Drivers call for changes to ‘most dangerous’ Jeddah circuit

Sergio Perez has labelled the Jeddah Corniche Circuit the “most dangerous place” on the calendar while Carlos Sainz asks: is it worth it?

Saturday night’s qualifying for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was red flagged on two occasions.

Nicholas Latifi was the first to crash, the Williams driver into the barriers at Turn 13 in Q1. However, the worst was yet to come.

Pushing for a spot inside the top-ten, Mick Schumacher had a high-speed crash when he went nose-first into the barriers on the exit of Turn 10.

Such was the impact that his Haas VF-22 split in two, momentum carrying the car down the track to Turn 12 before it came to a rest.

The German was airlifted to hospital for precautionary checks but thankfully escaped without injury although he won’t take part in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

His rivals have called for changes to be made to the Jeddah circuit.

“I think it’s definitely the most dangerous place in the calendar, that’s no secret about it,” said pole-sitter Sergio Perez.

“It really demands a lot from the drivers, from the cars, from the teams. If you get it wrong, it can be a huge accident.

“I don’t know if there’s something we can do into Turn 22/23 because it’s a really high-speed section.

“It’s more [dangerous] in the race, but I think it’s the same, after qualifying the last thing I want to think about is the track.”

Carlos Sainz wonders if it is worth it given that small changes, such as pushing the walls further back, could prevent big accidents.

“Here if you crash,” said the Ferrari driver, “it hurts a bit more than in other places in the calendar because the walls are closer and the speed is higher.

“As drivers, we’re very confident here, because we know the safety of the cockpit is very high and