Reem Al-Aboud and Hanna Riehle crowned champions of Rally Jameel 2025

Reem Al-Aboud and co-driver Hanna Riehle of Jameel Motorsport are crowned winners of Rally Jameel 2025  in Qassim. (Supplied)
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Updated 27 April 2025
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Reem Al-Aboud and Hanna Riehle crowned champions of Rally Jameel 2025

  • The six-day, 1,600km race took contestants from Petra in Jordan to Tabuk, AlUla, Hail and then Qassim in Saudi Arabia 

QASSIM: Reem Al-Aboud from Saudi Arabia and her German co-driver Hanna Riehle of Jameel Motorsport were crowned winners of Rally Jameel 2025, which concluded on Saturday in Qassim.

The closing ceremony was attended by the governor of Qassim province, Prince Dr. Faisal bin Mishaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz.

Saudi driver Mashael Al-Howaish and her co-driver Taye Perry from South Africa, competing for Lexus Racing Team, finished second, while Farah Zakaria and Farah Ateyyat, both from Jordan and representing Al Markazia Toyota, ended third.

Over six days and across more than 1,600 kilometers, participants followed a route that blended technical challenge with cultural discovery.

From Petra’s awe-inspiring stone passageways to the dramatic mountain ranges of Tabuk, the historic landscapes of AlUla, and the desert trails of Hail, the rally offered a journey through some of the region’s most breathtaking and diverse terrain, finishing in Qassim, a region celebrated for its palm groves and lush farmland.

The route not only tested skill and endurance but also reaffirmed the growing status of Saudi Arabia and Jordan as global destinations for adventure tourism and motorsport.




The participants in the six-day race pose for a souvenir picture after the awarding ceremonies in Qassim on Saturday. (Supplied)

At the post-press conference, Al-Aboud expressed her pride in the achievement, saying: “Standing at the top of the leaderboard today is an incredible honor — and a reflection of every decision, every calculation, and every moment of resilience throughout this rally.

“Rally Jameel pushed us beyond our limits and brought together a global community of women who are boldly claiming their place in motorsport.”

Riehle, who won the last two titles as a co-driver, said she was happy to win the Rally Jameel for the third time in a row, and this time with Reem Al-Aboud. “I think securing first place after a consistent and high-performing run across all four stages proves that we are a good team,” she said.

Second-placed Al-Howaish said she was “so glad to end up in second with Taye Perry who really helped me to improve my way.”

Munir Khoja, managing director of Jameel Motorsport and Marketing Communications at Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, said: “Rally Jameel continues to push boundaries, redefining what’s possible in motorsport and beyond.”

It is “deeply rewarding” to see the Saudi-born initiative has “evolved into a global platform, reflecting the values of ambition, progress, and empowerment that lie at the heart of Vision 2030,” Khoja added.

(With agencies)


Norris maintains upper hand on Piastri in Austrian GP practice

Updated 28 June 2025
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Norris maintains upper hand on Piastri in Austrian GP practice

  • Leclerc puts Ferrari on front row, Piastri third
  • Verstappen only seventh at Red Bull’s home circuit
  • Bortoleto into top 10 for first time, Lawson sixth

SPIELBERG: Lando Norris bounced back from his collision in Canada to put McLaren on pole position for the Austrian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday while championship-leading teammate Oscar Piastri qualified third.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc joined Norris on the front row with teammate Lewis Hamilton fourth, raising the Italian team’s hopes after a difficult weekend so far.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified only seventh at his team’s home circuit after pulling out of his final flying effort when Alpine’s Pierre Gasly spun at the last corner and briefly brought out yellow flags.

Piastri was also forced to bale but had been slower than Norris in both of the first two phases.

Norris, who needs a strong result after a collision with Piastri in Canada two weeks ago, is 22 points behind the Australian in the championship after 10 of 24 races.

“I did what I planned to do and when I plan to do something and it goes right, it normally goes very, very well,” said Norris.

“A good day and it has been a good weekend for me so far, so hopefully we can keep it up.”

The pole was his third of the season and he won both of the previous two with fastest lap in Australia and Monaco.

RED FLAG

George Russell, last year’s race winner, qualified fifth for Mercedes but faced an investigation for a potential unsafe release in the pitlane.

