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Jeddah-born Reema Juffali is Saudi Arabia's first female racer. Appointed ambassador for the inaugural F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, she was trackside when Sportskeeda caught up with her.
In an exclusive with Sportskeeda at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, she shares her story, her passion for racing, and the effects of the F1 and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on her country.
Educated at Northeastern University in Boston, Juffali combined her passion for cars and sport to become a single-seater race driver, securing cutting through orthodox gender disparities in her country.
As a female in Saudi Arabia, didn’t you face any resistance?
I think a lot of the things that I faced were challenges, in the sense of at the time when I was growing up here, I didn’t have racing as an option for me. It wasn’t something I could dream about so essentially I did other things. I played different sports, I had the passion for cars so I really read and watched so much that I could or got exposed to it as much as I could. I still found pockets that I could explore in terms of sport. But racing really wasn’t something that I was exposed to until I left home and was in university. Like everyone in university, I started exploring new fields new things, and for me racing was something that connected both my passions- sports and cars. It was for me at the right time to be exposed to that. And it took some time for me to understand the sport, get my head around and what is possible and there was one race in particular that really opened my eyes. It was the 24 Hours of Le Mans that I realized that it’s not just F1 that’s the only type of sport. There is place for all types of drivers from amateurs to pros, for a 50-year-old to an 18-year-old. That for me meant that I could dream and potentially be a racing driver, and it wasn’t an impossible dream. So I think for me it was just being exposed and understanding that.
So you didn’t start from the karting phase - go-karts?
No, I didn’t. So my aha moment was when I was 20. I was a lot older, and at that point in karting you start at 5 or 8, or maybe even 12 you can start. But by the time you are 15-16, you move to cars. So I essentially knew I am on the back foot so I realized so I will take a different route, and learn the quickest way I can. So I went into GTs first got some advice to do some single-seater stuff to learn as quick as possible and get as much experience as I could. I essentially threw myself at the deep end there and had to learn how to swim very quickly. Because I was competing against juniors who had loads more experience than I have, but almost half my age. So again it was a big challenge but I felt like I grew year on year and I just kept doing it as much as I felt I was growing. That’s where I finished this year in the Formula 3.
Reema Juffali believes F1 has a positive role to play to drive cultural change in Saudi Arabia
What does it feel like, with F1 coming to Saudi, for a female?
It’s unbelievable, all the Saudis are so proud, are excited. The whole city is electric, it’s buzzing to have such an international event like F1 here, that we hear about but never have had. It’s an exciting thing for all of us. It opens doors, it allows Saudis to dream and expose them, to a whole new world whether it is in the field of motorsport as a racing driver, or even as a mechanic, or in the construction of the site. What I feel F1 brings, I understand that it brings a lot more than just racing drivers. It’s bringing a whole new field. I imagine in the next couple of years, we’ll see Saudis start feeding into all areas of this. This is something I experienced firsthand being on the ground here in Jeddah.
How do other women respond to you being the first female racer… Women have only started driving cars in this country, a few years ago. Shed more light on how women look up to you today and also how you developed a passion for cars as a child? How did your family support you with your career?
Yes, definitely and I think it is an important question and it is something that my character was very headstrong. I was like I like sports, this is what I’m gonna do, I like to do it even if I didn’t have a court I am just going to kick the ball around. And of course without my family’s support, and without their encouragement, I wouldn’t have been able to do these things. So 100 percent it starts from your home, from your support because let’s just look at even karting drivers. If you are giving your son the opportunity to get in a kart and not your daughter. That already puts them at a disadvantage, so I think it is very important for that awareness to be out there. If I wasn’t a risk-taking youngster and if my family didn’t allow me to grow and find my passions, I wouldn’t have been able to dream this. But at the same time, I was somewhat realistic. As an 18-year old, I didn’t dream of being at that time being a racing driver, because it wasn’t realistic for me. It wasn’t something around me. But again I think for me it was probably right place right time. I proved myself, I graduated university I was working and then I came to my parents and said, "By the way, this is what I am going to do." Not even I didn’t say I’ll do this professionally. I said I am gonna give this a go. So it was all very planned and calculated in the beginning, and then it all just blew up and we were all like Oh my god what’s happening.
So how do Saudi women look at you? How do young girls look up to you in this country?
It’s been a very humbling experience, to be honest. I feel like my wins are theirs. They’ve taken my story as their own and I feel like I’ve been able to give them some inspiration, give them some hope to dream, and explore new areas. Some people don’t even like F1, it’s not just F1, it’s the possibilities that are open for them.
How do you think F1 can drive cultural change in Saudi Arabia?
Yes, yes, a hundred percent. It has a very big ripple effect, F1 which it leaves behind. Like Events, people from the back of this will be doing things around F1, leading up to F1. So having international events like this, is not something that you can quantify. Sport unites people, and F1 has clearly done that in Saudi.
And if there is one thing you want F1 to change what would it be, culture-wise?
Opportunity again. For women and men equal. Because at the end of the day, the thing that stood in my way was probably my own self-doubt but that lack of opportunity available to me at that time. I think it is also my role to be able to offer that here and kids and adults as well alike to get in the track, and anywhere they want to go by opportunity. For sure.
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