Sebastian Vettel has returned to Saudi Arabia, the same country he has often criticized in the past for their strict laws against women and those who identify as LGBTQ+. The German openly called out the country ahead of the inaugural Saudi Arabian GP in 2021 by explaining how a person with “morals” would never agree to race in a country that had such barbaric laws.
Despite his apprehensions, Vettel did compete at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, but made sure to make some powerful statements. One such thing he did was organize a women-only karting event—in a country where women were not even allowed to drive until 2017—to prove that women can not just drive but also race.
The four-time F1 world champion has once again organized a similar event ahead of this year’s Saudi Arabian GP and has received widespread praise for it. The reason he decided to organize his Race4Women event again was because of how well it was received back then.
“We had great feedback last time,” Vettel said per Formula 1’s official website. “The handful of girls and women we were able to get together; it was a great group and a great spirit last time”. Thus, Vettel felt the need to “follow up” and give more young women and girls the chance to showcase their skills on the track.
Those who took part in the event this time around seemed to be incredibly grateful, with one also admitting that he was her favorite F1 driver and she was quite moved when the German decided to retire from F1.
“He’s actually my favorite Formula 1 driver,” the participant said in a video uploaded by veteran photojournalist Kym Illman on his Instagram handle. “I cried when he retired”.
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As for Vettel, he is happy with the positive changes he has seen in Saudi Arabia over the recent years. “Generally, Saudi is opening up, and it’s great to see the next generation of girls and women speaking out their dreams, being able and being allowed to do a lot of the things their mothers weren’t able or allowed to do,” he added.
Vettel then added how he is happy to see more women generally taking up more roles in F1, which historically has been a male-dominated sport. “F1 is opening up, and you see more women in the paddock,” he said.
“You see women on the pit wall, you see them in the garage, and they are taking action, taking part; they’re not just guests”.
He believes that as women’s involvement in F1 continues to increase, young girls wanting to make it big in motorsport have more role models to look up to.
