(Jeddah) Having overcome the doubts of the pilots, the governing bodies of Formula 1 have reconfirmed the maintenance of the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, the day after the attack on an oil site near the Jeddah circuit by the Yemeni rebels Houthis.
Posted at 8:08
“After discussions with all the teams and drivers [qui ont duré jusque tard dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi, NDLR]the Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix will continue as planned,” the Formula 1 promoter and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement.
The drivers, who remained silent after this meeting, expressed on Saturday morning their “resolution to participate in practice and qualifying today and the race tomorrow. »
The team bosses will therefore hold their usual press conference at 2:30 p.m. local time, before the third free practice session at 5 p.m. and then qualifying at 8 p.m. The race will follow on Sunday at 8 p.m.
“Extensive discussions were held between stakeholders, Saudi government authorities and agencies responsible for security which gave full and detailed assurances on the security of the event,” add Formula 1 and the FIA.
The attack on the Jeddah oil site is among 16 claimed by the Houthis on Friday, on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the intervention of the military coalition led by Riyadh in Yemen to support the government against rebels close to Iran.
In retaliation, the coalition carried out airstrikes in Yemen from Friday night to Saturday, in Sanaa and Hodeidah, cities held by the rebels, according to the official Saudi agency SPA.
“Maximum security measures”
The attack in Jeddah caused a massive fire and a cloud of black smoke visible from the circuit during free practice 1 at 5 p.m. local time and the second free practice session was delayed by 15 minutes.
“It may be hard to understand if you’ve never driven an F1 on the fast and difficult Jeddah circuit, but seeing the smoke from the incident made it difficult to remain a fully focused racing driver and erase natural human concerns,” the pilots say in their reaction published via their union, the GPDA.
“A wide variety of opinions were shared and debated and, after hearing from F1 officials but also the Saudi government explaining to us how safety measures have been raised to the maximum, the result was the resolve to participate in testing. and qualifying today and the race tomorrow,” they add.
“So we hope the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is remembered as a great race rather than the incident that happened yesterday. [vendredi] “, conclude the pilots.
Just after free practice 2 on Friday evening, the championship organizers announced that the GP would be maintained despite this attack.
But only Red Bull’s Mexican driver Sergio Pérez broke the silence after the meeting ended around 2:20 a.m. local time, saying on Twitter “ready and totally focused for tomorrow’s ‘qualifier'”.
Several team bosses had also assured the media present: “We are going to race”.