Clarice, Jean Claude, Nicole & Hav & share their experiences attending this year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
F1 Experiences Packages / Jeddah Hotels / Saudi GP Facebook group
The 2026 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix takes place from April 17-19
Main Image Credit: Jean Claude
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Clarisse from Philippines
My weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was ‘one for the books’! I had a “Lando, be my habibi?” sign during the fan forum and he said “hi, habibi” back to me. The sign was also captured by the cameras during FP2.
The location of Jeddah Corniche Circuit was pretty practical, just 10 mins from where I was staying. On the first day I got confused with the drop off point, but eventually just went to Red Sea Mall and used that as the drop off and pick up point for the rest of the weekend..
I was seated in the Central A grandstand, which turned out to be really cool because we saw the Lando and Pierre/Yuki crashes.
Food and refreshment options were plenty and affordable, plus the free water came in handy with the intense heat. The drone show and fireworks added extra flair to the event. I wish they could have added more shade though as it was very hot.
Some locals had a hard time with English so I had to whip out my Google Translate app from time to time. The traffic leaving the circuit at the end of the day was bad, made worse by the long queue of cars in the u-turn lane. Maybe they could have adjusted the traffic flow and made two u-turn lanes given the expected heavy traffic.
Overall, it was a pretty good race and a great experience. Very affordable, not so crowded and the local volunteers were helpful. 7/10
Jean Claude, Saudi Resident
I live in the east of Saudi Arabia (I’m a Saudi resident), so it’s only a two hour flight from Dammam to Jeddah.
There was a free pit lane walk for 3-day ticket holders on Thursday at around 4pm. I arrived at the circuit right before the start time, but I was a bit lost! I didn’t know the correct entrance for the pit lane walk. I asked circuit workers but it was hard to communicate as most of them didn’t speak English well. I asked some fellow fans and they were more helpful! Overall it was a success, though it was very hot (30+ degrees).
I was seated in Main Grandstand B, which was great. I had views of Turn 1, and the main fan zone is behind the grandstand. I also had a great view of the fireworks display.
I also attended the concerts after the race, which were packed and fun as always. This year, the concerts were on Saturday and Sunday night, and they had Jennifer Lopez and Usher performing. The only issue is that the concert area is around twenty minutes walk from the main grandstand, but it was worth it.
This was my third time attending the race, but the first time I had issues getting into the circuit. With grandstand tickets previously, you used to be able to hop on a shuttle bus from the outside parking into the circuit. This used to help avoid a lot of the road closures and rerouted roads during the event. I tried to do the same this year, but they didn’t let me on the shuttle bus, saying it was only for ‘general ticket holders’. That’s why I almost missed out on Thursday’s pit lane walk.
I changed my plan for the rest of the weekend and took a Careem taxi (local equivalent of Uber) straight to the circuit. I told the driver to follow the signs for the circuit and it worked out. Since the climate is so hot and dry, I made sure to bring towels, an extra shirt and sunscreen. They were giving out free water inside the circuit, which was appreciated.
Nicole from the USA
It started out with trying to get our tickets. We had purchased 3-day Main Grandstand tickets from F1 Tickets at the beginning of February. Seven calls to F1 Tickets support and four unacknowledged emails to the circuit, and we finally got the tickets at 6pm on Thursday. The circuit was forcing you to use their app for everything, but I couldn’t send tickets to my friend due to a technical issue.
We planned to get there an hour before the first event on Friday, and that’s what we did. Porsche Supercup practice started at 11:30am. Uber’s suggested drop-off location was incorrect. Signage nearby was also pointing in the wrong direction for the circuit. We ended up walking in with a group of guys who were working at the event, but even they had to ask people where to go.
We stopped at one gate with them, where the security staff gave us water and let us go through. We walked past the media and driver parking, where there was another security check (bags through x-ray, wands). We then got to the vehicle entrance for drivers and team personnel, where we were instructed to turn back. We asked where? They put us in a golf cart and drove us through the vehicle entrance for drivers and team personnel.
We looked for the information both for 30 minutes. We were stopped twice in the grandstand and asked to show our tickets in the app. All good but it seems we are not supposed to be inside as the gates for fans don’t open until 3pm! There’s some shade in the fan zone, but not a lot. We did get right up into the F1 Academy paddock and said good luck to Maya Weug and Tina Hausman. We even got to touch the wet tires they had brought along just in case .
