Saudi Arabia secures a Formula 1 Grand Prix from 2021
Logical continuation of the agreement with Aramco, F1 has just announced the holding of a new Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia next year. This is not without raising many questions and controversies.
When it was announced last March that Liberty Media had signed a sponsorship deal with the oil company Aramco, we predicted that the Wahhabi kingdom was getting closer to securing a spot on the calendar. It is now a done deal with the addition of a new night race in Jeddah.
This confirmation did not fail to create controversy since the beginning of the season, as Liberty Media launched a communication campaign under the name WeRaceAsOne, featuring rainbow colors in reference to the LGBT community, while the drivers listen to the national anthem wearing a black t-shirt with “End Racism” in response to the scandals that have affected the United States. A team like McLaren went further in the approach by displaying these colors on its halo, providing excellent visibility on all onboard cameras, and by placing WeRaceAsOne on their protective masks.
Yet Saudi Arabia is one of the last countries in the world to still criminally condemn homosexuality, and women have only had the right to drive a car in the country since June 2018.
In order to change its image, the only country in the world named after its ruling family has embarked in recent years on a vast sports-related communication campaign, mirroring the exact strategy adopted by its major regional rival, Qatar. This is why it made sure to host Formula E before becoming the new home of the Dakar Rally. This summer, it also became the title sponsor of the virtual 24 Hours of Le Mans.
To understand the extent of the room for improvement, Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al Faisal, president of the motorsport federation, felt compelled to clarify: “Our plans will allow the sport to reach all communities and will be open to everyone,” as if this were not a given for any major global sporting event.
If it has already been announced that the event will take place in November 2021, just before the Abu Dhabi final, Liberty Media has not yet released its provisional calendar, which is expected to include 23 events, with the 22 countries planned for this season and therefore the addition of Saudi Arabia.
