São Paulo – On Sunday (24), the day Saudi Arabian women were finally awarded the right to drive cars, the Renault team invited Saudi native Aseel Al-Hamad to drive a Formula 1 car. She took a lap around the Paul Ricard Circuit in Le Castellet, a few hours prior to the beginning of the first French Grand Prix in ten years.
Al-Hamad raced a 2012 Lotus-Renault E20, on board which Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen won the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
“I hope this (driving a F1 car) on the day women earned the right to drive on Saudi Arabia’s highways will show what you can do if you have the passion and the spirit to dream,” a Renault press release quoted her as saying.
A businesswoman, Al-Hamad sits on the boards of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation and the International Automobile Federation (FIA, in the French acronym).
Click here to watch a video of Al-Hamad’s lap on the official Formula 1 YouTube channel.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
