Weug predicts close fight for Jeddah pole but track evolution remains an unknown

Maya Weug is determined to put herself in the hunt for her second consecutive pole position this season in Jeddah, but believes she’ll face stiff competition based on the field’s rapid start in Practice.

The top of the timesheets changed hands several times across the final three minutes of running, with the Ferrari driver setting a 2:05.357 to pip Alisha Palmowski to the quickest time by 0.030s.

Seven tenths covered the top-six drivers, a contrast to last year’s session in which over a second covered those positions. As a result, Weug says there’ll be little margin for error when it comes down to Qualifying and is happy to have made the most of her running in preparation.

“A very hot start first of all,” remarked Weug. “Now it’s cooling down a bit and I think Quali will be nice and cool again, which is always good. We tried a couple of things in Practice and still managed to put it on top.

“The car felt quite good. I managed to get in some clean laps and do the programme that we were planning to do. Just need to make small tweaks here and there on driving and also set-up to make sure that tonight we can extract everything.

“It’s going to be very close because already Practice was very close. We have to make sure that we make the least or the smallest mistakes possible during the whole lap because it’s a long lap and try to get pole tonight.”

Despite Weug being competitive from the outset in Practice, she believes there’s still a way to go until she can be fully satisfied with her efforts around the 6.174km circuit. “It was far from being perfect, that lap, but that’s why we have to do it tonight,” she admitted. “When it’s so hot, the rears start going away very quickly. We’ll see if tonight it’s better, probably it will be when it’s cool.

PRACTICE: Weug sets the early pace in Jeddah ahead of Palmowski

“It was tricky to keep the rears in a good shape for the whole lap, but having 27 corners to put the whole lap together will be very difficult.”

Track temperatures soared to 58˚C in Practice, so the cooler conditions in Qualifying will come as a welcome relief. Although some challenges remain unchanged, the track evolution combined with the nighttime running could easily catch drivers out.

Assessing what will be her biggest test in Qualifying, Weug said: “Extracting the most out of the grip that there is because now we have two F1 sessions coming up and also F2 have their Quali, so the grip will be insanely higher than what we had before.

“When it’s cooler, the track improves even more. So, it will just be about, in the first run, getting everything out of the grip or understand where the grip is. Then, on the second run, get everything out of it. With a couple of laps that you have in Quali, it's very important to get all out of it. It will be tricky because it's going to change possibly from what we felt today.”

READ MORE: Pin singles out her priority in Jeddah as she aims to recreate 2024 winning form

Weug enjoyed a double podium in Jeddah last year and is optimistic about her chances of continuing that form. Facing a reverse grid race on her 2025 visit, the Dutch racer stressed the need to qualify well — not least so her MP Motorsport team can bag a few more Pirelli Pole Position trophies.

“As we saw last year overtaking is difficult with the dirty air and the hot air as well,” she said. “It’s really important to get a good Quali and then we’ll still have to make some moves in the first race. I’m looking forward to the reverse grid race as well because it’s quite fun”

Weug added: “The team wants more of those Pirelli tyres otherwise I cannot keep mine!”