Generally speaking, this is an absolute clusterf***. I’m certain we could get into the paddock if we looked confident enough, but don’t want to risk us being found out later and kicked out. Got the notification from the app that gates opened in 45 minutes but I was sitting across from McLaren’s garage so that was wrong!
We had read about the need to get wristbands, so we thought it was a good time to do this. We asked around ten people and were finally accompanied all the way from the Main grandstand back across the bridge to the parking area entrance. There, they told us and another couple waiting there, that we would have to go back through security because they weren’t officially open yet. There we ran into another family that had also gotten there at 11:30am, but had been sitting on a shuttle going back and forth for ninety minutes! All in all, Friday was not a great start to our experience at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
Things definitely improved over the weekend, luckily! Getting there the next two days, we asked our Uber drivers to drop us off at the Red Sea Mall, where we grabbed some food before walking over to the main entrance. No issues at all.
On the way home, Friday we tried to get an Uber and the wait time kept increasing. We had the same issue when we walked to the Red Sea Mall. In the end, we walked two miles south till we were finally out of the geofence they had set up, and still waited another forty-five minutes. The bad traffic finally turned what should have been a ten minute ride into thirty-five minutes.
Things improved on Saturday, when we stuck it out for an Uber from the Red Sea Mall (fifty minute wait). On race day, we stayed for the track invasion and went to the queue for state taxis. We barely had to wait twenty minutes and the taxis were able to take a back exit to bypass much of the traffic leaving the circuit. Definitely the smart play, and wished we had worked this out earlier in the weekend.
The circuit was giving away free bottles of cold water, so we would go and grab four each at a time for our backpacks. The bathrooms were trailers, but they were air conditioned and attended, so not disgusting, and there wasn’t a real wait anytime that I saw. Food lines were also pretty reasonable. It was really the sun that was the craziest thing, but that’s to be expected in Saudi. We spent a lot of time just chilling in the grandstand since it was covered.
Seating is interesting in Saudi, in that it is not assigned in the Main Grandstand. You pick wherever you want to sit. We sat by the garages of our favorite team on Friday, near the podium on Saturday and next to the start line on Sunday. We also watched all the support races across the weekend. It got much more crowded on race day, as would be expected.
Hav, Saudi Resident
We bought Central B grandstand tickets, but only for Saturday and Sunday. We had the best time ever! We always rent a car when we attend Formula 1 to give us more freedom to check out different places. Before the race weekend, we traveled around Jeddah and went to the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025. Unfortunately, Charles Leclerc had visited the day before! But on the way there, we saw Max Verstappen’s plane!
It was really hot at the track and we had to walk a long way. Luckily, they gave us free water. It wasn’t always cold, but it’s hard to complain when it’s free!
We enjoyed visiting the fan zone and interactive exhibits. The area behind the Main Grandstand was the best, but it was a long walk from our seats. One of the best experiences was riding the Ferris Wheel, which offered really cool views of the track (see picture above).
During the race, Lando crashed in front of our seats in Central B grandstand (Turn 5). We were all shocked and very relieved that he was ok. Everyone in the grandstand was shouting out and supporting him, but he kept his head down, clearly bummed to have crashed out. Later in the race, we also saw Gasly and Tsunoda right in front of us.
After the on-track action, the concerts were crazy good. On Saturday we saw Jennifer Lopez and Peggy Gou, and then after the race, Usher and Major Lazer. While we were heading back to the parking lot after the concert, we saw Bono from Mercedes running the track. No one recognised him but I did and shouted out to him and he waved back at us.
I was disappointed there was no drivers’ parade on Sunday, but the drone shows and extensive fireworks made up for this a little. After the race, the screens announced the track invasion. We literally ran to the main grandstand, then had to wait for the track to be opened up. We ran to the front of the podium and were so happy to be able to see it up close! It was a memorable race weekend, and the tickets only cost about 800 dirhams ($213 USD).
Sharaf from Bahrain
Pros: Excellent value for money; entertainment, F1 fan zone activities, amazing top artist concerts, DJ, lots of food vendors with reasonable queues for a major event, free water, very friendly locals, very low crime rate in Jeddah.
Cons: Lots of walking involved! You must be physically fit with no little kids to cope with both the long walks and the very high humidity. None of the stands are covered except for Main A grandstand.
The biggest issue, however, is returning home after the race. The police block many of the roads and many taxi and rideshare drivers are confused about which roads are open and which roads are blocked off. Sometimes they just give up and cancel your ride before getting to you. If you have a premium subscription with Careem (Uber equivalent), the call center will help you and give you priority.
