Who has been the most successful in Saudi Arabia?

With the fifth Saudi Arabian Grand Prix set to take place later tonight, F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo looks at the most important statistics of the F1 races in Jeddah.

Saudi Arabia is the most recent country to join the list of nations that have hosted a Grand Prix in the 75 year history of the Formula 1 World Championship. It made its debut in 2021, two weeks on from when Qatar made its first appearance on the championship stage.

35 countries have hosted at least one race in motorsport’s blue riband category. The one with the most Grands Prix to its name is Italy on 107, followed by Germany, Great Britain and the United States all on 79. Saudi Arabia is the latest and fourth Middle Eastern country to host a race, while the region as a whole has, to date, hosted 44 Grands Prix: 21 in Bahrain, 16 in Abu Dhabi, 4 in Saudi Arabia and 3 in Qatar.

Three drivers have shared the wins in the four editions of this Grand Prix held to date. Max Verstappen won twice in 2022 and 2024, Lewis Hamilton claimed victory in the inaugural event in 2021 and Sergio Perez came out on top in 2023.

The same three drivers are also responsible for all four pole positions, although in this case it’s Sergio Perez who has two to his name, in 2022 and 2023, with the Englishman claiming the top grid slot in 2021 and the Dutchman doing so one year later.

The four-time world champion has always finished on the podium here, with Charles Leclerc setting the most fastest race laps with two to his name, as well as finishing in the top three twice. Naturally, Verstappen leads the way for points scored on 87 followed by his former team-mate Perez on 55, with the Ferrari driver third on 49.