Liam Lawson will line up sixth for Racing Bulls, ahead of Verstappen, with Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto making it into the final phase for the first time and qualifying eighth for Sauber.

Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was ninth fastest for Mercedes and Gasly completed the top 10.

The second phase of qualifying was red-flagged when the trackside grass at turn 10 caught fire, the latest of a series of such incidents.

The governing FIA said the fire was caused by a car going off track, rather than by sparks from the titanium skid blocks, and carried out additional dampening of the grass before the final top 10 shootout.

Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Carlos Sainz made early exits, neither getting through the opening phase.

“There’s damage in the car, for sure. The car is undriveable ... it’s pulling under braking, no load in high speed,” said Sainz, who qualified 19th with only Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg behind.

He explained later that the team had put new brakes on the car for qualifying, as usual, but it started pulling to one side immediately. (Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond and Andrew Cawthorne)


Norris bounces back as McLaren take 1-2 in Austrian practice

Updated 27 June 2025
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Norris bounces back as McLaren take 1-2 in Austrian practice

  • Norris clocked a best lap in one minute and 4.580 seconds to beat Piastri by 0.157 seconds
  • Four-time champion Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, adrift by 0.318 seconds

SPIELBERG BEI KNITTELFELD, Austria: Lando Norris bounced back from his Canadian catastrophe with his customary smile on Friday after topping the times ahead of team-mate and championship leader Oscar Piastri as McLaren reeled off a solid 1-2 in practice at the Austrian Grand Prix.

As the paddock digested news that Mercedes had held talks about possibly signing Max Verstappen from Red Bull alongside George Russell in 2026 Norris clocked a best lap in one minute and 4.580 seconds to beat Piastri by 0.157 seconds.

Four-time champion Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, adrift by 0.318 seconds.

For Norris, who sat out the first session at the Red Bull Ring, it was a relief to move on from his collision with team-mate Piastri in Montreal where he retired pointless, admitting he had “made a fool of myself.”

“I didn’t mind sitting on the pit wall,” he said, with a grin, referring to missing the morning session.

“I actually felt a lot more relaxed there than in the car, especially here.

“I’ve always enjoyed this track. The car felt good right from the start. Alex (Dunne, reserve driver) gave solid feedback this morning after FP1 and was on pace straight away, which was encouraging to see.”

Norris added that he was pleased with the development of the car with McLaren’s latest upgrades.

“They definitely moved the car in the right direction for FP2,” he said.

“Now, we just need to figure out if we want more of that tomorrow, less, or somewhere in between.

“So, it’s a good step forward, but hopefully there’s still a bit more to come.”

McLaren came to the Styrian Alps with three performance-based updates including aerodynamic revisions of the front and rear of the car and suspension.

Piastri, who leads Norris by 22 points in the title race, said he was satisfied with his first day in the car.

“It looked pretty good,” he said.

“Max is still close, so I think he’ll definitely be a threat this weekend, but the car’s feeling good. I think the pace is quite good, so a positive first day.”

He added that both he and Norris had “all the parts that we think will make the car faster” on their cars.

Verstappen, who took his time to improve through the sessions, said: “We didn’t have any big issues.

“We lack a bit of pace and had too much understeer, both on the short and the long run. So that is something we have to try to get rid of.”

Lance Stroll was fourth for Aston Martin ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, George Russell of Mercedes, who won last year and two weeks ago in Canada, and Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull.

Gabriel Bortoleto was eighth for Sauber ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, struggling in his updated Ferrari.

Norris added: “We’ve shown a bit more pace than some others, so I certainly think they’re going to catch up. Max is not far behind and they normally improve a lot on Saturday.

“So I expect a good day tomorrow (Saturday) and I’m sure we’ll improve on some things, but it’s not as easy as maybe it looked.

“I think it’s still going to be tight tomorrow — it always is. There’s no reason for it not to be, but we’ll work hard to make it as big of a gap as possible.”


Max Verstappen heads into Red Bull’s home race with upgrades and growing uncertainty

Updated 27 June 2025
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Max Verstappen heads into Red Bull’s home race with upgrades and growing uncertainty

  • The defending Formula 1 champion has an upgraded car for his team’s home race in Austria
  • Verstappen remains at risk of a one-race ban for too many penalty points

VIENNA: Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring is usually a recipe for success.

