Saudi Weekend Review

One of the strongest weekends we’ve had so far this season

Round

five

the

2025

FIA

Formula

One

World

Championship

took

VCARB

the

Red

Sea

and

the

city

Jeddah

Saudi

Arabia.

Liam

and

Isack

arrived

the

Jeddah

Corniche

Circuit

with

plenty

learn

after

difficult

Bahrain

last

week.

Our

very

own

Rafa

Ferreira

was

back

for

Round

the

2025

Academy

and

also

celebrated

her

birthday.

What

followed

was

one

the

strongest

weekends

we’ve

had

far

this

season.

This is VCARB’s review of FORMULA 1 STC SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX 2025.

In preparation for the race weekend, Liam and Isack began by shooting some hoops, becoming the F1 equivalent of Jordan and Pippen. Isack was blessed with a cute gift from his rookie bestie, and the team made a beautiful handmade card for Rafa’s birthday, which she would go on to celebrate behind the wheel in F1 Academy.

In Free Practice 1, Liam and Isack were P11 and P15 overall, both within eight-tenths of the fastest time set by Gasly. The pace picked up in Free Practice 2, and the boys held on to positions in the top 15.

Liam Hitting The Track

For Round two of F1 Academy, Rafa finished P13 in her birthday qualifying session and was ready to let the battle commence. In Race 1, Rafa held her position and finished in P13, only 16 seconds off race-winner Lloyd.

In Free Practice 3, Norris was fastest overall with a 1:27.489. Isack’s best time landed him in P11, with Liam two places further back in P13. Almost half of the grid was covered by half a second, so every millisecond mattered as we headed into qualifying.

In Q1, Verstappen set the benchmark time of 1:27.778. Liam and Isack sat in P14 and P15 and made it through to Q2. Norris went faster in the next session, and our VCARB boys could do no better than P12 and P14, with Liam the leading car. Pole position and a new lap record went to Verstappen, with a 1:27.294.

Something Is Missing From This Photo...

In Race 2 for F1 Academy, Rafa was sitting in P8 until receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision, demoting her to P13 at the chequered flag.

Lights out on Sunday with plenty to prove over the next 50 laps. After a crash between Tsunoda and Gasly caused a safety car on lap 1, Isack and Liam were sitting in P11 and P12 for the race restart. Isack jumped Alonso at the final corner of lap 4 to promote himself into the point-scoring positions, with Liam replicating an overtake on Alonso seven laps later.

Liam was the first of our duo to box on lap 21 and emerged P16 with fresh hard tyres. What shortly followed was an unbelievable charge through the field, proving to everyone that he’s the real deal. First Bortoleto, then Doohan, then Ocon, then Hulkenberg. He was ON IT! Liam brought his car home in P12 after serving a 10-second penalty for a move on Doohan into Turn 1.

Meanwhile, Isack went deep into the race with his hard tyres and pitted on lap 35. He maintained an impressive pace to bring his VCARB 02 home in 10th place for his second point-scoring finish of the 2025 season.

2025 Saudi Arabian Gallery

Something Is Missing From This Photo...

Media Duties

And It's To The Grid For A Practice Start

Second Desert Track In A Week

Liam Hitting The Track

You Didn't Have To Go So Hard Isack

Never A Serious Moment Between These Two

Saudi Settings

Under The Lights

Downhill

WhathavewelearnedinJeddah?

A positive weekend here in Jeddah

Laurent Mekies

Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Team Principal, Laurent Mekies, weighed in on Jeddah: “We worked incredibly hard to earn one small point for Isack on a very tricky track with a lot of high speed corners. Liam and Isack had never raced here in an F1 car, but they found the rhythm very quickly and were both a few hundredths away from Q3 on Saturday. Isack and Liam have been very close in performance all weekend, which is exactly what we needed. We want more, but this is a great step in the right direction for Miami.”

See you in two weeks for the FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX 2025 from 2-4 May!