Saudi Drivers in Extreme E and Electric Motorsport: The Kingdom’s Emerging Talent Pipeline

Saudi Arabia’s transformation into a global motorsport hub has generated an urgent strategic question: where are the Saudi drivers? The Kingdom has invested billions in hosting Formula 1, Formula E, Extreme E, and the Dakar Rally, built world-class circuits, and established governing bodies with international credibility. But the pipeline from Saudi karting tracks to international podiums remains in its early stages—a gap that the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) and the Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC) have identified as the single most important challenge in the Kingdom’s long-term motorsport strategy.

This analysis examines the state of Saudi driver development across electric motorsport disciplines, the institutional framework being built to identify and nurture talent, the specific challenges facing Saudi drivers seeking to compete at the international level, and the pioneering role of Saudi women in a motorsport landscape that was closed to them entirely until 2018.

The Current Landscape: Saudi Drivers on the International Stage

As of 2026, Saudi Arabia has yet to produce a driver competing at the highest level of international single-seater racing. No Saudi driver has started a Formula 1 Grand Prix, and Saudi representation in Formula E and Extreme E has been limited to wildcard entries and demonstration runs rather than full-season campaigns.

This situation is not surprising given the timeline. Saudi Arabia’s engagement with international motorsport began in earnest only in 2018, with the inaugural Diriyah E-Prix. Before that, organized motorsport in the Kingdom was limited to informal desert racing, private track days, and regional touring car events that operated largely outside the international federation structures.

The comparison with neighboring Bahrain, which has hosted Formula 1 since 2004, is instructive. After more than two decades of investment in hosting and driver development, Bahrain has yet to produce a Formula 1 driver either. The trajectory from new motorsport nation to competitive driver production typically spans 15 to 25 years—a timeline that suggests Saudi Arabia’s investment is at an appropriate stage, even if the results are not yet visible at the pinnacle of the sport.

Notable Saudi Drivers in Desert and Off-Road Competition

While the single-seater pipeline develops, Saudi drivers have achieved more immediate success in desert and off-road disciplines—competitions where local terrain knowledge provides a significant advantage.

The Dakar Rally, hosted in Saudi Arabia since 2020, has seen growing Saudi participation. Saudi drivers have entered in the T3 (lightweight prototype) and T4 (side-by-side vehicle) categories, where lower costs and simpler technology create more accessible entry points. The results have been encouraging, with several Saudi competitors completing the grueling two-week event—itself an achievement that demonstrates the endurance, navigation skills, and mechanical competence needed for rally raid competition.

In the Extreme E championship, Saudi Arabia’s connection was primarily through the NEOM McLaren XE team, which carried the branding of the Saudi megacity project. While the team’s drivers were international competitors rather than Saudis, the partnership created opportunities for Saudi motorsport personnel to gain experience in team operations, engineering, and event management—skills that are essential for building a self-sustaining motorsport ecosystem, as detailed in Extreme E racing at NEOM.

Women in Saudi Motorsport: A Revolution in Progress

Perhaps the most significant development in Saudi driver representation has been the emergence of Saudi women in motorsport. The Kingdom’s historic ban on women driving was lifted in June 2018, and within months, Saudi women were participating in organized motorsport events.

The speed of this transition was remarkable. Women who had never held a driving license were competing in track events within a year of the ban’s reversal. The Saudi motorsport community, to its credit, moved quickly to create inclusive competition structures and training programs that welcomed women on equal terms.

SAMF’s driver development programs explicitly include female participants, with the Saudi Young Stars e-Karting competition and the Saudi Star Program open to girls from ages 5 and above. These programs are building a generation of Saudi women who will have grown up with motorsport as a normal, accessible activity rather than a forbidden one.

The mixed-gender format of Extreme E—which requires each team to field one male and one female driver sharing equal driving duties—provided an aspirational model for Saudi motorsport. The championship’s demonstration that gender-balanced competition could produce genuinely exciting racing helped normalize the idea of women competing alongside men in a region where this concept was revolutionary.

Several Saudi women have participated in organized racing events within the Kingdom, competing in touring car, time attack, and karting categories. While none has yet reached the international level, the trajectory is clear and the institutional support is growing.

The Institutional Framework: SAMF and SMC

Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation (SAMF)

SAMF, established in 2006 under the Ministry of Sports, serves as the national governing body for motorsport in Saudi Arabia. Under the presidency of Prince Khaled bin Sultan Al-Faisal Al-Saud, SAMF has pursued an aggressive strategy of international engagement, securing FIA and FIM affiliation and building the institutional infrastructure needed to support driver development at all levels.