The defending Formula 1 champion has an upgraded car for his team’s home race in Austria — where he’s won five times — on the back of an encouraging second place in Canada, where his two McLaren rivals collided.

Zoom out, though, and the situation is much more uncertain.

Verstappen remains at risk of a one-race ban for too many penalty points, Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda is usually too far adrift to help him, and Verstappen’s own future is far from clear.

“I don’t think we need to talk about that,” Verstappen said Thursday when asked to confirm whether he’ll stay with the team for 2026. “It’s not really in my mind. It’s just driving and trying to push the performance, you know. And then we focus on next year.”

Fast in Friday practice
Red Bull’s upgrades seemed to work well in Verstappen’s first outing in Friday practice. He was second-fastest, 0.065 of a second off George Russell for Mercedes.

Standings leader Oscar Piastri was third-fastest for McLaren, .155 off the pace, but the star of the session was young driver Alex Dunne, who took over Lando Norris’ McLaren for the session and placed fourth.

Lewis Hamilton was ninth-fastest for Ferrari and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Yuki Tsunoda only 17th.

What are Verstappen’s options?
Verstappen has a long-term contract through 2028, so in theory his Red Bull seat should be one of the safest on the grid. However, the deal has performance-related clauses which could reportedly allow a move.

In that case, the most obvious option could be Mercedes, which has yet to confirm either driver for 2026. That would mean Verstappen teaming up with an old foe in Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, who’d also have to choose to drop either Russell and Kimi Antonelli.

Dramatic changes to how F1 cars look and perform are coming in 2026, and Red Bull has to adapt more than most.

For the first time in nearly two decades, it heads into a new era of F1 rules without design guru Adrian Newey, who left last year and is now at Aston Martin.

The other leading teams are sticking with their current engine arrangements, but not Red Bull. The team has an in-house engine developer, Red Bull Powertrains, but it’s switching partners for 2026 from Honda to newcomer Ford.

The second seat
No team in F1 depends as much on one driver as Red Bull does on Verstappen. He’s scored 155 of the team’s 162 points this season.

His teammates — first Liam Lawson, then Tsunoda — have struggled all season. That’s helped to restore the reputation of Sergio Perez, who was dropped by Red Bull after scoring barely one-third of Verstappen’s points last season.

“I know, deep down, they really regret it,” Perez said on a podcast this week. “And I know that from a very reliable source. It’s tough. I have very good friends there, and people might think I take pleasure in what happened, but no.”

Red Bull’s car seems to favor Verstappen’s driving style over anyone else’s, but the Dutch driver says he can’t diagnose the issue because he’s been with the team since 2016 and has nothing else to compare it with.

“The thing is that I don’t know any better, right?” he said Thursday. “I mean, I’ve basically started with Red bull, so I only know one car and that’s how I drive. I adapt to it. Is it the best? Is it the fastest? Is it not? I don’t know.”


Jeddah E-prix double-header becomes most-watched Formula E weekend in history

Updated 26 June 2025
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Jeddah E-prix double-header becomes most-watched Formula E weekend in history

  • Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds hails ‘phenomenal’ record 65m viewers
  • Digital audiences showed impressive growth, with social video views and engagements up 13% and 12% respectively

JEDDAH: The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship has confirmed that the 2025 Jeddah E-Prix double-header became the most-watched Formula E weekend in history with a record 65 million viewers, according to data analysis released by Kantar Media on Thursday.

Held under the lights of the iconic Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Feb. 14-15, the races marked the championship’s thrilling debut in the Red Sea city after six successful seasons in Diriyah.

Jeddah’s unique night racing spectacle, coupled with a state-of-the-art circuit and electric atmosphere, has cemented Saudi Arabia’s growing reputation as a premier destination for world-class motorsport, said a media statement.

It added that Jeddah is confirmed to once again host the only double-header night races on the Formula E calendar in Season 12, which will be held on Feb. 13-14, 2026.

According to Jeff Dodds, CEO of Formula E, the latest figures from their external providers are truly phenomenal and show the tremendous momentum behind the growth of the sport.

“They highlight that not only do we have world-leading technology and acceleration in the cars, but that it’s producing some of the best most-competitive racing that old and new fans can’t get enough of,” said Dodds.

