Abbi Pulling and Aseel Al Hamad became the first women to drive a Formula 1 car in Saudi Arabia ahead of the series’ second race in the Middle Eastern nation this weekend.
Alpine handed the opportunity to its Alpine Academy Affiliate driver Pulling as well as Al Hamad, Saudi Arabia’s representative on the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission.
The pair performed demonstration runs between Diriyah and the King Abdullah Financial District in the country’s capital Riyadh last week. This weekend’s F1 race takes place at Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia’s second largest city.
The duo took turns driving a 2012-specification E20 chassis running a V8 engine, as used by the team when it competed as Lotus. Al Hamad previously drove the car at Paul Ricard in 2018.
Pulling, who turned 19 on the day after her run, was confirmed for her first full season in all-women single-seater championship W Series this year.
“I got my first experience of an F1 car last weekend and it was…