6 key facts about the ultra-fast Jeddah Street Circuit

You’ve seen the layout, but what makes the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix's Jeddah Street Circuit so unique on the F1 calendar? Here are six key facts…

1. Simulations suggest it could be quicker than Silverstone…

Monza is F1’s fabled ‘Temple of Speed’, but flat-out Silverstone has always run it close. But now there’s a new kid on the quick tracks list. And simulations show that Jeddah could actually be slightly quicker than Silverstone in terms of average speed…

• Monza, Italy - 264.4km/h
• Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia - 252.8km/h*
• Silverstone, Great Britain - 251.6km/h
• Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium - 249km/h
• Red Bull Ring, Austria - 247km/h

*Simulated speed

2. …and it’ll definitely be the fastest street circuit ever

In 1970, in the final year that Spa-Francorchamps was run as a true ‘road course’, made up of 14km of public roads, Chris Amon lapped at an average of 244.7km/h. Whether you regard the old Spa as a true street track or not, Jeddah looks set to be comfortably quicker than that, and all of the other street tracks on the 2021 calendar.

• Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia - 252.8 km/h*
• Albert Park, Australia - 237.2 km/h
• Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan - 215 km/h
• Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore - 189.8km/h
• Monaco - 171.2km/h

*Simulated speed

3. It’s the second-longest circuit on the calendar…

At 6.175km, Jeddah is the second longest circuit on the calendar after Spa-Francorchamps. However, unlike Spa, it has very few changes in gradient, lying largely flat as it skirts the coast.

• Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium – 7.004km
• Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia - 6.175km
• Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan - 6.003km
• Silverstone, Great Britain - 5.891km
• Sochi Autodrom, Russia - 5.848km

4. …and the longest street circuit

Jeddah comes in 172m longer than fellow street track Baku. That’s still considerably shorter than the longest road course of all time – the 25.579km Pescara course used for one GP only in 1957.

• Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabi - 6.175km
• Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan - 6.003km
• Albert Park, Australia - 5.303km
• Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore - 5.063km
• Monaco - 3.337km

5. It will have more corners than any other current track

Jeddah will feature 27 corners – four more than Singapore and six more than Abu Dhabi. Admittedly, however, many of Jeddah’s corners will feel like straights to the drivers, given they’ll be flat-out kinks.

• Jeddah Street Circuit, Saudi Arabia - 27
• Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore - 23
• Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi - 21
• Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan - 20
• Circuit of The Americas, USA - 20

6. There's potential for up to 3 DRS zones

The exact number of DRS zones used in Jeddah will be decided by the FIA, but the circuit has been designed with three in mind, as can be seen in the image below. Flat-out and plenty of overtaking? Sounds pretty good to us!