Saudi Arabia has unveiled an extravagant new project: a Formula 1 circuit, some sections of which are raised by 70 m. The track, part of a larger theme park complex, is to be built in the desert.
It looks like images from a video game Mario Kart : a track lined with neon lights and giant light panels, fireworks in the sky and turns located on a raised roadway 70 m above the ground. However, even if the images are still in 3D, it is indeed a real Formula 1 circuit project, unveiled on March 5, 2024 in a press release and in a video by Saudi Arabia: Qiddiya Speed Park Track.
The track was designed by “ former Formula 1 driver Alex Wurz and German circuit designer Hermann Tilke », Explains the press release. It must have 21 turns and have a “ elevation gain of more than 108 meters per turn. » Above all, the track will include an impressive first hairpin turn on “ an elevated section of the circuit », 70 m high. It’s this passage in particular that seems straight out of a video game.
Qiddiya, another disproportionate and environmentally harmful project
That’s not all the project designers have planned for the circuit. Spectators will apparently be able to watch the races from huge terraces placed around the circuit, but also from swimming pools, built high up. It should also have sections “ street circuit ” And ” open track. »
The track must be integrated into a larger whole, called Qiddiya City, designed as a city dedicated to leisure. Qiddiya will thus include an amusement park, concert halls, an esports and gaming center, a golf course, a water park and the Formula 1 circuit. We can also see in the video that the track must pass very close to some attractions and the water park. The whole thing is supposed to be built in the desert, southwest of the country’s capital, Riyadh, and is part of the Vision 2030 plan, which aims to move Saudi Arabia away from its dependence on oil.
Qiddiya perfectly reflects the country’s objective of transforming itself into an important tourism platform, but it is not the only project of this kind. Saudi Arabia announced in 2021 the construction of The Rig, a hotel and leisure center located in the open sea, on oil platforms (some of which were built expressly for the occasion). The complex must “ celebrate » the oil heritage of Saudi Arabia, which dreams of becoming a future flagship destination for the wealthiest tourists.
Qiddiya is also a marker of the country’s obsession with futuristic, disproportionate and environmentally harmful projects: bringing out a huge city and golf courses in the middle of the desert will be an ecological disaster. Qiddiya is thus reminiscent of other dystopian projects launched by Saudi Arabia in recent years, foremost among which is The Line. The city, which is to be built in a single building 500 m high and 170 km long, promises to be an environmental disaster, like Trojena, the ski resort currently under construction in the country.
Subscribe to Numerama on Google News so you don’t miss any news!