The Ferrari F1 team controversially shocked fans with sensitive content that was considered insulting to one of the holiest sites in Islam ahead of the start of the 2023 Saudi Arabian F1 racing.
The 2023 Formula 1 Grand Prix will continue in Saudi Arabia in the second round. The race will be held at the Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, which will be held this weekend, Sunday, March 19.
To revitalize the race, posters ahead of F1 were put up. However, instead of displaying a picture of the venue for the event, the picture shows the Islamic holy site of the Prophet’s Mosque, which is located in Madina.
Through their official Instagram account, @scuderiaferrari, the Italian team uploaded a promotional poster as an edited photo showing Carlos Sainz’s SF-23 car, seen in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque. The photo was also completed with the caption, “We are returning to Jeddah.”
This controversial post was quickly greeted with scathing criticism from several Muslim fans who were offended and considered the Ferrari team had disrespected the holiest site for all Muslims worldwide, built by the Prophet Muhammad, by ignorantly showing their car inside of it.
Although until now, it is not clear whether the Ferrari team knows the sanctity of the Prophet’s Mosque, the promotional poster that has been removed has disappointed Muslim fans and has widely spread on social media.
A Twitter user with the username @f1amani condemned the post saying it was completely unacceptable because not only edited a car to one of the holiest sites for Muslims around the world, but the Ferrari team mistakenly used it to advertise a race in a different city.
The user said that a simple one-minute research could have prevented this disrespectful fatal mistake from happening.
Until this news was written, there had been no official clarification or apology from the Ferrari social media team. They only quickly removed the disrespectful post from their Twitter, Instagram, and website to prevent further reactions.
