Does Saudi Arabia have a future in F1?

By Darian Lee Crowley

On the eve of another race in Jeddah, rumours are swelling about a major investment by Saudi Arabia into an F1 team. Indeed, the Saudis have become a major backer of F1 and seem to be interested in purchasing the sport itself.

Why is this country, which had no Grand Prix 5 years ago, so important to F1 now and set to be in the future too?

Despite being the largest Gulf state and the world’s largest oil exporter, it was slower than neighbours UAE and Qatar to invest in sports. This changed in 2017, when Mohamad bin Salman took over as crown prince of the country.

Since taking over, he has used the massive revenue from oil to use the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to invest. PIF, under his control, has changed the sports world. Football, golf, boxing and F1 are no different.

Jeddah would host Saudi Arabia’s first F1 race in 2021, with Aramco, the Saudi state-owned oil company, becoming a major sponsor of the sport and Aston Martin. The PIF has even made a bid to buy F1 itself, and with Liberty Media likely putting it up for sale next year, they might get their way. What’s the point of this?

It’s about the future. One day the black gold will run dry, and before that happens, Saudi Arabia needs to diversify their economy away from oil. Why not tourism? Encourage Westerners to travel over with a tax holiday and some of the world’s biggest sporting events.

It is also about improving the country’s reputation. Saudi Arabia has long been criticised for its human rights record in multiple areas, such as its male guardianship laws, and bin Salman nopes hosting sporting events changes this view. It’s no coincidence that there’s an F1 Academy round in Jeddah.

This has led to ‘sportswashing’ allegations, using sports to brainwash people’s perspectives of a country.

Bin Salman shows no signs of stopping. He said he doesn’t care about the ‘sportswashing’ allegations, and, with Saudi Arabia’s main oil rival Russia distracted and heavily sanctioned, their sports spending spree is likely to continue.

In fact, the Saudis have gone further than any of their oil-rich neighbours. They don’t want to just host sporting events. They want to own it. They’ve done it to golf and F1 maybe next.