I, like many, questioned the value of having a Grand Prix held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. While diversifying the racing calendar offers more countries the opportunity to become part of Formula One, the sport has a notorious reputation for prioritising money over morals. This year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (held on the 27th of March) was engulfed with people questioning both the safety of the track and if Formula One should be racing there – especially after the missile strike on an oil depot outside the city which was part of the ongoing conflict with Yemeni Houthis. Further to these safety concerns being highlighted at the recent race, it also begs the question of what does racing in Saudi Arabia mean for Formula One’s and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) pledge for supporting women in motor sport?
Saudi Arabia has been the source of numerous longstanding human rights abuses. The country has continued to crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. Many western nations have marked Saudi Arabia as repressive due to its treatment of the LGBTQ+ community, women, and migrant workers. For women and girls, recent reforms have enabled some freedoms. For example, women over the age of 21 can obtain a passport and travel abroad without a guardian’s permission. However, women continue to face serious discrimination and require a male guardian’s approval for marriage and obtaining certain healthcare. Alongside other human rights abuses, members of the LGBTQ+ community face significant difficulties in Saudi Arabia. As same-sex marriage is not permitted, people committing same-sex sexual relations are criminalised.
With all this continuing in Saudi Arabia, it is hard to see the progress and the wider reforms in society. According to Maj. Gen. Mohammed Al-Bassami, a top Saudi transportation official, by March of 2019 around 70,000 women had been issued drivers licences. Allowing women the right to drive is not an insignificant freedom – this enabled women to travel, to not be isolated and was an important step in granting women more rights to participate in society.
Three years after women were granted the right to drive, Formula One signed a multi-year deal with the Saudi government for the nation to host a Grand Prix from 2021 onwards.
This could be misconstrued as a positive step made by Formula One – waiting for laws to be passed which enabled women to drive and then allowing Saudi Arabia to host a Grand Prix. However, given the fact women were only granted the ability to drive a car in 2018 alongside the list of human rights violations Saudi Arabia currently faces, this deal made by Formula One has been a puzzling and criticized move which slots into the continued backlash from humanitarian groups regarding Formula One ignoring human rights violations.
One explanation for running Grand Prix racing in Saudi Arabia is that it’s part of the Kingdom’s “sport washing”. The term “sport washing” refers to the use of sport to improve the reputation and image of a nation-state, a group or an individual through hosting sporting events or purchasing sponsorship. By granting women the right to drive and then hosting a Grand Prix, it presents an image of progress – but omits other issues still plaguing the nation. Formula One is just one sporting event, alongside the Saudi International Golf Event, WWE and the purchase of the football team Newcastle United, which seek to transform Saudi Arabia into a global sporting hub. Sport has a power and popularity which can depict a better image and obtain political agendas.
But sport, with the power and popularity, can also be utilized by members of the Formula One community to hold events that/ to facilitate a change. Athletes and those involved in Formula One can use the power and influence of motorsport to inspire and enact change.
On the 24th of March 2022, Abbi Pulling and Aseel Al Hamad took to the streets of Saudi Arabia and drove the 2012 E20 Formula One car (previously known as the Lotus E20) – becoming the first women to drive a Formula One car in Saudi Arabia. As part of the demonstration by the Formula One team BTW Alpine the two drivers, with the assistance of the Saudi Tourism Authority, toured through the Kingdom. It was a powerful statement having two women driving a Formula One car through Riyadh (the capital of Saudi Arabia) and past historical monuments – it was a visual demonstration of the opportunity women can have in motorsport, a hope to inspire future generations of women.
Both Hamad and Pulling are active members of the motorsport community, pioneering for change. Hamad, a representative for Saudi Arabia on the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission and is a Board Member of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, is an advocate for developing strategies and policies to encourage the education and training of women in motorsport in Saudi Arabia. She has also been a member of the Alpine family since she took to the Paul Ricard Circuit with the team in 2018 driving the same E20. Pulling is a driver in the W Series and a member of the Alpine Affiliate programme (a feeder series to the Alpine Academy).
After the experience, both drivers recognised this historic event as a moment for the future generations to reflect upon. In the official statement released by Formula One, Hamad states “I hope this inspires more generations to fall in love with Formula 1 and for more women to consider motorsport as a future career”. She continues, “it is important that we showcase examples to demonstrate to the younger generation that it can be them in the future; it doesn’t matter your gender; you need to show your talent. I will be cheering for them and opening the doors and hopefully we will see them on podiums in the near future.”
Also during the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend Jessica Hawkins, Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One team driver ambassador and W Series driver, visited the British International School of Jeddah to inspire the upcoming generation. By sharing her experiences, children in the Kingdom could understand and perhaps realise the opportunities in motorsport, irrespective of gender or background. This event was a part of Aston Martin’s “We Climb Together” initiative, seeking to make a difference as the Formula One team travels the world.
The encouragement of women in motorsport was also the priority of Aston Martin driver and four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel in 2021 with the organisation of a women’s only karting event. Through hiring out a karting track and inviting a range of local female drivers, Vettel learnt about their situation and shared aspects of his racing experience. As reported by Jonathan Nobel in Autosport, Vettel gained from the experience too. “I have to say I was inspired by their stories and their background and the positivity about the change in the country,” he said. “It is true that if we look through a western or European lens that there are still lots of things that should be improved and have to be addressed. But it is also true that some things are changing and for those people it makes a huge difference. At the end, it is very difficult for us coming to a country where we only spend a couple of days and we try to be a perfect judge, but not knowing the background exactly and the people inside out. But this way I think it was important for me to get to know these women. I think it was a very memorable and inspiring day and great way to kick off the weekend. As I said focusing on the positive.”
As Vettel said, these drivers, the teams and Formula One are only there for a few days and it’s difficult to understand the situation without knowing the background and people. Often the western gaze emphasizes all the things that need to be improved. With a western/ Eurocentric lens, nations have imposed a standard that cannot be met immediately. Saudi Arabia’s legal system is based on Islamic Law (Shari’ah), which is derived primarily from the Holy Qur’an and secondarily from the Sunnah – both of which are centuries old. A culture and a nation cannot instantly reform itself. There needs to be some kind of balance between granting these important freedoms to women and other members of community while also respecting the culture of Saudi Arabia.
It is hard to judge progress being made by Formula One and other motorsport organisations in Saudi Arabia. The effects of Formula One being held in nations like Saudi Arabia is unknown. But with the concerted efforts of people and teams like Abbi Pulling, Aseel Al Hamand, Jessica Hawkins, Sebastian Vettel, Alpine and Aston Martin progress will be made. Change will not be instant, nor massive leaps in progress, but a step forward is a step forward no matter how small.
Details on Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses are taken from
- Amnesty International
- Human Dignity Trust
- Human Rights Watch
- The United Nations Human rights office of the high commissioner
Written by Katie Worth
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