Saudi Arabia eyes double F1 dates
Saudi Arabia is open to hosting two Formula 1 grands prix once its new track in Qiddiya is finished.
The country already hosts the Saudi Arabian GP at a street circuit in Jeddah, but that has always been viewed as an interim measure before its state-of-the-art facility at Qiddiya – a new-build city near Riyadh – is complete.
It is currently projected for Qiddiya to be ready in 2026, and the original plan had been for Saudi Arabia’s F1 race to permanently shift there. But the country’s minister for sport Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-faisal has expressed some interest in keeping Jeddah on the calendar too given the level of investment that has gone into the track.
Asked about the possibility of two races in Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz said: “We won’t say no. We really see the benefits of having these events for the Kingdom, and that’s why we’re investing so much. Maybe you’re focused more on sports, but we’re doing the same in culture, and entertainment and even exhibitions, and a lot of things that we look at.
“We definitely could host two races already for that. But I think that’s something that we have to discuss with F1 and see how it goes. But we definitely would love to have that.”
Prince Abdulaziz said he thought that Qiddiya would offer a completely different experience to Jeddah, and that the new venue was also being lined up for the country’s first Motogp race. “It will be an iconic place to have an F1 race, with a theme park that’s next to it,” he said. “We think it’s a good transition [from Jeddah], because it’s a totally different environment. So you won’t have two races that are the same in one region: in Jeddah, it’s by the sea. But when you go to the other, it is the desert, it’s more of a different vibe to it.”