By Layla Al-Hashimi ~
The Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix is not just a world sporting event at its best—but also an appeal for national progress, economic development, and global visibility.
As a host of The Middle East Formula One for the first time in 2004, Bahrain has solidified what at the time was an ambitious venture into national tradition. The Grand Prix is today a tourism destination; a growth accelerant fueled by technology, green growth, and people-to-people contact.
The race, the Bahrain Economic Development Board claims, brings in hundreds of millions of dollars a year to the economy. Restaurants and transportation, Manama hotels and craftsmen, race week is a bonanza for tourists. The 2023 Grand Prix event alone brought in over 99,000 visitors in three days—historic and putting Bahrain on the list almost at the very top as a world-class motor sport destination.
But the good news is off course.
The Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), being a “Home of Motorsport in the Middle East,” is an innovation hub itself. The BIC collaborates in tandem with universities as well as local schools of engineering to study electric vehicle technology, aerodynamics, and clean transport technologies. The track also saw the extent of solar power application within the kingdom’s Vision 2030 vision, which powered half of the complex using renewable fuels.
“Formula One is our vision of the future,” declares ex-Economic Development Board chief Khalid Al-Rumaihi. “Not only does it show our organizational skill but also our growing sophistication in fintech, logistics, and green tech, for example.”
Fact is, technology spillovers are colossal. Efforts made during the Grand Prix—like the StartUp Bahrain Week, supported by Tamkeen and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce—leave founders, business owners, and investors waiting in line. Activities take place during race week, maximizing global visibility and business networks without borders.
F1 itself has also been a major driver of national branding. Its first steps into motorsport made it the Middle Eastern sports diplomacy behemoth. It has, apart from hosting Formula One, hosted endurance racing, drag championships, and even electric racing like Formula E testing. All these are aimed at helping the country’s broader goal of making the most out of the application of soft power as a tool for attempting to expand its presence on the world stage.
Culturally too, the Grand Prix has levelled out, at least to some degree. The race track hosts a Bahrain International Festival annually that commemorates the indigenous music, paintings, and cuisine of the country. Attempt to have the race track itself be called upon to be used as a canvas of Bahraini identity—comingling the citizens, expats, and foreigners all into an ocean of pride and competition.
Bilateral development pledge of the kingdom is comprehended in terms of schemes like Motorsport Marshals Training, through which Bahranai youth and Bahraini women can be included by being made a part with active participation at planning the races right from safety handling to logistics.
In an age where national branding is all about one-upmanship in terms of time, spectacle, and greenwashing, the Bahrain Grand Prix is not just keeping up with the pace—it’s racing ahead of it. While Formula One wrote the script on carbon neutrality and digitization, the Kingdom is chasing them, or rather, racing ahead of them.
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