Formula 1 Racing Coming to Saudi Arabia in 2021

Saudi Arabia has announced it will host a Formula 1 race along the scenic roads skirting the Red Sea in the city of Jiddah in November 2021. Officials in the Kingdom are betting the event will generate revenue in excess of the estimated $100 million cost of hosting the race. Prince Khalid bin Sultan al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, was quoted as saying the spectacle is one element of the attempt to diversify the Saudi economy away from its dependence on the export of oil and help the effort to establish the Kingdom as an international tourism destination. Saudi Arabia will become the fourth Gulf nation to host F1 racing after Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE. During his tenure as mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat brought Formula One exhibitions to the Israeli capital to great international fanfare. The 2021 date is contingent upon the situation surrounding the COVID-19 virus at the time. The glitzy international hosting is not without its detractors. Critics of the decision argue that this is another of the Kingdom’s attempts at ‘sportswashing’ to divert public awareness from the image difficulties of its human rights record.