Plans for new Saudi F1 track revealed… with a 108-metre tall ramp

On the eve of this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, plans for a new, 21-corner track in the not-yet-fully-built city of Qiddiya have been revealed. And it looks… pretty wild.

The standout feature is an elevated run down to Turn 1 - correction, run up to Turn 1 - that peaks 108 metres in the air. Called ‘the Blade’, the section sits atop not a hill but a music venue (of course) and is entirely man-made. Gonna need a whopper of a crane for when Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari grinds to a halt up there…

Meanwhile, the main straight flanks a high-speed rollercoaster (because of course) from which fans will presumably be flung parallel to Max Verstappen as he cruises to yet another unassailable lead within the first few laps of the race.

Study the images above carefully and you’ll notice there aren’t any grandstands. That’s because fans will instead watch the action from viewing platforms, the idea being that they’ll see more of the track from up high.

It’s not clear yet how long the circuit will be, but it’s previously been suggested that it will become the longest on the F1 calendar, exceeding the 7km of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

The layout has been designed by Hermann Tilke (but of course), although this one’s also had input from former F1 driver and two-time Le Mans winner Alex Wurz.

It’s also not clear when construction will be complete, but the Saudi Arabian GP has a contract with F1 until 2030. The street circuit currently being used in Jeddah was always meant to be temporary, but with Qiddiya still years away from being ready F1 will be returning to TECPRO City for a good while yet.

A race in Las Vegas doesn’t look quite so out there now, does it?