After a missile attack near the track in Jeddah there were hours of discussion as to whether the race should be run. After hours of meetings, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is expected to go ahead as planned. At 2.30 local time on Saturday, after assurances from the owners, the drivers agreed to race.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has been ruled out of the second round of the Formula One season in Saudi Arabia due to Kovid-19. Sebastian Vettel won the last of his four Formula 1 World Championship titles in 2013 Vettel, 34, will again be replaced by reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg.

Norris says he is facing a fundamental lack of grip with his new MCL 36. "Downforce - just the overall grip is quite a simple thing," he said ahead of the Saudi GP. “There are times when the balance is in a good place, but if the balance is in a good place but you are slow, it is quite a simple thing that you need. “There are loads of problems. I think it's a big problem that is very expensive in the world of Formula 1 because you only need downforce, and that's what we're struggling with at the moment. That's what we need to work on." Norris said the team was initially left scratching its head about the lack of pace in Bahrain, in what appeared to be a strong first Test at Barcelona.

F1 has only had a two-team battle for the championship in recent seasons, but it now appears that Ferrari, taking advantage of key 2022 rule changes after two years in the midfield, will once again are ready for battle. Carlos Sainz declared Ferrari "right back", after finishing second in the Scuderia one-two, which brought sweet relief to Mattia Binotto after two barren years. Ferrari did not celebrate a race win in Formula One as Sebastian Vettel led a one-two at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.

Mercedes had previously considered the extent of the damage their objective given their loss in Bahrain, but Hamilton agreed he had been stripped of their unexpected reward. Mercedes struggled with its new W13 car for most of the weekend at Sakhir, but Red Bull surprisingly finished third after both failed final laps, allowing Hamilton - who had qualified in fifth place - to capitalize. Gave the permission to. While Hamilton has already said his result was "the best result we could have got" under the conditions, the seven-time world champion doubts he will be up to the pace in Jeddah.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen beats Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second practice at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix season. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was third with Mercedes driver George Russell fourth but 0.5 seconds off the pace. McLaren driver Lando Norris was 11th fastest, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo 18th after suffering a water leak.

Hamilton told reporters before the start of the season for the Bahrain Grand Prix that "there will be some sort of penalty in relation to the gala, but we have worked together to ensure that the money goes towards youth from disadvantaged backgrounds coming to motorsport." will be imposed." He set up a commission in 2020 and last year made a personal pledge of £20 million ($26.25 million) to a new Mission 44 Foundation supporting underrepresented youth in the UK.