SAMF’s driver development philosophy, articulated by CEO Sattam Al-Hazami, places karting at the foundation of the pathway. “Karting is the beginning of the path to ensuring the sustainability of motorsport in Saudi Arabia—the factory of champions,” Al-Hazami has stated, as detailed in Extreme E racing in AlUla. This philosophy mirrors the approach of established motorsport nations, where virtually every successful Formula 1 driver began their career in karts.

The federation has established a 20-year program for motorsport development, announced by Prince Khaled. The program’s ambitions extend far beyond driver development to encompass the creation of an entire motorsport ecosystem—including mechanics, engineers, team managers, and designers. The goal is not merely to produce drivers who can compete internationally but to build the human capital base that would enable Saudi-based teams to participate in global championships.

Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC)

SMC, established in 2021 as the commercial and operational arm of SAMF, has taken the lead in organizing events and developing grassroots programs. The company’s recognition as Motorsport Promoter of the Year at the 2022 Autosport Awards validated its rapid ascent from a startup organization to one recognized by the global motorsport industry.

SMC manages the operational aspects of Saudi Arabia’s major international events—the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Dakar Rally, Formula E Jeddah ePrix, and the Extreme E Desert X Prix (during the championship’s existence). This event management role provides SMC’s staff with exposure to the highest standards of motorsport operations, creating a knowledge base that feeds back into domestic competition development.

SMC’s grassroots programs include the Saudi Young Stars e-Karting competition, which targets children aged 6 to 12 and uses electric karts. The choice of electric karts is deliberate—it aligns with the Kingdom’s investment in electric motorsport through Formula E and Extreme E, creates a progression pathway from e-karting to electric single-seaters, and avoids the noise and emission concerns that can limit karting facility development in urban areas.

The Driver Development Pathway

Level 1: Introduction (Ages 5-8)

The entry point for Saudi motorsport talent is the Saudi Star Program, which introduces children as young as 5 to the fundamentals of vehicle control using electric cars on purpose-designed courses. The program operates in Jeddah, Riyadh, and the Eastern Province, ensuring geographic accessibility across the Kingdom’s major population centers.

The Saudi Star Program uses a portable training school concept that can be deployed to shopping centers, community events, and educational facilities. This mobile approach maximizes the number of children who can be reached and identifies talent that might otherwise never be exposed to motorsport.

At this level, the focus is on fundamental skills—steering, braking, throttle control, spatial awareness, and racecraft basics. No competitive element is introduced; instead, the program emphasizes enjoyment, safety, and the development of a positive relationship with driving, as detailed in electric SUV racing technology.

Level 2: Competitive Karting (Ages 6-14)

The Saudi Young Stars e-Karting competition represents the first competitive stage of the development pathway. Open to children aged 6 to 12, the competition uses standardized electric karts that level the playing field and focus the competition on driver skill rather than equipment advantage.

The competition is organized by SMC in association with SAMF and runs across multiple rounds at venues throughout Saudi Arabia. Results are tracked through a national ranking system that identifies the most promising talent for advancement to the next level.

SAMF also sanctions karting events for older participants, with Junior (14 years and above) and Senior (20 years and above) categories providing competitive opportunities for drivers who have progressed beyond the Young Stars stage. These events use conventional petrol-powered karts and adhere to FIA karting regulations, ensuring that the competition experience is relevant to international standards.

The karting infrastructure is expanding rapidly. SAMF has been allocated lands in different regions of the Kingdom for the development of academies and karting tracks, and private sector investment in karting facilities has increased significantly since 2019. The goal is to create a network of karting venues that makes competitive karting accessible to talent regardless of geographic location.

Level 3: Single-Seater and Touring Car Competition (Ages 14-20)

The transition from karting to car racing represents the most critical and challenging step in the driver development pathway. This is where many promising kart racers struggle, as the skills required for car racing—managing higher speeds, understanding aerodynamics, adapting to different tire compounds, and coping with the physical demands of sustained high-speed driving—differ significantly from those that determine success in karting.

Saudi Arabia’s domestic single-seater and touring car scene is still developing. SAMF-sanctioned events in these categories provide competitive opportunities, but the depth of competition—the number of drivers competing at a high level, which determines how much improvement is required to succeed—remains limited compared to established motorsport nations.

