Saudia Arabia Grand Prix

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

A Formula One motor race held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which takes place over 50 laps of the 6.174-kilometre Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Saturday, March 9.  It is part of the Formula One World Championship and made its debut on the calendar in December 2021. The race takes place on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, a street circuit located along the Red Sea coastline.

The Jeddah Corniche Circuit has been designed to showcase Formula One’s spectacular speed to the maximum. The second-longest circuit on the calendar, it is also one of the fastest too, with an average speed of nearly 245 km/h (151 mph) around the lap.  Precision and bravery are the watchwords for anyone competing on Jeddah’s streets.

Located in Jeddah’s stunning Corniche area, approximately 12km north of the city centre, the circuit skirts the Red Sea and encircles a lagoon, and produces spectacular (if somewhat crash prone) racing under floodlights. Developed with close collaboration between Tilke GmbH & Co. KG and the Formula 1 Motorsport team led by Ross Brawn, the circuit is atypical of many street circuits in that it utilises existing roads as much as possible yet remains fast flowing in character.

A street circuit was the favoured option for the country’s second-largest city, with Formula 1’s in-house Motorsports team asked to investigate the feasibility of various locations around the city.  After several days spent pouring over Google Earth, several potential layouts were mocked up to create simulation models ahead of a site visit.

In January 2020 a delegation arrived to recce a number of potential sites, with the Corniche area quickly emerging as the frontrunner.  Located 12km north of the city centre, the Corniche is a narrow strip of reclaimed land alongside the Red Sea which features lagoons, open spaces and car parks.  Its wide, sweeping road layout was also ripe for conversion into a unique street circuit. “The site on the Corniche in Jeddah stood out,” explains Ross Brawn, F1 Managing Director, Motorsport. “It’s on the coast, so we have great panorama but more importantly, we’ve been able to build a really exciting street circuit.”