Formula One is heading to its second weekend of the year in the middle east as the teams make the short hop from Bahrain to the shores of the Red Sea and the city of Jeddah. It is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia and the commercial centre of the oil rich country.
The race track created along the waterside corniche was only ever intended as a temporary home for the Saudi Grand Prix while a purpose built track in the entertainment and tourism mega project in Qiddiah was designed and built.
As Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its oil dependent economy, Formula One will play a key part in rebranding the Arab nation, which until recently refused to allow women to drive along with a host of other misogynistic rules which make females subservient.
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The Qiddiah project was started in 2019 and will feature theme parks with some of the worlds largest and fastest white knuckle rides and if the developers are to be believed, the total of annual visitors will number a whopping 17m by 2030 making Qiddiah the “largest tourism destination worldwide.”
Now due to open in 2028 due to significant construction delays, the Qiddiah speed park track for F1 will be the longest and fastest in the world, featuring 21 corners, an elevation change of 108 meters. A unique “Blade” section is envisaged with an elevated first corner 70 meters high, that will be illuminated with LED lights.
The concept blends 21st century Formula One racing with a video game feel to the layout and from the artistic impressions it will be the most dramatic setting to go racing. Yet this is not the sum total of the Saudi’s ambition to associate with the most watched motorsport series in the world.
The Saudi state investment fund (PIF) has already invested hundreds of millions in sport around the world, most notably the breakaway LIV golf tour which has rocked the ancient game to its foundations. Top premier league outfit Newcastle united are now part of Saudi’s sporting portfolio and their soccer league is rammed with global ageing superstars playing out the twilight of the careers for mega money.
Ambitions bigger than hosting F1
Yet merely hosting a Formula One race at possible one of the most spectacular venues ever is just the beginning of Saudi ambitions for their involvement in the sport. In January 2023 reports emerged that the Saudi PIF had offered to buy the commercial rights to Formula One for an eye watering $20bn from Liberty Media, which caused a row between F1 and the FIA to erupt.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem publicly railed against the idea, stating it was the job of the sport’s governing body to approve any such deal and that fans must not be the victims of future rip off prices to watch Formula One.
“As the custodians of motorsport, the FIA, as a non-profit organisation, is cautious about alleged inflated price tags of $20bn being put on F1,” Ben Sulayem said. “Any potential buyer is advised to apply common sense, consider the greater good of the sport and come with a clear, sustainable plan – not just a lot of money,” Ben Sulayem posted on X.
Liberty Media responded by issuing a cease and desist letter to the Emerati born official suggesting the FIA would have to pay for any damage done to their commercial valuation should he continue.
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Saudi team to be announced
The Saudi owned Aramco company currently is an F1 official partner as well as sponsor for the Aston Martin F1 team, which recently announced its ‘parent company’ Aston Martin Lagonda is looking to sell out the the Silverstone based team. Whilst the team is the namesake of the British sportscar company, their financial relationship is fairly limited, with the road car operations paying around $20m a year to be the named sponsor of the racing outfit.
The Aston Martin Lagonda investment in AM F1 is also a minority stake which reports suggest Aramco may well acquire to deepen its involvement with the F1 team. Yet this is only likely to be around a 10% stake in AMRF1 but could be the start off something much bigger, if the words this week of Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal are to be believed.
Owning an F1 team has been a long term ambition for the chairman of the Saudi automobile federation who asserted, “”It could happen, it could happen soon if you see the growth [of the sport]. “If you are going to buy a Formula 1 team then people will buy it to make money out of it, especially if it’s going to be bought by one of the PIF [Saudi Public Investment Fund] companies.”
“We see Formula 1 is reaching new markets, sales are globally increasing. It’s not easy to say which team to buy and how you’re going to manage it. But we have a lot of interest… we’re hosting Formula One, sponsoring teams. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an announcement for a Saudi team.”
No F1 teams for sale
Yet when Mario Andretti was told last May to ‘go buy an F1 team’ and drop the application for an eleventh and new team on the grid, he replied: “We’ve tried. Nobody’s interested,” he told media at Extreme E’s Island X-Prix. “We’ve been to every single team. They keep saying ‘well, buy a team’, and nobody wants to sell. You go there, and they’re not even interested in talking. I’ve been there, done that, and not happy.”
Of course, following the long arm of the US justice departments investigation into F1 breaking anti-competitive legislation, a hastily put together deal was found to allow the Andretti application to pass muster, and from next season there will be be an eleventh team on the F1 grid.
A quick rename to Cadillac and the ‘exiting’ of key problematic individuals from both sides appeared to answer the long list of previous reasons why F1 could not entrain the idea of 11 teams. With the Concorde agreements allowing for 12 F1 teams to compete, the Saudi’a could, if they wished, apply to the FIA to start a new team from scratch.
Prince Khalid has previously spoken of much bigger ambitions for his country than merely buying an existing F1 team and last year he told reports in Jeddah: “With all the investing we are doing in cars — the private investment fund bought shares in McLaren and Aston Martin — we are heading that way. Hopefully we can open and bring headquarters to Saudi Arabia or we hire people that can help us manufacture cars or technology, to create our own brands and have our own IPs [intellectual property rights].”
Saudi want Middle East based F1 team
“Our aim is not just to host international events, we want to be involved more. We want to have engineers, we want to have mechanics, we want to build cars, we want to be creative,” said Khalid.
Of course talk of an F1 team based in Saudi is completely unrealistic as the recent recruitments difficulties experienced by Ferrari and Sauber (non Uk based F1 teams) have experienced. Fred Vasseur bemoaned the difficulties the Scuderia face in persuading top talent to move from England to Italy.
“It’s not the same situation – you can move from Red Bull to Mercedes, keep the same hours, keep children in the same school and from the Friday to the Monday you can change and everything is perfect,” Vasseur told Sky Sports F1 at the Canadian GP. “If you want to come to Italy, it’s a different approach. You have to change the family environment and so on.”
If moving to Italy is a challenge for experienced F1 personnel then to quit the lifestyle of western Europe for the dry nation of Saudi will be far tougher despite the promises of untold wealth. Ex-Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson left to join the Saudi soccer league for eye watering amounts of money, yet returned home after just a few months.
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A player close to Henderson said: “It’s a big change compared to Europe, but in the end it’s all adaptation. They haven’t made it easy for us. In fact, there are many players who are dissatisfied, but hey.”
Prince Khalid appears to live by the assumption that anything is possible should the right amount of cash be offered to secure the deal. Yet a twelfth F1 team owned by Saudi Arabians is a non-starter and basing an existing team out in the the deserts of the middle east will prove impossible for even a Saudi prince to deliver.
The most likely opportunity for there Saudi’s into extend their partnership with Aston Martin. Although despite the road car manufacturer divesting its stake in the F1 team, a naming deal has been agreed starting in 2026 and will continue for five more years.
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
