Bojan Vrbnjak
All indications are that it could in the very near future Formula 1 also wrapped in Saudi Arabia - as she last did Formula E and still completely fresh Dakar Rally. Grand Prix race in the rich, albeit in terms of human rights by many organizations such as Amnesty International criticized desert kingdom, was last mentioned by many media outlets. Now it is Saudi Arabia as part of an event last Friday announced for the first time concrete plans, which was reported in detail by colleagues from with the BBC.
In the light giant tourism and entertainment project 'Qiddiyah'which serves for reputation care in economic diversity of Saudi Arabia, supposedly in a huge area around 40 kilometers outside the capital Riad, in addition to slides and various shops, there was also a racetrack with FIA certificate number 1. This classification is a prerequisite for performing the race Formula 1. He designed the track - no, it's not Hermann Tilke - former Formula 1 racer Alexander Würz, who has recently also been employed as a racetrack designer.
"This is a unique privilege," so Würz. "The project does not offer great opportunities to design a track that will be a real Racing-Arena for spectators and racers. The design offers brilliant height differences offered by the beautiful landscape. It’s as made to put racers and at the same time engineers in front of a serious challenge. Judging by the simulations we have done, I can guarantee that this will be a very exciting track."
Contract s Formula 1 and at that time it was finalized, even though it was supposed to be closed case, as reported by colleagues from BBC, which refer to an internal source. From the camp Formula 1 however, so far we have not witnessed any comment. It's completely different with Mike Reininger, the project executive director Qiddiyah. According to him, the track will be in any case ready and readyto be able to on it since 2023 performed Grand Prix race. Negotiations between Saudi Arabia in Formula 1 however, they are ongoing.
"Formalizing a race is none of our business at Qiddiyah. This is beyond the boundaries of the project,”He explained Reininger. "But we are building a racetrack that will be able to host a world-class event, and on top of that, it will be one of the most brilliant things we will be offering visitors here at Quiddiyah, which will open in 2023. We are building a track, hoping that an agreement will be reached and that we will have a Formula 1 race in Saudi Arabia."
Organizers have not yet presented the whole track plan, to a large extent it was so far only for artificial drafts. At an event held last Friday, however, colleagues from BBC presented the entire track at simulator. We can be among the guests, in addition to the track designer Alexa Wurza, also saw former and current racers Formula 1 such as Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Nico Hulkenberg in Romain Grosjean. He was also present Loris Capirossi, a former star MotoGP. The latter is also expected to come into play on Qiddiyah Circuit.
