JEDDAH — Seventeen-year-old Fathi Al-Lababidi's passion for LEGO and Formula 1 made him build the Jeddah Corniche within 6 months by only using LEGO. Al-Lababidi, speaking to Saudi Gazette on the sidelines of Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023, said, he was passionate with LEGO as he started building when he was approximately 4 years old. A few years ago, he started to be passionate for Formula 1 and motorcycle sport. "The two passions fused, and I decided to combine both of these passions to build the Formula 1 Jeddah Circuit and all the team's cars which were released throughout the years, in order to promote the 2021 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix," he said. He pointed out that the circuit itself, which is 57x230 cm, took approximately 6 months to be completed, using thousands of LEGO pieces ranging between 10,000 to 15,000. However, he also updated it every year to match the circuit in 2022, and 2023, which has evolved because of the ongoing updates and adjustments in the track. While the LEGO cars, Al-Lababidi said that he built them once they started releasing in reality. Each car is accurate to its engineering and what it represents, such as the Red Bull and Ferrari. Regarding the details, he said that he did not only want to build the layout, but also wanted to add Saudi monuments, such as the Kingdom tower in Riyadh, The Abraj Al Bait (The Clock Towers) in Makkah, and Al-Faisaliah tower in Riyadh. Al-Lababidi has not only focused on the new towers, but also was keen to add a few monuments from the past such as AlUla, Diriyah, and even from the future, like the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in Dhahran. He was also keen to place all these elements next to the desert and the Red Sea in order to remove the stereotype in the world that the Kingdom has nothing but the desert. It is amazing to see how Saudi Arabia can be a center of the world by hosting such huge events like Formula 1, he noted, expecting that, younger generation will not only be excited for the future but will also take part in it. It is noteworthy that Al-Lababidi was among the first teams to go through the F1 in Schools program, conducted by King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), that aims to raise awareness of science, technology, engineering and mathematics among students around the world, after which teams are selected for the opportunity to study, design and build Formula 1 models.
