“Lando Norris, Kimi Antonelli … LeBron James.” Emirati racing driver Amna Al Qubaisi is reeling off athletes she admires from Time's list of the '100 Most Influential People in Sports'. “Aryna Sabalenka, Alysa Liu …”
She might have mentioned Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, Jannik Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz, Stephen Curry or Victor Wembanyama. So, you can imagine the surprise and immense pride she felt last week when she learnt that she too had been included in this most prestigious of lists.
“I never thought I was in the public eye. I thought, you know, I was just doing what I love,” Al Qubaisi tells The National. “Trying to participate in a sport that I enjoy, trying to create a change, share my experiences, help others – and out of the blue, being recognised after being in the sport for more than 11 years. It was a huge deal for me. I started crying because I never imagined I would be recognised among those various top individuals.”
Al Qubaisi, 26, has been a pioneer for Arab women in sport thanks to her victories on the track, but also as an articulate spokesperson away from it. Time's list is broken down into four sections – icons, titans, innovators and leaders – with Al Qubaisi in the latter. Being designated as such is another source of pride. It is recognition that she cleared a path for others, including younger sister Hamda, 23, whose own decorated racing career speaks for itself.
“I think I've been one of the first females from not just the UAE, but from the Middle East to compete at a level where it's super prestigious – Italian F4, Formula 3 Asia, so on and so forth,” she says.
“And I mean, there were a lot of stereotypes about females in the Middle East. They think we're still backwards, that women aren't able to do anything. It's really crazy to me that they still think that about women from the Middle East. When they saw me, they just assumed like, I come from a very rich family, and maybe I'm part of a lineage of a royal family, and that's the main reason why I'm here, discrediting my success, my journey, and all of that.
“So, I wanted to change their perceptions a bit about females from the Middle East. I was able to prove myself. That we are just as good as any racing driver, doesn't matter the background or the race, and that we are able to push through, and we have the strength to continue and to persist.
“What people maybe don't know [about Time's list] is that it is the most influential people,” she adds. “It's not about the amount of trophies you won, or the amount of results you got, it's more about the influence you have.
“My main goal throughout my racing journey, of course, is to win and to do my best, but it's also to influence young girls from the Middle East, to influence families … I'm really happy that I was able to create a bit of a change.”
Inspired by father Khaled's exploits, Al Qubaisi honed her skills at Yas Marina Circuit with Yas Heat. After recording several firsts in karting and single-seater racing, she joined F1 Academy in 2023, signing with MP Motorsport in the all-female championship. She ended the season with two wins and placed sixth. For 2024, she re-signed with MP and teamed up with the Red Bull Academy Programme.
Earlier this year, she joined Team Jebsen to become the first female driver in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. It's her versus “30 male drivers who had already experienced this car and the tracks”. That didn't stop her cracking the top 10 twice at Japan's Fuji Speedway last month.
“I have to thank Jebsen Racing and my sponsors Wardah,” she adds. “They make this possible. I was a bit nervous before joining the championship because I was unfamiliar with the car, unfamiliar with the tracks. I was a bit nervous whether I should do it or not.
“But two weeks before the season started I said, 'You know what, I don't care what people say. I don't care what people think about my results'. I'm just going to go and give it a try. I'm pretty happy with that decision because of the amount of progress I made throughout the race weekend. I expected to be way back in the grid, but I managed to get within the top 10 and super close to the top six. The progress is there and I could finally enjoy racing again and compete in a very competitive grid.”
Away from the track, she has built a strong online following, while the Al Qubaisi sisters also featured prominently in a Netflix series about F1 Academy.
“I hate watching myself or hearing myself, especially when it's like, on a big screen,” she says of the show. “But it was a really nice adventure with the Netflix crew. They were such wonderful people. We loved and enjoyed every second of it, even though it kind of got a bit annoying where we had to act out a few things, a few scenarios.
“But I had a really fun time with the crew ... just, I was a bit upset about the narrative, but you know how it is with TV series, there's always going to be a narrative about certain individuals.”
Al Qubaisi is active across social media platforms, posting to large audiences on Instagram and TikTok. Her feeds are a mix of racing and cars – but also plenty of comedy and a big slice of UAE life.
“I wasn't too focused on social media the last few years. I just took it as a way to engage with the audience, to let them know about my journey or what I've been doing in the last few races, updates and all that,” she says.
“But this year I've had less control, let's say with sponsors or anyone to scrutinise what I post. So I felt like I had more freedom to engage with people … I don't really care about the followers, I just post what I think people would like and what people would enjoy to watch, and have them feel a little closer to me.”
As for the future, she admits she “never knows what I'll be doing next year”. But being ambitious is what has taken her this far – and into the pages of Time.
“We've always been super brave, joining championships with no testing, in certain cars, cars I've never driven or certain tracks I've not been to,” she says.
“But it's like being brave, just going for it and expecting, not expecting the most, but just experiencing it. With that approach we've achieved a lot of wins, podiums, top-10 finishes. It's been a roller coaster of a journey.”
