F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2025: Jeddah Team Upgrades, Strategy Insights & Race Weekend Preview

GUYS! We've reached round 5 of the 2025 Formula 1 season!

This week, we're heading to one of THE fastest and ✨️most dramatic✨️ tracks on the calendar: Jeddah

dun dun dunnnnn 👀

If you’re new to Jeddah, buckle up because his isn’t your average street track...

It’s narrow, ultra-fast, packed with blind corners, and leaves NO room for error.

And this year? It's even spicier 🤭

Here's what to expect this weekend, from upgrades to tyre strategy to the sneaky little things that could shake up the championship (maybeeeee, we'll see👀)

Why Jeddah Matters

Let’s start with the obvious: Jeddah is the fastest street circuit in Formula 1.

Here, average speeds hit around 250 km/h+, and there’s baaaaaarely a moment to breathe 😗

Unlike tighter, stop-start street tracks like Monaco or Singapore, Jeddah ✨️flows✨️, and that makes it a TOTALLY different challenge.

Butttttt it also rewards confidence....

This is one of those circuits where the bravest drivers shine.

Yeah, there’s grip, but it’s ✨️deceptive✨️

Make one mistake...

😶 One twitch on the throttle...

😶 One misjudged turn-in...

... and you're in the wall.

Yeah. It's rough out here hey 😳

Buttttt here’s the kicker: it’s not JUST about raw speed.

Strategy, tyre life, and setup are JUST as important — especially in 2025, where the top 4 teams are separated by tenths, not seconds 👀

What Makes Jeddah Unique?

• 44 laps, 6.1 km per lap

  
  

• 27 corners (the most on the calendar)

  
  

• Loooooong, flat-out sections where drivers are at full throttle for over 75% of the lap

  
  

• Night race (cool temps = different tyre behaviour)

  
  

• Safety Cars are almost guaranteed (there’s been at least one in every Jeddah GP so far 😳)

This track is “rear-limited,” which means the rear tyres take a BEATING...

... Especially in the traction zones after fast direction changes

So, cars with unstable rear ends could maaaaybe struggle here unless they’ve solved those issues by this weekend 😅

What Tyres Are Teams Using?

Pirelli has selected the C2, C3, and C4 compounds for this weekend (one step softer than Bahrain)

That means...

⚪️ C2 (Hard): Toughest and longest-lasting

🟡 C3 (Medium): Likely the go-to race tyre

🔴 C4 (Soft): Great for qualifying, not sooo great in long runs

Why softer tyres? 🤔

Jeddah’s ✨️smooth operator✨️ surface isn’t very abrasive.

So...

The tyres don’t wear down from friction here, instead they wear down from heat and lateral load (that sideways force in fast corners)

And with so many high-speed changes of direction, tyre overheating is a real issue.

Strategy prediction

I'd say we can expect a 1-stop race if things go smoothly… but “smooth” and “Jeddah” rarely go together 😗✌️

Sooo a mid-race Safety Car could make things VERY interesting 👀

Upgrades, people, UPGRADES

Who brought what to Jeddah?

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit is known for its insane speed, twistycorners, and tight walls, making it one of the most challenging street circuits in F1.

It’s also a circuit where straight-line speed matters A LOT...

So we'll find that a lot of tems brought upgrades focused on reducing drag while maintaining enough downforce to stay stable through the fast twists and turns (of which there are many, 27 to be exact 👀)

Here’s what each team changed and why it matters...

McLaren

McLaren brought a brand-new low-drag rear wing and a reworked beam wing.

The goal here is simple — go faster in a straight line.

Jeddah has long full-throttle sections, and shaving off drag means more top speed on those straights.

... But that comes at the cost of rear-end grip in the corners.

So McLaren’s challenge was to reduce drag without making the car twitchy through the fast, flowing corners (and that’s where the beam wing tweak helps rebalance the car)

The bigger picture is...

These aren’t JUST minor adjustments.

They show McLaren is confident in their base car and is now fine-tuning it per circuit.

