When it comes to geopolitical and human rights issues, the pinnacle of motorsport has a broken moral compass
Many people want to think that sport and politics are separate and have no association with each other. While that train of thought is a comforting notion to those who are ignorant of the close ties they share, the inextricable links become all the more evident when they collide so conspicuously. The power and status of sport is used as an opportunity for political reasons, for countries to take advantage of for reputational purposes.
For a nation to host a significant sporting event has considerable prestige that elevates the image and standing of a sovereign state on the international stage. Therefore, it can be considered a privilege for a country to stage an event of this kind, whether that’s the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup or a Formula One Grand Prix. However, sporting spectacles can be exploited for nefarious reasons by countries with ulterior motives. The term of reference for this PR stunt is sportswashing.
This isn’t exactly something that Formula One proactively prohibits, more like it’s something the pinnacle of motorsport is practically complicit in. Just looking at the 2022 race calendar you can pick out four countries hosting a Grand Prix event despite having dreadful human rights records. And that’s discounting the Russian Grand Prix after Formula One terminated the contract for the event because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Qatar Grand Prix which will re-join the 2023 race calendar after a pause due to the country staging the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The controversial countries in question hosting races on the 2022 calendar are Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi. Given the situation in each destination, there is no legitimate justification for Formula One to be staging a Grand Prix event at these locations. This has been highlighted with the dubious decision to visit Saudi Arabia, a location which has come under scrutiny after a missile attack by Houthi rebels in Yemen hit an oil facility just nine miles away from the Jeddah track.
"The fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen has resulted in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world"
Such a hostile act in such close proximity to the race circuit has intensified the discussion about hosting a Grand Prix event in the country when taking into account that Saudi Arabia is embroiled in war with Yemen. Now before I elaborate further on the details, I want to reiterate that I am a Formula One fan, and that despite my reservations about specific aspects of it, as the pinnacle of motorsport, it is something that I find interesting and exciting.
Moreover, I am a Lewis Hamilton fan. In my view, he’s the best driver in Formula One and I want him to do well. However this geopolitical subject doesn’t corrode my core passion for the sport whatsoever. The fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen has resulted in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. An estimated 20.7 million people are in need of assistance; nearly 111,000 people have been killed since 2015 and 4.2 million people have been internally displaced.
Yemen has been at civil war since 2014 after an uprising forced the president of the country to hand over power to his deputy. But the new president was overwhelmed with the economic problems and security concerns. This vacuum of leadership fuelled the uprising of the Houthis movement, who took advantage of the weaknesses and seized control of the Saada province in the north of the country in early 2014, and then captured the capital city Sanaa in March 2015.
This forced the president to flee the country. The situation spooked Saudi Arabia, who feared Yemen becoming a satellite state to Iran. They began an air campaign in an attempt to remove the Houthis. Saudi Arabia was joined by other Arab states, and they also received logistical and intelligence support from America, Britain and France. Fast forward to 2022, and the war between the two countries has intensified and escalated.
"it became evident from the protracted timescale of the gathering, that the drivers were dissuaded of continuing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix event"
It has done so to the point where the Houthis movement are targeting Saudi Arabian infrastructure with air strikes. This is what happened on the Friday during the first practice session at the Grand Prix event in Jeddah, when a missile struck an Aramco oil facility located only nine miles away from the circuit. The situation sparked security concerns with drivers about their personal safety, as the pinnacle of motorsport came face to face with real world geopolitical conflict.
The circumstances resulted in a drivers meeting which was held on Friday evening that lasted more than four hours. It involved extensive discussions with relevant internal and external stakeholders, and it became evident from the protracted timescale of the gathering, that the drivers were dissuaded of continuing the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix event, and that they were making that opposition known quite blatantly and forcefully to senior members of Formula One.
Nevertheless, the Grand Prix Drivers Association – the trade union representing Formula One Drivers, which is often referred to as the GPDA – released a statement disclosing, without going into too much detail, the position of the drivers that had shaped the content of discussions. The official PR from Formula One was that stakeholders had managed to convince the drivers that the venue was safe and secure from potential threats.
Thus, the upshot that had transpired was that the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix event would continue. But there was a line in the statement that gave a glimpse into the level of concern that drivers felt about the situation: "having listened not only to the Formula One powers but also to the Saudi government ministers who explained how security measures were being elevated to the maximum, the outcome was a resolution that we would practise and qualify today and race tomorrow".
"moolah appears to be the incentive for Formula One in granting Saudi Arabia the entitlement of staging a Grand Prix"
It shows how far senior bosses in Formula One are prepared to go by risking the safety and security of the paddock to stage an event in a country embroiled in conflict. It calls into question the motivations of those making the decisions by allowing a controversial nation to host a global brand like Formula One in the first place, as to do so should be considered a privilege and an honour. Of course though, there is far more to it than just a predilection for a country like Saudi Arabia.
