Even if Leclerc beats Verstappen off the line, the Dutchman should be able to breeze past whenever he wants thanks to the three long DRS zones at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Red Bull don’t have the straight-line speed advantage they had in Saudi Arabia 12 months ago but Verstappen‘s tyre wear in Thursday’s only practice session under the lights was exceptional.
He had barely any tyre degradation and was a few tenths per lap quicker than everyone else, so it’s hard to see how he doesn’t win on Saturday, especially as F1 cars are so reliable these days.
“Thursday’s long run felt good even though I think the setup we had was not as good as today, so I’m looking forward to the race,” said Verstappen.
“Normally, we should have good race pace. And actually, of course, the degradation won’t be as high as in Bahrain. So, we’ll have to see how close everyone else is. But from our side, I think the car is set up well.”
Leclerc doesn’t rule out beating Verstappen
It looked like Leclerc would fail to get the best out of qualifying for a second event running but he delivered a stunning lap to get his Ferrari onto the front row.
Ferrari have definitely improved their tyre degradation but still don’t have the outright pace of Red Bull, or at least Verstappen, so Leclerc will be fighting hard for the podium spots.
