Saudi Arabia has been investing in high-class sports for years. In addition to a Grand Prix, there will soon be your own Formula 1 team from the desert?
Formula 1 has been traveling regularly in Saudi Arabia since 2021. In Dschidda there is the high-speed route Jeddah Corniche Circuit designed by the German architect Hermann Tilke.
The motorsport king class will again open in Saudi Arabia this coming weekend. A new futuristic course is also being built in the completely redesigned city of Qiddiya. Here, too, one day should race along the Formula 1 racer. The oil giant Aramco is one of the main sponsors of Formula 1 and Aston Martin. Critics and human rights activists accuse the state of Sportswashing.
Saudi team? Make testing listen
The question about the DSchidda GP is: Does the Saudi Arabian state continue to go up its commitment in Formula 1?
For this, Prince Khalid bin Sultan al-Abdullah al-Faisal, the chairman of Saudi Motorsport Company, would be responsible for this. He could well imagine a Saudi engagement in a team in the future, he said in a media round, from which “autosport.com” quotes.
“That could happen,” he said. “If you buy a Formula 1 team, people will buy it to make money with it, especially if it is bought by one of the PIF companies (Saudi State Fund, note).”
The question: How do you make a lot of money with a team?
“Everything suggests that Saudi Arabia may soon be able to get in if they see that it is feasible if it makes sense, why not?” Sultan al-Abdullah al-faisal continues. “Nobody has anything against making money.
However, this decision is “very difficult”. “It is not easy to say which team you should buy and how you want to manage it. But we have a great interest. We are hosts of Formula 1 and sponsors teams. So it would not surprise me if we would see an announcement for a Saudi team, and I personally would like to see a Saudi team,” said the relative of the Saudi royal family.
“But when I’m in Saudi Arabia or one of the Saudi companies is involved in one of the teams, I want you to do it right and be successful. So it’s a delicate question, but why not?”