According to Lando Norris, the glaring top speed differences in Jeddah are mainly due to different downforce levels
There was a difference of up to 16 km/h at the 2022 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix – this is revealed by the top speed overview for the Formula 1 Grand Prix there. The differences were also evident in the duel between race winner Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
While Verstappen was able to almost effortlessly add several tenths of a second on the straight with DRS assistance, Leclerc had a much harder time in the final phase – with the Ferrari engine, which is again said to have similar magical strengths as in 2019.
But was it really down to the engine? Lando Norris, who finished seventh in the McLaren, doesn’t think so. “This weekend it was 100 per cent down to different downforce levels,” said the 2018 Formula 2 runner-up.
“I don’t feel that Honda is better than Ferrari. The fact that the Red Bull has been so much faster [straight ahead] than the Ferrari is simply because of the different wing positions. In Bahrain, the differences between the power units were much easier to understand. “
Norris isn’t quite sure about one thing, though: where does Alpine stand with its brand new engine? “Compared to them, I can’t say exactly where we stood. They were so much faster. We’ll get to the bottom of that and keep that in mind for the future.”
And for him personally? “We still have a bunch of things to do,” Norris says of McLaren’s position in Formula 1 2022. “If we went back to Bahrain tomorrow, we’d be eliminated in Q1 again and finish around last place.”
“But we can take away [from Jeddah] that we can take good points at Barcelona-type tracks. We are competitive there. I’m less confident for tracks with slower corners like Monaco or Bahrain. We are not competitive there and we have to work on that. “