THAT'S a sign of a front-runner 🤭

Ferrari

Ferrari is pulling up to Jeddah with a modified rear wing and beam wing, both optimized for lower drag.

This is pretty important because...

Ferrari’s car has great cornering ability buttttt it wasn’t the fastest in a straight line at the last race in Bahrain.

So, this setup is designed to fix that — they’re aiming to cut drag while preserving as much rear-end grip as possible.

In Jeddah, you can’t afford to be slow on the straights or unstable in corners — you need both. Ferrari’s new wing setup is trying to deliver that balance that they need.

There are also rumours that Ferrari may also be running slightly lighter this weekend, potentially thanks to internal component refinements.

If this is true, that would help with agility and tyre wear — but it’s not confirmed officially 🤔

Red Bull

Redbull is bringing a revised engine cover and updates to their cooling system.

While other teams focused on aero, Red Bull looked inward...

Their goal was to improve cooling (which is gonna be super important in Jeddah’s heat and with minimal air movement through the street circuit)

An efficient cooling system allows them to run the car harder without risking engine overheating.

It also frees up aero performance elsewhere, since they don’t need to leave vents wide open.

They've also made some small setup changes to the suspension layout to help the car handle better through Jeddah’s many high-speed direction changes.

Mercedes

Merc isn't bringing any new physical parts, but they ARE pulling up with a completely circuit-specific setup approach...

Yeah, Mercedes didn’t bring any upgrades in terms of hardware, but that doesn’t mean they’re not working.

They’ve put a HUGE focus on tuning the car’s setup to handle Jeddah’s flow: working on...

• how the car handles under braking,

• how it rotates into the faster corners,

• how it behaves on throttle exit.

  
  

Their car still has some instability issues, especially on corner entry.

So, they’re trying to mask those flaws with smart setup work rather than new parts this weekend.

Track analysis of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit

Fast, Furious & Totally Unforgiving

It’s a street circuit, sure — but don’t expect 60 km/h hairpins and gentle-smol-bebe chicanes.

No no. Not here

This track is FAST.

Plus –

It’s built along the Red Sea’s coastline, with tight walls, no runoff, and a layout that rewards commitment but punishes mistakes HARD.

Sector 1: Fast Kinks & Blind Corners

This is where drivers either ✨️find their rhythm✨️ or bin it early 🤡

Turn 1–2 is a tight left-right combo that launches into a sequence of flowing high-speed corners (Turns to 8)

The walls come up FAST fast, and because of the speeds and lack of visibility, even the best drivers can get caught out here.

This sector is allllll about confidence and balance.

If the car feels skittish, the driver will back off, and that costs tenths in every corner. Which is NOT something the teams will wanna risk here 😅

What matters here:

1. Front-end grip (to hit those sharp turn-ins)

   
   

2. Aero balance (so the car feels planted at speed)

   
   

3. Driver bravery (because you’re threading the needle at 250+ km/h)

Sector 2: Rhythm, Rhythm, Rhythm

This is where you settle into the lap.

Turns 9 through 13 are a series of rapid, flowing bends that test how stable the car is under high lateral loads (that sideways force pushing the tyres against the road).

It’s fast and beautiful.... er, when it works.

Then comes a short straight, followed by the Turn 13 hairpin.

It’s deceptively tricky and a great overtaking spot if someone messes up their line.

What matters here:

1. Aerodynamic efficiency (for flow and grip)

   
   

2. Rear-end stability (to keep the car balanced mid-corner)

   
   

3. Precision, because even teeny tiny mistakes snowball quickly here

Sector 3: Traction, Braking & Survival Mode

The final part of the lap is where things get ✨️spicyyy✨️

Here is a long flat-out blast through Turns 20–22 (all of which are technically corners but are taken at full throttle)

... Heavy braking into Turn 23 (tight left-hander)

And finally, the tricky Turns 25–27 – a super hard-braking hairpin that leads back onto the start/finish straight

Turn 27 is CRUCIAL.

If you get it wrong, you compromise the ENTIRE next lap.

