🏁 F1 Telemetry Times – Saudi Qualifying 2025

Top Speeds in Jeddah: Who Dominated the Speed Trap?

📍 Welcome to F1 Telemetry Times

Where numbers narrate the action, and every straight-line surge tells a deeper story.

We’re starting this qualifying recap with a stat that often gets overlooked but never fails to impress:
💥 Top Speed.

At the ultra-fast Jeddah Corniche Circuit, it’s not just about hitting the apex — it’s about minimizing drag, maximizing DRS and ERS, and daring to carry speed where others lift.

So, using FastF1 telemetry, we pulled top-speed data from each driver’s fastest qualifying lap and charted the results.

📊 Top Speeds in Quali – Saudi GP 2025

Each bar below represents the fastest trap speed of every driver, colored by their 2025 team livery.

🚀 Some chose low downforce to fly on the straights.
🧲 Others went for cornering stability.
Our chart shows who gambled and who played the long game.

⚡ Quick Highlights

🟢 Hulkenberg (Sauber) clocked the highest top speed: 339.0 km/h
🟩 Bortoleto wasn’t far behind with 338.0 km/h, showing Sauber’s low-drag setup focus
🔴 Verstappen matched Bortoleto — proving Red Bull’s balance between straight-line pace and downforce
🟠 Piastri and ⚪ Russell had moderate trap speeds but prioritized qualifying consistency
🟠 Norris, despite a Q3 crash, came back strong on Sunday — showing that quali speed isn’t everything

💡 What the Numbers Reveal

Top speed isn’t just a flex — it’s a philosophy.

Teams must navigate trade-offs like:

🪶 Low drag for raw speed
🧲 High downforce for corner grip
🔋 Energy deployment for maximum efficiency

And it all shows here:

🟢 Sauber went all in on low drag — big gains on the straights, less stability in corners
⚪ Mercedes and 🟠 McLaren opted for traction and balance — slower down the straights, but more predictable lap-to-lap
🔴 Verstappen and Red Bull aimed for the middle — top-end pace and corner consistency

🧠 Interpreting the Trap Speeds

Speed trap rankings don’t always tell the full story:

🚗 Cars at the top (like Sauber) often lack the overall grip to hold positions over a full lap
🧠 Midfielders in the trap (like Piastri or Russell) are often set up to maximize race longevity
🏎️ Top speed = risk. The real question: can they convert it to grid position or race performance?

🎙️ Final Thoughts

Saudi qualifying delivered more than a grid — it gave us a window into each team’s setup mindset:

🔴 Verstappen, ⚪ Russell, 🟠 Piastri, and 🟠 Norris — different approaches, similar results
🟠 Norris’ Q3 crash didn’t define his weekend. His recovery drive proved the race is never lost on Saturday.
🟢 Sauber’s trap-topping pace looked great on paper, but didn’t hold up on Sunday.

📊 Top speed gets attention. But cornering grip, tire life, and control win races.

📅 Up Next: Race Day Breakdown

Stay tuned to F1 Telemetry Times for the full post-race analysis:

🧪 Tire strategy breakdowns
📈 Pace trends over full stints
🎯 Setup decisions that paid off — or didn’t

Catch you after the checkered flag.
Until then — keep your data clean and your aero tight. 🏁

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