He revealed that they are building fan bases and fan loyalty in key and new markets, with Mexico and the US examples of where their investment and longevity in the market is paying dividends.

“As the world’s fastest growing motorsport though, we know we can’t stand still. We know we need to continue offering the best racing, the best rivalries and the best most-inclusive events to continue on our steep trajectory and build a strong community of electric super fans,” added Dodds.

In addition to the record-setting Jeddah rounds, Formula E has seen exceptional growth this season with the data analysis showing unprecedented audience growth across TV and social media for the first half of the 2024-25 season, with its cumulative audience due to surpass 500 million by the end of Season 11.

Digital audiences analysed through Emplifi have also shown impressive growth, with social video views and engagement up 13 percent and 12 percent respectively, underscoring the vibrant and interactive fan community the series continues to build.

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship’s 11th season — which started in Sao Paulo in December 2024 and will culminate in London on July 26-27 — has so far delivered some of the most exciting racing action in world motorsport, while continually pushing the boundaries of electric performance.

So far this season, its 22 world-class drivers have engaged in intense, head-to-head competition, captivating fans with epic battles on iconic circuits and nail-biting finishes at new venues.

Fans around the globe have tuned in and turned up in greater numbers than ever before, drawn by compelling racing and a shared vision for sustainable and cutting-edge innovation, added the statement.


From dust to data: NEOM McLaren’s Bird and James eye strong finish after tough Jakarta test

NEOM McLaren Formula E driver Sam Bird. (NEOM McLaren)
Updated 26 June 2025
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From dust to data: NEOM McLaren’s Bird and James eye strong finish after tough Jakarta test

  • Despite some setbacks this season, Bird emphasized the importance of staying focused and united as a team

Riyadh: Coming off a demanding weekend at the Jakarta E-Prix, NEOM McLaren Formula E driver Sam Bird and managing director and team principal Ian James joined a media roundtable on June 24 to discuss their takeaways from the race and the team’s trajectory heading into the final stretch of the season.

Bird pointed to the circuit conditions in Jakarta as the toughest challenge of the weekend. He said that while dust was expected at the venue, the addition of rain made the surface even more unpredictable. “We saw a dusty circuit almost get even dustier and even more difficult,” he said.

The only grip available was on the narrow racing line, and deviating from it often meant a ruined lap or a potential crash. “There was pretty much only the racing line that cleaned up, and then if you put one wheel off the racing line, the lap was finished or you were in the wall,” Bird said. That made overtaking extremely limited, and strategy around attack mode became even more critical.

A technical issue with attack mode activation during the race also stood out as a key learning moment for Bird. Despite following standard procedures — pressing the activation button and passing over the loops — his boost failed to activate.

“We put that down to a regulation I didn’t know about with regards to the amount of time that I needed to press the button for,” he said.

In response, the team is now conducting an internal study of his button press durations over the past year to ensure consistency and compliance in future.

Despite some setbacks this season, Bird emphasized the importance of staying focused and united as a team. “If we can all operate at 100 percent — that’s engineers, mechanics, myself, Taylor (Barnard) — then we know that we can score some big points,” he said. Acknowledging a few missed opportunities, Bird noted that the remaining four races are an opportunity to convert potential into performance.

For James, the most rewarding part of his role has been leading a group of highly skilled and motivated individuals. He described the NEOM McLaren Formula E team as “a group of men and women who are brilliant at what they do,” crediting their dedication and collaboration as key drivers of success. “In bringing all of those ingredients, all those team members together, you then really unlock the performance potential of the team,” he added.

Beyond the racing, James highlighted the progress the team has made in brand development and fan engagement. He confirmed that internal benchmarks in these areas have been met, reflecting Formula E’s growing global appeal.

In particular, he pointed to Saudi Arabia as a case study for that growth. He recalled the early days of Formula E in Diriyah in 2018 when the sport was still unfamiliar to many in the Kingdom. “Every year that we’ve gone back, that interest has grown and grown,” he said, noting that the recent move to Jeddah has introduced the championship to new audiences and strengthened its presence in the region.

With the team fourth in the standings with four races to go, James admitted that more work is needed to meet their goal of a top-three finish. Still, both he and Bird expressed confidence that the team has the talent, structure, and momentum to close the season on a high.