'Miraculous' progress for fast-track Jeddah build

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The company carrying out the construction of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia reports that there has been 'miraculous' progress on the project over recent weeks.

Formula 1 is set to make its debut in the country in December, with logal organisers having to produce a brand new venue in just eight months compared to the usual turnaround time of a year and a half.

Tilke Engineering designed the street circuit, with Bahrain-based MRK 1 Consulting also involved in the operation of the new track.

“From my experience and from having worked on projects, Bahrain was built in 16 months, Abu Dhabi was built in 18 months,” MRK 1 managing director Mark Hughes told RaceFans.net this week.

Read also: Jeddah will be 'one of the best circuits in the world' says Tilke

“We built the track in Thailand. From ground-breaking to our first event was 12 months at Buriram," he explained. "That was another Tilke project. Tilke’s experience of fast track projects is quite exceptional.

“I think construction started on the 1st of April in Jeddah and the race is in December - that’s a significantly condensed timeframe.”

“[But] what they’ve managed to achieve over the last few weeks is miraculous,” he stated when asked about this latest project's eight-month schedule.

"The plan is the race will happen on the fifth of December," he added. "That will go ahead and I believe it will. From the progress I’ve seen, I’ve got no reason to doubt it.”

Formula 1 representatives have been to inspect the construction work, with FIA race director Michael Masi due to visit this week.

To make the project possible, the temporary layout is being built as an extension to Jeddah’s waterfront corniche with the new roads not being opened for public use until after next year’s race in March.

“It’s a series of two roads that run parallel along the coastline," Hughes explained. "One lane takes you north then you get to a roundabout and come back and go south.

“That runs along the whole of the Jeddah city, and it’s an extension of that effectively so that we will join the existing road network.

“All of the barriers that are there can come out, they’re all temporary concrete barriers with sections of fencing. That track can be reverted back to a public highway after the event.

“The authorities have said okay, we will leave everything in place between December between the first and second race, which makes absolute sense," he continued, citing "the cost of taking everything out, storing and putting it back."

“You’d have to start rebuilding it almost as soon as you demobilised it," he added. "“So in the long term, it will be highways.

"In the infield there are things like five-a-side football pitches and basketball courts and things, so it’s very much a sports and leisure zone.

"There are cafes and restaurants that are being built on the waterside. It will be an extension of the existing corniche.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.