Formula E's arrival in Diriyah: A glimpse into Saudi Arabia's vision 2030

Before the grid lights extinguished and accelerator pedals were floored at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Formula E race, in December 2018, it was hard to imagine how a motor race would be welcomed at the historic capital of Diriyah. Known as the ‘The City of Earth’, the city was founded in the 15th century on the oasis of Wadi Hanifah, its location ideal for travel-weary pilgrims and traders.

It was in Diriyah that the first Saudi state was established, in 1727, and by 2010 its largely preserved Najdi architecture, a signature of the Najd central plateau region of the Kingdom, was considered so significant that its At-Turaif district was awarded Unesco World Heritage Site status. Surely motorsport would be incompatible with such a historic city?

Yet this was no ordinary motor race. Unlike Formula 1, there would be no wail of 900bhp V6 engines revving to 15,000rpm, and no burning of fuel or resulting local emissions. Formula E was coming to Diriyah – and its arrival showcased an ambition to reposition Saudi Arabia for a post-oil era.

Under the banner of its 2030 Vision, announced in 2016, the country is transforming itself from an oil producer (producing an average of 12.1 million barrels a day, it was second only to the USA, last year) to a world-class tourism destination.

Such change doesn’t happen overnight. But if you go big and allow 14 years and a small sum of money – let’s say, more than three trillion dollars, or $3,000,000,000,000 if you like to count the zeros – progress can be made. HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman refers to creating a ‘Kingdom of opportunities’ and lying at the heart of this once-in-a-generation transformation is the creation of 14 so-called giga-projects. Huge in terms of scale, investment and ambition, these infrastructure investments span cities, housing, tourism development, public transport, urban parklands, entertainment and sporting destinations, subterranean hotels carved into the sandstone hills around the Al’Ula Unesco World Heritage Site and a new financial district in the heart of Riyadh. A key pillar underpinning the nation’s ambition to attract more than 150 million visits a year is vast investment in sport, notably football, motorsport and golf. Those motorsport initiatives are the crème de la crème: Formula 1, Formula E, Dakar and Extreme E are already drawing international crowds, while Moto GP, WRC, WEC, the Fanatec GT World Challenge and more are set to come to Saudi.

Leading the charge was that first ePrix, in 2018. Diriyah sits on the west side of Riyadh, a 20-minute drive from the heart of the capital. Creating from scratch a circuit that skirts around the historic town walls of a Unesco World Heritage Site called for a calm head and, doubtless, no end of coffee. Just ask Carlo Boutagy. The founder and CEO of CBX, a sports promotion and production agency that holds the rights to promote an ePrix in Saudi Arabia, says that there was little time to prepare for the first Diriyah race.

The idea for the event was conceived in late 2017 and formally announced in May the following year at the Berlin ePrix. The date chosen for the Diriyah ePrix was December, and the immediate reaction of Boutagy and team was one of disbelief. “We’re like, ‘no way, this is going to be impossible’ but they [Formula E] kind of asked for it and pushed,” Boutagy reportedly said, “so we actually went for it.”

By “went for it” read worked day and night. CBX and its people on the ground in Diriyah had just 100 days to design a track layout, seek all relevant permissions, vet and appoint contractors, build the venue and promote the event to the public. “It was a huge rush against time and we faced a lot of challenges but we overcame them,” said Boutagy.

That’s a mild understatement. They pulled it off in some style. Its 2.49 kilometre (1.55 mile) city circuit features 21 corners – some the fastest of the FE season – and changes in elevation that create challenges for the drivers and engineers working on setting up their cars. The result is spectacular action for fans – both those with a trackside seat or watching from home.

After their first encounter with the track, the drivers – some of the most well-travelled, experienced racers on the grid – were full of praise for the circuit layout.

“I’d say together with Rome, it’s probably the most impressive track we have,” said Felix Rosenqvist, the Swede who now competes in IndyCar. Frenchman Tom Dillmann, now in WEC, was positive about Diriyah’s configuration, saying, “We are more used to stop-and-go tracks with quite slow corners. Here we have a big section, kind of like Suzuka with walls.” It was a view shared by Dillmann’s team-mate, Britain’s Oliver Turvey, who described it as one of the most challenging tracks to date in the championship.

So the layout delivered a challenge for drivers and a spectacle for fans. But because it hosted the first race of the 2018/2019 Formula E season, there were other firsts for Diriyah that were as warmly welcomed as the circuit’s configuration. It saw the debut of the championship’s Attack Mode, a tactical element that provided a 50kW burst of extra power for overtaking or defending and helped spice up the racing. And it was here that the championship added another twist – night racing.

The nation’s General Sports Authority along with the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation secured a 10-year contract to host an ePrix, and as we approach its sixth year, time appears to have done nothing to diminish drivers’ enthusiasm for the Diriyah track. “I love racing in Saudi – the track is amazing,” António Félix da Costa, season-six champion and TAG Heuer Porsche driver, shared recently. “With it being a night race, your practice and qualifying happen during the day and then you race at night. Temperatures change, along with the track surface with the sand getting brushed away.

“Your perceptions also change with the shadows changing. It takes a little bit of adaptation and training to the eye but I love the different variables and it definitely creates a better show for the fans. It’s very cool to race there, and great to watch – especially at night.”

