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SAUDI-WOMEN-RIGHTS-REFORM-GENDER-RENAULT
Saudi woman drives F1 car to mark end of ban
LE CASTELLET, France, June 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Renault stole a march on
their Formula One rivals on Sunday when they gave a Saudi Arabian woman a
chance to mark a special day by driving one of their cars ahead of Sunday’s
French Grand Prix.
On the same day that women celebrated being allowed to drive on the roads
of Saudi Arabia, Aseel Al-Hamad, the first female member of her national
motorsport federation, took the wheel of the same car in which Kimi Raikkonen
won the 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
She was part of a Renault ‘passion parade’ hours ahead of the first French
Grand Prix in a decade and the first to be held at the Le Castellet circuit
for 28 years.
Aseel, who is a member of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, is a
keen driver and motor sport enthusiast who took part in a training day on
June 5 at the circuit. “I have loved racing and motorsport from a very young
age and to drive a Formula One car goes even beyond my dreams and what I
thought was possible.
“It is a genuine honour to drive in front of the crowds at the team’s home
race in France.
“I hope doing so on the day when women can drive on the roads in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shows what you can do if you have the passion and the
spirit to dream.”
Aseel is responsible for creation of strategies to promote the education
and training of women in motorsport in Saudi Arabia.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1613 hrs