FP1 LIVE | The first free practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

This weekend, the second race of the 2022 F1 season is on the schedule. Formula 1 travels to the fast street circuit of Jeddah. In this liveblog you can follow the first free practice for the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia.

The drivers and teams have already had a good time getting used to the new cars during the first Grand Prix weekend in Bahrain, but in the coming days everyone faces a new challenge. The circuit of Jeddah is in fact a completely different circuit than Bahrain. F1 will only be racing at this circuit for the second time, and during the winter break several adjustments were made to improve visibility.

After the drama in Bahrain, where Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez both crashed out, Red Bull Racing will want to pull out all the stops for a better result this weekend. With 44 points behind Ferrari, the race in Jeddah will be of great importance.

Red Bull's failure meant Mercedes eventually finished on the podium, but the team still has a lot of work to do to solve the problems on the W13. Both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were not satisfied with the balance of the car.

Ferrari, on the other hand, looks very strong. The team will start the weekend with a lot of confidence after the double podium in Bahrain. Verstappen, however, was matched by Charles Leclerc all weekend.

The race in Saudi Arabia will be held on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. The goal of the organisation was to have the fastest street circuit on the calendar, finding a mix between Monaco and Baku. The circuit has very tight tight corners, but the speed never drops to very low speeds due to the angle of the corners. In a simulation, the circuit proved to be the fastest on the F1 calendar, with an average speed of 250 kilometers per hour.

The circuit, like so many circuits on the F1 calendar, was designed by Hermann Tilke. F1's in-house architect was brought in again to design and came up with the street circuit that is 6,174 metres long and has 27 turns. The circuit is lined with floodlights, so the drivers race in the dark.

Nevertheless, Tilke's design was also criticised, as the combination of high speed, blind corners and a narrow track created a particularly high risk of huge crashes. In 2021 the damage was not too bad, but there were some moments when things could have turned out differently. It remains to be seen whether the planned changes will improve on this.