To address this gap, SAMF has encouraged Saudi drivers to compete internationally, providing support for participation in European and Asian single-seater championships where the competition is more intense and the learning opportunities more significant. This international exposure is essential for developing the racecraft, consistency, and mental resilience needed to compete at the highest levels, as detailed in Extreme E’s environmental legacy.

Level 4: International Competition (Ages 18+)

The ultimate goal of the driver development pathway is to produce Saudi drivers capable of competing in Formula 1, Formula E, the World Endurance Championship, and other major international series. Reaching this level requires not only exceptional driving ability but also the commercial backing, team relationships, and competitive record that determine driver selection in these championships.

The pathway to Formula 1 is particularly demanding. The typical trajectory involves success in karting (ages 8-14), progression through Formula 4 and Formula 3 (ages 15-18), graduation to Formula 2 (ages 18-22), and selection for a Formula 1 seat (ages 20-25). This timeline suggests that the first Saudi Formula 1 driver could emerge from the current generation of karting competitors—those who are currently 8-12 years old—by the mid-2030s.

Formula E presents a potentially more accessible pathway for Saudi drivers. The championship’s connection to the Kingdom through the Diriyah and Jeddah ePrix events creates commercial incentives for teams to consider Saudi drivers, and the Gen3 Evo car’s all-electric architecture aligns with the e-karting foundation of Saudi driver development.

Challenges Facing Saudi Driver Development

Climate and Training Conditions

Saudi Arabia’s extreme climate creates practical challenges for driver training. Temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius during summer months limit the hours available for outdoor training, and the physical demands of driving in extreme heat require specific fitness and acclimatization programs.

Indoor karting facilities provide a partial solution, enabling year-round training regardless of external conditions. Several indoor karting venues have opened in Saudi cities, and plans for additional facilities are included in SAMF’s infrastructure development program.

The climate challenge also creates an opportunity. Saudi drivers who develop the ability to perform at high levels in extreme heat conditions may have a natural advantage in races held in hot climates—a characteristic that is relevant to an F1 calendar increasingly featuring Middle Eastern and Asian venues.

Cultural and Societal Factors

The integration of motorsport into Saudi culture is still in its early stages. While interest in cars and driving is deeply embedded in Saudi society—the Kingdom has some of the highest per-capita rates of automotive ownership in the world—organized motorsport has traditionally been a niche activity, as detailed in career paths in Saudi motorsport.

The challenge for SAMF and SMC is to transform general automotive enthusiasm into structured competitive participation. This requires not only facilities and programs but also a cultural shift in how families perceive motorsport as a career path. In established motorsport nations, the pipeline from karts to Formula 1 is well understood, and families invest in their children’s racing careers in the same way they might invest in football or tennis training. In Saudi Arabia, this understanding is still developing.

Prince Khaled’s observation that “kart racing will contribute to creating a new style of educating young people about the dangers of road racing and will enhance community awareness” reflects an approach that positions motorsport not just as a competitive pursuit but as a social good—an argument that may resonate with Saudi families who are cautious about their children’s involvement in high-speed activities.

Financial Barriers

Motorsport is expensive at every level, and the costs increase dramatically as drivers progress up the development pathway. While the Saudi Star Program and e-Karting competitions are relatively accessible, the transition to car racing involves costs that can exclude talented drivers from families without significant financial resources.

Sponsorship and scholarship programs are essential for ensuring that the development pathway is meritocratic rather than plutocratic. SAMF’s approach includes partnerships with corporate sponsors who fund driver development places, and the Saudi Motorsport Company has explored models similar to the driver academies operated by Formula 1 teams.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, has the financial capacity to underwrite a comprehensive driver development program. Whether such investment is prioritized alongside the Kingdom’s numerous other strategic initiatives remains to be seen, but the logic of investing in human capital to complement the massive investment in motorsport infrastructure is compelling.

Competition Depth

The most fundamental challenge facing Saudi driver development is the limited depth of domestic competition. The best drivers in the world emerge from environments where competition is fierce—where hundreds of talented kart racers compete for limited places in car racing, creating a Darwinian selection pressure that ensures only the most exceptional progress.

Saudi Arabia’s motorsport participation base is growing rapidly but remains small compared to countries like the United Kingdom, Italy, or the Netherlands, where thousands of competitive kart racers create the depth of competition needed to produce world-class talent — a topic explored further in the grassroots karting development pipeline.

