Saudi Arabia dreams of having its own F1 team
Saudi Arabia, already heavily involved in Formula 1, does not plan to stop there and is considering having its own Formula 1 team.
While Formula 1 is now widely established in the Middle East with no less than four Grand Prix in the region, Saudi Arabia was the first country in the area to get involved in F1 by sponsoring Williams in 1978.
With a Grand Prix in Jeddah, his oil company Aramco, a global partner of the championship and Aston Martin, and Neom, a partner of McLaren, the country continues to increase its presence in the premier category of motorsport.
Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, also the president of the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation and the Saudi Motorsport Company, discusses his relationship with Formula 1 and his team project in an interview with Motorsportweek.com.
We have a long history with motorsport, as Saudi Arabia was the first country in the Middle East to get involved in Formula 1 [by sponsoring Williams]. This heritage, which has allowed us to host a race, could one day enable us to have our own Saudi F1 team. I expect our relationship to grow and play a more significant role in the future.
We are investing in new tracks, large infrastructures, new cities, and we are opening new factories. We want Saudi Arabia to be a hub and contribute to attracting teams to open facilities here, which will benefit our large companies like Aramco, he declares.
The prince also wants to see a greater number of these citizens evolve to important positions in F1.
We would also like to have a Saudi champion, a driver capable of winning an international racing competition.
We hope that within 10 to 20 years, Saudi Arabia, Saudi companies, and a greater number of people will be involved in Formula 1 at the global level. We want to create future engineers, team managers, and team leaders, and attract companies to the sport of motor racing so that cars are built here and more people engage in this sector.
For several years, Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, have been accused of “sportwashing,” a practice that aims to use sports to improve their reputation. For example, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund acquired the Premier League club, Newcastle United, in 2021, while Qatar hosted the last FIFA World Cup.
