Week two of the Formula 1 calendar saw the drivers in Saudi Arabia for the Jeddah Grand Prix. However, the action wasn’t restricted to the weekend as a number of attacks around the track caused doubt that the race would even start.
The Jeddah Grand Prix debuted as the penultimate race in the 2021 season, which saw Sir Lewis Hamilton take the win in his title fight with Max Verstappen.
Since its first race, the Grand Prix has received backlash for being held in Saudi Arabia which is known for a number of human rights issues. Many people believe Saudi Arabia has tried to use the brand-new state-of-the-art track and facilities to sports wash its image and change people’s perception of the country.
Attempts have already been made to boycott the Grand Prix in order to stop Saudi Arabia’s role in the Yemeni Civil War, its detention of women’s rights activists, and the murder of The Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Saudi Arabia has already stepped into a number of Sports in an attempt to improve their global image, last year they hosted such events as Anthony Joshua vs Andy Ruiz, two Italian Super Cup finals, Golf’s Saudi International, as well as 4 WWE pay-per-view events.
This topic of Sports washing has been more relevant, now more than ever, with countries/states with extremely negative reputations becoming more prominent within the wider sporting world.
Before the weekend kicked off 2 meetings which included the team principals and drivers were undertaken to assess the situation surrounding the attacks around the track. While the team principles were assured that the situation was safe and under control, reports of some drivers feeling uneasy about racing came from the paddock.
Alleged rumours state that the drivers overall were against racing, but were pressured by Saudi authorities to race. Many drivers had their views about this, including Carlos Sainz who in an interview said
"I think there will need to be discussions after this race. Because clearly what has happened in the last 24 hours is definitely a point of discussion and consideration that we need to take going forward."
Drivers have a duty to be impartial when speaking on matters of politics but with some inference, we can speculate that the drivers are not happy with the authority’s decisions.
This past Formula 1 weekend has been extremely eventful, let us know what you think of the Saudi situation. Should the weekend have been cancelled? Should F1 come back to Saudi Arabia? Let us know.
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