Reema Juffali confirmed as Wild Card entry for Jeddah season opener

Reema Juffali has been announced as the first F1 ACADEMY Wild Card entry for the 2024 season, joining the grid for the first round at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Commenting on the announcement, the Saudi Arabian racer described how fortunate she feels to be inspiring the next generation at her home venue.

“It is an honour and a privilege to be representing my country, especially in my hometown,” said Juffali. “The day F1 arrived in Jeddah was the clash of both my worlds and now I am actually going to be participating! I’m really looking forward to it and happy to share the experience with my friends and family who are based here.

“As the saying goes: ‘if you can’t see it, you won’t believe it’. So, hopefully Saudi fans can see that there is a Saudi racing driver out there and it will get them to thinking that ‘this is something I can do!’. It is for this reason I have decided to take this challenge on. This is just the beginning!”

Developing a passion for racing as a child, Juffali made history in 2018 as the first-ever female racing driver from Saudi Arabia. After a points-scoring debut season in the F4 British Championship the next year, she became the first Saudi Arabian woman to compete in an international race in her home country, racing in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY on the streets of Riyadh.

A stint in the GB3 Championship in 2021 was followed up with a successful endurance racing debut, with Juffali finishing second in her class at the 2022 Dubai 24 Hours. Alongside this, she founded her own team, Theeba Motorsport, to improve Saudi Arabian access and participation in motorsport through educational and internship programmes.

The team secured victory on debut in the 2022 International GT Open, making Juffali the first Saudi Arabian woman to win an international motor race. The team went on to bring home the Vice Championship title in the series’ Pro-Am class.

Last year saw her continue to break new ground, as she became both the first female and first Saudi Arabian driver to claim pole position in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup.