![]() ![]() With F1 only in its third year in Saudi Arabia, it will be a while before a true grand prix culture can get as embedded as it is in places that have hosted events for decades. To get that, I don't think we could achieve that without hosting such an event that people can see and feel." So, there's a big interest, but also a big participation for the community in the kingdom. There's also the F1 links with Aramco, and the F1 in Schools programme. "We see a lot of kids are interested in karting, and there are a lot of them interested in getting into rallying. As you may know, 70% of the population of Saudi is below the age of 40, and we see that on the ground today. ![]() "We host it for the people, for the youth. "I think there have been a lot of questions about why we are hosting these events in the kingdom," he explained. Speaking at the F1 race last weekend, Saudi Arabia's minister of sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al Faisal accepts that his nation is criticised for investing in a host of major events, but his main care is more on the positive impact that they make at home. Instead, it's about helping deliver benefits to what is a quite young population. For a country that only ended its ban on women drivers five years ago, this is a clear sign of how attitudes are fast evolving, even if some would like action to be running at a much faster pace.įor the Saudi government, the main benefit it sees from having major events like F1 is not to get its name out around the world. That much was clear for anyone arriving at King Abdulaziz International Airport last week, as the promotional videos of the race showcased the story of a young girl who dreamed of – and achieved – finding herself on the F1 grid battling against her rivals. Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, the rest of the field at the startĪnd things are slowly changing. It has also never shied away from understanding that the kingdom needs to and wants to evolve, grow and become better. Reprieve's statement came after a coalition of 21 rights groups and Trade Unions wrote to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali ahead of the season calling for disclosure of human rights articles in F1's contracts amid concerns about both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain using their races for sportswashing.Ĭoncerns over human rights are not unique to Saudi Arabia, and the nation has long argued that having international attention on it through the hosting of events like F1 is as much a means of exposing it to outside scrutiny from the international community, as it is about self-promotion. ![]() "Carrying out these executions on the eve of the Jeddah Grand Prix is a brazen display of impunity by the Saudi authorities, confident that the sport and its commercial partners will stay silent, and that the pageantry of F1 will distract from the bloodshed." She added: "There have been at least 13 executions in Saudi Arabia in the last two weeks, including Hussein Abo al-Kheir, a Jordanian father of eight whose case had been raised by UN experts and UK MPs. Maya Foa, Director of Reprieve, said: "For all the talk of 'positive values' and 'accelerating change,' F1 has never seriously engaged with human rights and the way the sport is used to whitewash abuses by some of the world's most repressive regimes." ![]()
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