Addressing this challenge requires both expanding domestic participation (through more facilities, programs, and events) and ensuring that the most talented Saudi drivers gain exposure to international competition where they can benchmark themselves against the world’s best. The combination of a strong domestic foundation and targeted international exposure has been the formula for driver development success in countries that have recently emerged as motorsport nations—including Bahrain, the UAE, and Thailand.

Electric Motorsport: A Strategic Advantage

Saudi Arabia’s heavy investment in electric motorsport—Formula E since 2018, Extreme E since 2021—creates a potential strategic advantage for Saudi driver development. By building the development pathway around electric vehicles from the grassroots level (e-karting) through to international competition (Formula E), Saudi Arabia is aligning its driver development with the technology trajectory of the motorsport industry.

As Formula 1 moves toward increased electrification and potentially full-electric or hydrogen-electric powertrains in the 2030s, drivers who have grown up with electric vehicle dynamics—instant torque delivery, regenerative braking, energy management—may have an intuitive advantage over drivers whose formative experience was entirely in internal combustion vehicles.

The ODYSSEY 21 electric SUV used in Extreme E demonstrated that electric drivetrains demand a different driving approach than internal combustion vehicles. The immediate torque response requires more precise throttle modulation, the regenerative braking system demands different pedal technique, and the energy management component adds a strategic dimension to driving that is absent from conventional motorsport.

Saudi drivers who develop these skills from an early age—through the e-karting programs that form the foundation of the development pathway—may find themselves better prepared for the electric future of motorsport than drivers from traditional motorsport nations where the pathway still begins with petrol-powered karts.

The Role of Simulation and Technology

Modern driver development increasingly incorporates simulation technology as a complement to on-track training. Professional-grade racing simulators can replicate the visual, auditory, and physical experience of driving a racing car with remarkable fidelity, enabling drivers to practice racecraft, learn circuits, and develop race strategy without the costs and risks associated with on-track running.

Saudi Arabia’s investment in technology—including the Kingdom’s growing gaming and esports sector, which has received $38 billion in investment through the PIF—creates an infrastructure that can support advanced simulation-based driver development. The convergence of esports and motorsport, exemplified by the growing number of real-world racing opportunities earned through virtual competition, provides an additional pathway for Saudi talent to enter the motorsport world, as detailed in the Saudi Motorsport Company’s operations.

SAMF has explored partnerships with simulation technology providers to equip driver development centers with professional-grade equipment. These facilities would enable Saudi drivers to train on international circuits without leaving the Kingdom, maintaining competitive readiness between overseas racing commitments.

Looking Forward: The 2030 Horizon

Saudi Arabia’s 20-year motorsport development program implies a horizon of approximately 2040 for full maturity—a timeline that acknowledges the generational nature of driver development. However, meaningful milestones should be visible well before that date.

By 2030, the first generation of Saudi drivers who began their careers in the organized development pathway should be reaching the age for car racing. If the e-karting programs launched in 2021-2022 are producing competitive talent, these drivers will be 14-18 years old and ready for the transition to single-seaters and touring cars.

The completion of the Qiddiya Speed Park in 2028 will provide a world-class facility for driver development, with the FIA Grade 1 circuit enabling Saudi drivers to train on a track that meets the highest international standards. The circuit’s multiple configurations will allow drivers to experience different challenge levels as they progress through the development pathway.

The broader question is whether Saudi Arabia’s approach—massive investment in hosting combined with systematic grassroots development—will produce drivers who can compete at the highest level. The evidence from other emerging motorsport nations suggests that it will, but that the timeline is measured in decades rather than years.

Conclusion: Building the Factory of Champions

The development of Saudi racing talent is the longest-term and most consequential element of the Kingdom’s motorsport strategy. Circuits can be built in months, hosting contracts can be signed in days, but producing a driver capable of competing in Formula 1 requires a generation of sustained investment, patient development, and relentless competitive exposure.

The institutional framework is in place. SAMF provides the governance and international recognition. SMC provides the operational capability and event infrastructure. The e-karting programs provide the grassroots foundation. The international events hosted in Saudi Arabia provide the aspirational targets that inspire young drivers to pursue the demanding journey to the top of the sport.

What remains is the work itself—the thousands of laps, the incremental improvements, the setbacks and breakthroughs that define every racing career. Somewhere in Saudi Arabia today, a child is turning the wheel of an electric kart for the first time. If the development pathway works as designed, that child could be competing on the global stage within a decade. The factory of champions is operating. The first products are yet to emerge.