All 20 F1 drivers greeted by Saudi Grand Prix paddock switch

Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Jack Doohan and Kimi Antonelli line up before the Bahrain Grand Prix — Photo: © IMAGO

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

All 20 F1 drivers greeted by Saudi Grand Prix paddock switch

The drivers were treated to a unique welcome in Jeddah this weekend

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 19 April 2025 13:00

All 20 Formula 1 drivers competing at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix were treated to a change in the paddock, with their garages decorated with a special feature upon their arrival.

The 50-lap race in Jeddah ends F1’s first run of three consecutive grands prix this season, with the previous two weekends taking place at Suzuka and the Bahrain International Circuit where Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri were crowned victorious.

As the stars of the 2025 grid arrived in the paddock on Thursday, they were greeted by a change to their respective garages with their usual driver name accompanied by an Arabic translation.

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The translation was written underneath their names and in their team colours, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell’s Arabic transcript illustrated in the yellow and blue hues of their respective race helmets.

F1 stars embrace Saudi culture in Jeddah

Elsewhere, the Mercedes pair of Russell and Kimi Antonelli learnt how to write their names, and how to say a few phrases, in Arabic with the results shared on the team’s social media.

It appeared that Antonelli struggled with writing his name compared to Russell, as the young Italian protested that his team-mate’s was ‘easier’ to write.

As the camera panned closer to the drivers’ paper, it was revealed that their name in Arabic was already traced lightly, as the pair wrote over it to get to grips with the new transcript before attempting to write it freely at the bottom.

They soon put their skills to the test by covering what they had already written, and tried to write their names in Arabic from memory, but both drivers quickly forgot as they applied themselves to the new language.

Pit lane details ✍️

The drivers' garages feature the Arabic translation of their names this weekend 👇#F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/879c6ff5XT
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 17, 2025