Formula 1 is embracing the unfamiliar at the end of 2021 with a trio of new – or new-ish – tracks. While Losail was new to F1, and Yas Marina is much changed since our last visit, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the genuine article: terra incognita not just for F1 but for motorsport in general.
F1 doesn’t do cookie-cutter circuits; every track is unique – but some are more unique than others. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit, perched on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastline, falls into that category. It has hints of Baku, Montreal and Silverstone but really, it’s all its own thing. One thing we do know going in is that it’s going to be very, very high speed, with long, full-throttle sections, complete with three DRS zones, and rolling sequences of high-speed corners. F1 really hasn’t been anywhere like this before.
To ensure the team hits the ground running in Jeddah, test and development driver Oliver Turvey has been doing the hard yards in the simulator for the past month. He gave us some pointers on F1’s new home by the sea.