. 15 of the 20 starters crossed the finish line on that occasion. In 2022, just 13 cars reached the end of the race; a new record low for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
There’s yet to be a first lap retirement at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
A World Champion has never been crowned at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with both titles still up for grabs after both races held so far at the track.
After the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were tied on points. It left them heading into the final round of the season level on points – the first time this had happened since 1974.
The winner of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has been crowned World Champion in the same season once: in 2022.
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix polesitter is yet to win the title in the same season as they have taken pole at the track.