His team-mate, Pascal Wehrlein, agrees wholeheartedly. “It’s a high-speed circuit, not too small and not too big. It has every type of corner, uphill, downhill, blind corners, slow ones and lots of overtaking opportunities. It has showed what a spectacle it can be and the night races with the circuit and the cars lit up on the Halo just made it look so cool.”

Meanwhile, Edoardo Mortara, with Mahindra Racing, says the “mega mix” of corners is all the more challenging for drivers because they have to dare to edge as close to the walls as possible to maximise speed through every twist and turn. For long-standing motor racing fans, the resulting spectacle is up there with Adelaide, Monaco, and Pau.

If you think that erecting the infrastructure for a temporary street circuit in a city as historic as Diriyah within 100 days is impressive, try repeating the exercise with only four weeks – the time limit imposed in the second year of running.

Samer Issa-El-Khoury, an engineer and managing partner at CBX, has responsibility for the circuit’s development. That first year required about 3000 people to get the circuit and infrastructure in place, he says, and roughly 90% of those came from abroad. The following year, just 1500 people were involved and 80% were local suppliers.

Formula E’s presence in Diriyah is just one example of how motorsport can help Saudi Arabia transform its image. Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal is chairman of the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation, which oversees the Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC) that hosts and promotes motorsport in the Kingdom. He believes top-level motorsport has a role to play in attracting both investors and visitors. “Events like Formula 1 races and motorcycle races attract hundreds of millions of fans and spectators, both within the Kingdom and through live broadcasts,” he recently stated.

“Events like formula 1 and motorcycle races attract hundreds of millions of fans and spectators, both within the kingdom and through live broadcasts”

“This amazing engagement with motorsports events presents a crucial opportunity to promote the Kingdom and attract global attention to it. Thanks to promotional campaigns and advertisements accompanying these events, the world can become acquainted with the beauty, culture, and tourist attractions of the Kingdom, encouraging more people to visit.” Hosting Formula E helps bring both Saudi and Diriyah to the attention of an ever-growing international audience. In October, Formula E reported it had a fanbase of 344 million people, a rise of 17% year-on-year.

Looking at motorsport in its totality, Martin Whitaker, the CEO of SMC and a former director of motorsport for Ford, who went on to run the Bahrain International Circuit, says that the high-profile building blocks should help develop a vibrant motorsport industry with wide-ranging opportunities. “Our next steps are very much looking towards the creation of academies for young people,” says Whitaker. “As we develop these projects in the coming years, we will start to see that we have young Saudis who not only have a passion for the sport but have the talent to progress in the sport, and they will start to make a name for themselves – and as a result for the Kingdom – on the world stage.”

Whitaker adds that the ambition ultimately includes “developing our own events here in Saudi Arabia that have a Saudi-owned IP – be that a racing or rally series or something else entirely”. He speaks of instilling pride and providing jobs and career development in motorsport – “that is where I really think we can make our mark in the long term”.

In Diriyah, away from the race track the development that is being undertaken is said to be staggering for its scale, and impressive for its sensitivity. With more than $63.2 billion of investment to drive the project development’s aspirations and turn it into one of the nation’s must-visit tourist destinations. The intention is to add more than 100,000 residences, and attract 50 million visits annually. Supporting this are as many as nine new museums and galleries, over 41 hotels, a sprawling dining district, eight public parks, four new metro stations and even a Diriyah equivalent of London’s Bond Street or the Champs-Élysées in Paris – all walkable and all built to the traditional mudbrick Najdi architectural style.

It may come as no surprise, then, that the city has also been designated ‘Capital of Arab Culture’ for 2030. And equally, it should come as no surprise that the nation’s intention is to significantly increase foreign investment, much of which is coming from China.

One last, significant piece of the jigsaw puzzle is the development of a new airport in nearby Riyadh. The existing King Khalid Airport is being expanded to form the new King Salman International Airport, an international aviation hub with six parallel runways and the capacity for 120 million travellers by 2030 – double that recorded by London Heathrow (Europe’s busiest airport) in 2022. Already, Dubai is Heathrow’s number one destination for travellers, so the expansion in terms of capacity and facilities will be doubtless welcomed.

Diriyah’s transformation is ongoing, and by the time 2030 comes around, the dramatic changes brought about by the so-called giga-project will be there for all to see and experience. Yet in some ways, the city isn’t changing at all. After all, its roots lie in providing hospitality to travellers, as it has done for more than five centuries.

Group CEO of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority

Jerry Inzerillo

“This is the sixth Diriyah ePrix, and it has always been an exciting date in our events calendar.

The internationally renowned street racing track comes alive with At-Turaif, the UNESCO World Heritage site as its backdrop.

Sustainability is at the heart of our vision for Diriyah, The City of Earth, and we are delighted to continue our collaboration with Formula E. As Formula E aspires to accelerate change towards an electric future, as well as raising awareness and inspiring change in sustainable practices, it contributes to reducing global carbon emissions and urban air pollution.

We at Diriyah Company share this vision and are putting in place measures to ensure that the development complies with the highest sustainability and environmental standards. The Diriyah ePrix complements the outlook of His Royal Highness, our Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and is testament to his vision for Diriyah, as well as for Formula E and innovation as a whole.”