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The penultimate round of the 2021 FIA
Formula One World Championship sees the Team head to Saudi Arabia and
the ancient port city of Jeddah for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand
Prix this weekend. We do so with heavy hearts following the passing of
our Founder and Former Team Principal, Sir Frank Williams at the age of
79. Sir Frank was a racer at his very core, and we will be racing in his
honour this weekend, with numerous tributes planned to celebrate his
extraordinary life.
The venue for this weekend’s race is the temporary Jeddah Corniche
Circuit which weaves and sweeps its way along the coastal resort’s
waterfront. Despite featuring the most corners on the 2021 calendar, the
track also claims the title of Formula One’s fastest ever street
circuit, with speeds set to average near 252km/h, quicker than those at
Silverstone. The FW43B will be illuminated by the city’s lighting as it
contends with the quick, winding bends of the 6.174km track under the
setting sun, adding to the unique atmosphere of the Kingdom’s first
Formula One weekend.
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
The sad events of last weekend mean that this is our first race weekend
without Sir Frank Williams as the patriarch and figurehead of the
Williams organisation. Although he had only very rarely been at the
track in recent years, he still had a strong presence in the garage; his
passion, strength and unstinting enthusiasm providing additional
motivation to those of us fortunate enough to race the cars bearing his
name.
Although an era ended last weekend, Frank’s legacy will live on and we
will continue to race in the manner that he would expect, drawing upon
his memory as a source of pride and inspiration. We send the Williams
family our deepest sympathies and reassure them that we will continue to
honour his legend.
For the penultimate round of the 2021 F1 Championship we go to another
new venue. The brand-new Jeddah Corniche Circuit sits by the Red Sea in
the modern port city of Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The
circuit is a big contrast to the Losail Circuit in Qatar and features a
very long lap with a multitude of fast sweeping corners, all set within
a street circuit. We will need to see how much grip the newly laid
surface offers, but the natural layout of the corners means that it is
very much a high-speed circuit, which should flow nicely and encourage
some fascinating racing. The drivers will enjoy it and they will get a
lot of satisfaction from a single flat-out qualifying lap.
The late sessions under floodlights will be a big feature of the event,
both visibly and in terms of the car and tyre behaviour. We can expect
quite a variety of approaches to setup and tyre use, and it is likely
that most drivers will still be refining their car setups as we head
into the night-time qualifying session on Saturday. With each lap in
excess of 6km, the drivers won’t get too many attempts at each corner
sequence prior to qualifying and this will add to the pressure and
should help deliver an exciting session in which the most adaptable and
instinctive drivers should excel.
In recognition of the street circuit setting, Pirelli have provided
tyres from the middle of their compound range, which should ensure a
good level of grip and the possibility of mixed strategies on Sunday.
With two races of the long 2021 season remaining, we are focussed on
delivering everything that the FW43B is capable of and signing-off the
season with some positive momentum to take into 2022. We aren’t going to
see any inclement weather in Saudi Arabia or Abu Dhabi and so we will
need to concentrate on maximising the tyre performance and giving the
drivers the best possible opportunities to push the car to its absolute
limits: we will need to rely on basic race engineering skills.
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Nicholas Latifi:
There is no doubt that the whole the whole team will be racing for Sir
Frank this weekend. His contribution to Formula One cannot be
underestimated, and to represent his name on the world stage has been an
honour. We’ll continue to push hard to take the team back up the grid.
I’m looking forward to experiencing the Jeddah Corniche Circuit and
discovering another brand-new track. Street circuits are always
exciting; the extra adrenaline that you get from driving between the
tight city walls makes it really enjoyable, despite also being an extra
challenge. From what I’ve experienced in the simulator, the high-speed
nature of the circuit is going to make things quite intense. There are a
lot of corners, most of them very quick, so it will be an exciting track
to drive. This will also be my first street race held at night, which
adds another interesting element that I’m looking forward to tackling.
George Russell:
It’s with a great sadness that we head to Saudi Arabia this weekend
following the passing of Sir Frank, but as a team we are determined to
pay our respects and honour him in the way we know he would want us to;
by racing. In terms of British sport, Sir Frank was an incredibly
important figure. Not just because of the adversity he faced, but
because of the success that the team went on to achieve following his
accident. He was somebody that so many people looked up to. He would be
wheeled around the whole factory and there was this presence in the room
whenever he was around. It motivated the team to really get on with
their jobs and be so dedicated, because of the man he was.
On track, I am looking forward to getting my first look at the Jeddah
Corniche Circuit. It is sure to be an exhilarating track to drive with
its high-speed nature and, when you couple that with the fact it’s a
street circuit and the walls will be close, I’m sure it will be a
thrilling spectacle both inside and outside the car. As we head into
this final double-header of the season, our full focus as a team remains
on consolidating our position in the Constructors’ Championship and we
will be giving it absolutely everything to do so. |
