Jeddah is estimated to be over 2,500 years old. The expeditions of Alexander the Great that reached the Red Sea found a fishing village where the second largest city in Saudi Arabia now sits, with about 7 million inhabitants adding the center and the metropolitan area, a population slightly higher than the of the Community of Madrid. Jeddah is also the tourist enclave of the Saudi kingdom: Mecca, the holy city of Islam to which all Muslims must make a pilgrimage at least once in their lives, is 65 kilometers away. They come together in this village the sun and the beach of Jeddah Corniche with a historic center heritage of humanity. A few kilometers away awaits the temporary circuit that this weekend will host its second Formula 1 Grand Prix. It is another of the characteristics of this enclave: in recent years it has been the scene of F1, the Dakar or the Spanish Super Cup of football .
The tomb of Eva, a biblical character, is another of the most important local attractions. In fact, among the legends associated with the city is the name: Eva was the first woman created by God according to the scriptures, grandmother of humanity, and Yeda means “grandmother” in Arabic. Take a walk through the central almond of the self-proclaimed Mermaid of the Red Sea other qualities flourish. Entire neighborhoods that surrounded the historic center have been demolished, today they are rubble, within an ambitious urban plan that aims to update the image of the city. The mosques, with their characteristic calls to prayer, and the mashrabiyaidiosyncratic houses with balconies that populate the center, dot the surroundings of a living souk, in which a vast majority of locals buy fruit, meat, spices or fabrics. They wear a thobe, the white shirt that covers the entire body; and they with abaya, showing the face, or niqab, only the eyes. Every few meters a baby cat crosses. Suddenly, half a dozen kids dressed as pilots appear.
Saudi Arabia wants to open up to the world and “enrich the lives of its citizens” within the Vision 2030 plan, explains Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal, who is also the sports minister, in an interview shared by the circuit. “F1 has already transformed the city and has a tangible effect on the well-being of the people of Jeddah through the infrastructure around the circuit.” On the critical spirit around the country: “There is a perception in some media about the situation in Saudi Arabia, but we are developing our country to be a better society and for our citizens to have a better quality of life. International events allow us to reach that goal faster. The world has been critical of Saudi Arabia for not opening up and modernizing, but that is exactly what we are doing now. We are not perfect, I think nobody is, but we are moving in the right direction.”
Formula 1 and the Middle East
Arabia signed a contract with Formula 1 whose specific dates have not transpired, although it will be one of the fixtures on the calendar in the coming years, although in the future the grand prix may move to Qiddiyah. The World Cup has four grands prix in the Middle East region, in order of seniority: Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The last five F1 races have been held in this area, with Losail, Jeddah Corniche and Yas Marina closing the 2021 calendar and Sakhir, plus the second visit to Jeddah, opening the 2022 season. They were all held at night. The enormous weight of the Gulf and the Middle East in world motorsports is a reality palpable in the last two decades. In fact, since December the president of the FIA is the Emirati Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The Thousand and One Nights is a compilation of medieval tales and legends that transferred the Eastern vision of the world to Western eyes from the 18th century. In the 21st century, Formula 1 is the fastest vehicle to show the Arab world to the rest of the planet.