It’s often said that money is the root of all evil, it’s one of the reasons the world is as fucked up as it is. And moolah appears to be the incentive for Formula One in granting Saudi Arabia the entitlement of staging a Grand Prix. The ten year deal it signed with authorities is said to be worth £500m, which makes the £50m per race fee the joint-highest paid by any venue to host a Grand Prix event. It’s one of the most lucrative sources of income for the pinnacle of motorsport, but it comes at a cost of another kind.
The human rights record of Saudi Arabia is absolutely shocking, and the list of transgressions is hard for citizens in liberated countries to contemplate. Just a succinct summarisation puts things into perspective: there’s a continued crackdown on freedom of expression, association and assembly, heavy prison terms are handed to individuals for their human rights work, torture is used on detainees who reside in prison, same-sex relations remain illegal and the death penalty continues.
It is this last contravention in particular that caught the attention of media worldwide when Saudi Arabia mass executed 81 people in one day alone on March 12th 2022. This atrocity would almost certainly have happened with the knowledge senior bosses of Formula One, thus it leaves in no doubt about the sort of contract they had agreed, which in effect, is tantamount to tacit collusion in sportswashing with no obvious sign of public or private condemnation.
"It’s naïve to think that the presence of Formula One in Saudi Arabia has any significant and enduring impact; the evidence suggests quite the contrary"
In response to this admissible criticism, Formula One continues to parrot the line that by visiting such countries they are part of the solution that helps create change to controversial human rights practices. However, in light of the circumstances surrounding the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix event, that PR line has worn thin to the point where what little persuasiveness it had from the outset, now simply doesn’t hold water anymore. It’s naïve to think that the presence of Formula One in Saudi Arabia has any significant and enduring impact; the evidence suggests quite the contrary.
It puts a spotlight on the decision making processes for determining if a country can stage a Grand Prix event. That includes those making the decisions, because as far as I can tell, there are no ethical standards, no moral stipulations that Formula One seriously holds countries to or measures them up against, or even factors in when considering the viability of a particular country to play host for one of its prestigious Grand Prix events.
What happened during the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend should be a wakeup call for senior bosses in Formula One, and senior bosses of teams in the paddock that this sort of association with a totalitarian administration is completely unacceptable. Yet I heard senior members of teams spouting xenophobic stereotypes about oppressed and impecunious people, demonstrating ignorance of the reality of the situation and an indifference to the plight of a population.
Formula One has had a track record in the past of underacting to human rights issues in countries they visit, often citing that sport and politics are separate. The pinnacle of motorsport has to accept that there is a connection between the two, to deny it is as good as admitting it, which just looks worse than the vice versa. And that’s not leadership, that’s just obfuscation to deflect from reality. That being that Formula One prioritises money over morals. The situation in Saudi Arabia aptly exemplifies that, it’s an obvious fact and objective truth.
There needs to be scrutineering procedures implemented into the decision making processes that holds countries accountable when deliberating over an agreement to stage a Grand Prix. At the moment, there appears to be a lack of real time financial monitoring, a lack of fit and proper person’s tests, and a lack of risk assessments. This isn’t just a Formula One problem in the sporting world, but the pinnacle of motorsport can be seen as an implicated culprit in the lucrative sportswashing sector.
Nevertheless, despite everything, Formula One shall return to Saudi Arabia for the Grand Prix event in 2023. It’s hard to fathom when senior bosses and team principles set such an emphatic precedent when the Russian Grand Prix contract was terminated after the Putin invaded Ukraine. They acted swiftly and decisively. But in the case of Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it appears nothing has really been learnt at all.
It’s perceptible that the pinnacle of motorsport has a selective outlook about what geopolitical conflict and humans rights offences it recognises, regardless of what totalitarian administration it chooses to partner with. Choosing to do so with Saudi Arabia is made even more difficult to understand when Formula One isn’t exactly short of options in terms of countries wanting to stage a Grand Prix event. If anything, this affords greater flexibility to senior bosses in Formula One to decide not only what country can host a Grand Prix event, but what country deserves that right.
I suppose though that the connection between sportswashing and Formula One is unsurprising. The pinnacle of motorsport is consumed by privilege, which I guess makes it harder to understand or empathise with the suffering and hardship that the oppressed endure. To reiterate, I like Formula One, actually I love it. But there are aspects of it that I find disconcerting. However, whether sufficient people care enough about these aspects, is another subject altogether.
And therein lies the crux of the matter.
Photo: Aramco's Jeddah oil depot
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