New details of Saudi Arabia’s long-planned second Formula 1 circuit have been revealed ahead of the country’s race this weekend.
The plans reveal more about the spectacular course which is intended to form part of Saudi Arabia’s Qiddiya city ‘megaproject’, which has been under construction since 2019.The Qiddiya Speed Park will feature 21 corners including a signature opening turn, dubbed ‘Blade’ which will rise as high as a 20-stoery building. Former F1 driver Alexander Wurz assisted track designers Tilke Gmbh in its development.
Parts of the track will run alongside ‘Falcon’, the world’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster, at the Qiddiya Six Flags theme park.
The track’s length has not been confirmed. Earlier iterations of the design indicated it would exceed the longest track on the current F1 calendar, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, which measured 7.004 kilometres.
The venue promises to offer fans a different perspective of the action, as traditional grandstands have been replaced with a selection of viewing points and balconies.
The managing director of Qiddiya Investment Company, Abdullah Aldawood, said “the Speed Park Track will be a true embodiment of Qiddiya’s power of play philosophy and will position Qiddiya City as the home of Saudi motorsport and one of the world’s leading motorsport venues.
“Visitors and spectators will be treated to one of the most unique and immersive race experiences in the world with this pioneering track, designed by race drivers, for race drivers, ready to host some of the world’s biggest motorsport events.”
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix joined the F1 calendar in 2021 and is held at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, which was also designed by Tilke. Last year the Saudi Motorsport Company CEO Martin Whitaker indicated the race will remain at Jeddah until 2027 before relocating to Qiddiya.
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Jere (@jerejj)
5th March 2024, 11:12
The track looks good & fast-paced, & additionally, while the most recent info is about a 2028 debut, Jeddah could continue being on the race calendars beyond 2027, as the simultaneous option hasn’t been entirely ruled out before.
Pete
5th March 2024, 11:13
There’s absolutely no doubt that when/if this track gets built, they’ll start talking about keeping the Jeddah track and doing 2 races in Saudi. I’m surprised they haven’t already mentioned it.
Imre (@f1mre)
6th March 2024, 6:11
They could call one of them the European GP!
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
5th March 2024, 11:19
Ugh.
Tristan
5th March 2024, 11:32
4 years ago they would be ready in 2023 with a similarly fanciful render…
GeeMac (@geemac)
5th March 2024, 14:07
I assure you that the Qiddiyah site is well under construction. The father of one of my son’s friends in school accepted an offer to move to KSA from the UAE just before Christmas and he’s shown me pictures of the work going on at the site…it’s absolutely colossal.
Archibald Bumfluff
5th March 2024, 12:19
Looks almost like a Wipeout track, cool!
Moshambles (@moshambles)
5th March 2024, 12:23
Seas of painted tarmac. Not my thing at all
Nick T.
5th March 2024, 19:54
It’s in a mountainous region, so it wouldn’t be another Jeddah, which is fairly rubbish before even factoring in the odious nature of the regime. As much as I wanted to hate it, the miniature model they showed looked pretty awesome.
Asd
5th March 2024, 12:24
The rocks in the vicinity look great, but I’m longing for a long straight through a deep, dark forrest, just like at the old Hockenheim :(
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
5th March 2024, 13:46
Yes, I miss old hockenheim too, there’s not enough fast tracks nowadays, basically just monza.
MichaelN
5th March 2024, 17:21
It’s unfortunate that COTA tracks look like such a desert; the surrounding area is very green on the aerial photos. If they had bothered to plant some trees 15 years ago it would now be pretty much as you describe it.
Nick T.
5th March 2024, 19:46
The new Hockenheim track almost always produced amazing races actually. While it wasn’t even 5% as visually cool, the races tended to be a lot better.
As for this new track…while, the idea of more races in SA nauseates me, if the track is actually even half as cool as depicted, including substantial elevation changes whether natural or artificial at enormous expense, it’d be pretty awesome.
Nick T.
5th March 2024, 19:51
Update: just looked at older RF article on the track which noted it’s in a mountainous area and included a miniature model and while I want to hate anything coming from SA, it looks amazing.
Mal Ross (@malross)
5th March 2024, 12:29
Is that one artist’s impression all we’ve got to go on? Feels like a news item devoid of anything meaningful. :(
zomtec (@zomtec)
5th March 2024, 12:33
There is more to find in the world wide web. This picture is a strange choice as other pictures give a better view of the whole circuit which is very different from the previous draft.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
5th March 2024, 14:13
Two races in Saudi really would be the final straw! Unless they dropped one somewhere else in the middle east.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
5th March 2024, 14:38
Am I right in thinking it’ll be called The Sportswashing Circuit?
S
5th March 2024, 14:53
That moniker is already taken by all the other circuits on the calendar. Yes, all of them.
Nick T.
5th March 2024, 19:56
Bonesaw Autodromedary
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
5th March 2024, 21:15
This will be “Hands-Off” the best circuit ever ….. or else!
An Sionnach
5th March 2024, 14:49
Waiting for the Assetto Corsa mod…
Dex
5th March 2024, 15:58
When will Arabic become the official and operating F1 language? I expect to hear it on team radio soon. That’s the least F1 could do.
ryanoceros (@ryanoceros)
5th March 2024, 16:52
It’s not for them, it’s for us to feel better about them. The pro-Saudi propaganda will be in English. “We don’t murder and dismember journalists anymore, that was so 2018.”
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
5th March 2024, 19:15
+1
MichaelN
5th March 2024, 17:18
The latest renders don’t look too bad. Not too many corners, some curved straights, and plenty of room. If it has some proper elevation changes, who knows, it might be cool.
The whole city around it … that never really looks cool in night races, and I suppose like in Korea it’s better to wait and see if that actually materializes. But I suppose they have the cash to get it done.
baasbas
5th March 2024, 19:11
That’s great! With the rainbow colors projected on the rock formation promoting diversity and all!
SadF1fan
5th March 2024, 22:15
Mohammed bin Salman betted fully on the sportswashing of his family and their country.
Every major sport will need and will get an event in Saudi Arabia to achieve it.
It works for normalizing the Al Saud family internationally and will give the games the relatively young population of Saudi Arabia has to remain content and calm.
Whether its good for F1 and the traditional F1 fans will remain a question.
Tom Baker
5th March 2024, 23:00
Newly condemned adultresses will be especially favoured, with exclusive access to the clifftop viewing platforms above the esses, from which, in an ingenious double marketing twist, they will be thrown during lulls in the racing.
macaque (@macaque)
6th March 2024, 18:44
What happens when you have turn 1 accidents on “The Blade”? How will they remove the cars? Let them roll downhill I suppose?