Butttttt get it right, and you set yourself up for a DRS pass into Turn 1 😏

What matters here:

1. Straight-line speed (to defend or attack)

   
   

2. Brake cooling and stability (lots of heat builds up here)

   
   

3. Tyre condition, because by this point, they’re hurting

Why This Track Is SO brutal on Drivers

Jeddah might look glamorous under the lights, but inside the cockpit, it’s a battlefield ngl 😅

Here’s why I say that...

1. There's veeeery minimal margin for error.

A tiny snap of oversteer, a missed braking point, a wheel on the paint… and your session is over. Just like that.

2. It's mentally draining.

Because you’re at full concentration the entire time with no real breaks, and no slow corners to reset...

3. It's physically very tough.

High G-force in the fast bends, plus TONS of temperature management and rapid inputs.

The Safety Car Factor

A Race Within the Race

Let’s just say this now — a Safety Car in Jeddah isn’t a “maybe.”

It’s a “when.”

There’s been a Safety Car or red flag in every Jeddah Grand Prix since the track joined the calendar.

It’s fast, narrow, and lined with concrete. One mistake, and the marshals need a crane, not a broom.

What does that mean for strategy? Well, everything tbh

Teams might pit earlier than usual, gambling on a Safety Car to gain track position.

Some will split strategies between their drivers — one going long, the other short — to cover all bases.

Drivers may conserve tyres early on, hoping a Safety Car will let them stretch a stint or switch compounds at the perfect time.

Sooo don’t underestimate how one yellow flag can turn the whole race upside down.

Why FP2 Is the Most Important Session of the Weekend

Practice 2 (FP2) is the only session held in the same conditions as qualifying and the race — under the lights, in cooler temperatures, with proper grip levels.

The rest of the weekend (FP1 and FP3) happens in hotter conditions, and the data just doesn’t translate.

That means FP2 is when:

1. Teams run race simulations with heavier fuel loads

   
   

2. Engineers test tyre degradation over long stints

   
   

3. Drivers do their qualifying simulations on soft tyres

   
   

4. Setup adjustments are fine-tuned for the final time

If a team looks strong in FP2 then that might be your clue they’ll be in the mix on Sunday 👀

DRS & Overtaking: Harder Than It Should Be

Jeddah has 3 DRS zones and one of the highest average speeds on the calendar — but overtaking is still super tricky here...

Why? 🤔

Well...

1. Dirty air in the twisty middle sector makes it hard to stay close

   
   

2. Braking zones into key corners aren’t long enough to allow confident dives

   
   

3. Everyone’s running low-drag setups, so the DRS effect isn’t massive

THAT'S why you’ll often see teams playing the long game...

... undercutting with fresh tyres, positioning drivers in clean air, or baiting rivals into errors through pit stop timing.

Best overtaking spots?

• Turn 1 after the main straight

  
  

• Turn 13 after the fast S-section

  
  

• Turn 27 if a driver gets a good tun through Turn 25

I think we can expect a lot of overtaking attempts to happen juuuuuust after the DRS zones — when someone finally gets close enough to make it stick.

Weather Watch

Yes, it’s a night race — but Jeddah’s weather still plays a role, let me tell you why 😏

• Track temps drop FAST after sunset. So, teams need to adjust setup to account for changing grip.

  
  

• Wind off the sea can shift throughout the night, especially affecting braking stability in Turns 13 and 22.

  
  

• Humidity can rise late in the race, changing how tyres behave.

That’s why teams spend so much time in FP2...

Because the conditions in FP1 and FP3 are completely different, and setups that work in daylight might feel awful once the lights go out.

Sooooo...

Whether you're here for the chaos, the comebacks, or just to see who dares brush the wall at 300km/h –

Jeddah never disappoints 😗✌️

With top teams rolling out sleek upgrades, drivers fired up for redemption arcs, and a street circuit that punishes hesitation, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is set to be a full-send kind of weekend.

It’s about to get fast, furious, and a little bit spicy under the floodlights this weekend 😏