Pakistan’s Saad sets sights on F1

Saad Ali is in pole position to become Pakistan’s first Formula 1 driver, a seemingly impossible target in a country with no race tracks and where all sport sponsorship money is poured into the national obsession — cricket.

The 28-year-old faces significant hurdles before he can become one of 22 elite drivers at the pinnacle of motorsport, but a decade after his “clueless” beginning as a college dropout hooked on racing, he is edging towards his target.

“As a kid I was always interested in cars, but there was no racing in Pakistan, it was not even on television,” he says.

He competed in the Formula Gulf 1000 series in 2014, reaching the podium to take third place twice in one weekend in Abu Dhabi.

Describing that race as a “big stepping stone”, he adds it was “proof to me that this is something that I could pursue and achieve”.

Now he must conquer the Formula 3, GP3 and GP2 classes, seen as stepping stones on the road to Formula 1.

“Getting there is extremely tough, extremely hard, extremely competitive,” he says.

It is also expensive. “I have been racing by myself for the country without support, flying the Pakistani Flag on circuits making a name for racing (here)” says Ali, who last year was only able to compete in go-karting’s 2F2F Endurance Grand Prix in Pakistan due to the sheer costs of taking part in motorsport.

Currently, he uses the money earned from his job at information technology company Swiftclick, and his documentary-film work to fund his obsession.

He has more races later in 2016. But estimates he will need around $2 million in sponsorship over the next three or four years to achieve his dream of racing alongside the likes of Sebastien Vettel or Lewis Hamilton.

“For motorsports you need that expertise, you need those mechanics, you need facilities, infrastructure, you need that architecture to actually perform,\" he says.

Right now, he has to make do with a simulator at his home, where he practises.