Jeddah details track changes ahead of 2022 Saudi Arabian GP

Formula 1 will return to a slightly revised track later this month in Jeddah, where Saudi Arabia will host the second round of the 2022 F1 World Championship.

F1 drivers gave the Jeddah Corniche Circuit a thumbs up at last December's inaugural event held in Saudi Arabia, but there were nevertheless some concerns expressed ahead of the race over the track's final sector that features a string of fast sweeps and blind corners.

Unfortunately, those worries proved valid on race day when the race was interrupted by two red flags due to crashes involving multiple cars.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix boss Martin Whitaker revealed in January that changes to the track would be implemented ahead of F1's return to Jeddah this month, mainly to improve the drivers' sight line and safety.

The event's promoter has released an update outlining those changes:

"It has already been confirmed that some minor tweaks will be made to the circuit to help improve driver sight lines from the cockpit by improving visibility in several of the circuit's corners including Turns 2, 3, 14 and 21 where the barriers will be moved back between 1.5m and 2m," stated the Saudi Motorsport Company.

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"Likewise, the barrier on the right-hand side of Turn 27 will be moved back by around 1.5m to widen the track at this point. In all cases except Turn 27, the track limit/edge will remain the same.

"In addition, further modifications will also be made to Turns 4, 16, 22 and 24 after consultation with the drivers who requested a smoother barrier on the apex so that they can potentially brush it as they pass.

"To accommodate this, SMC is installing a steel plate which will effectively wrap around the concrete barriers given them the smooth surface they require to favour the lines the drivers take around the record-breaking course."

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