Despite the doubts among the pilots, the governing bodies of Formula 1 confirmed the dispute of the Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia, one day after the attack on an oil facility in Jeddahnear the circuit, by the Yemeni Houthi rebels.
“After the talks with all teams and drivers, Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will go ahead as planned”, specified the Formula 1 promoter and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in a statement.
The pilotswho did not speak publicly at the end of the meeting, showed this Saturday morning their “decision to participate in the trials and qualifications today and in the race tomorrow”.
Thus, the team patterns held their usual press conference, before the third session of free trials and the qualifying session at 12:00 in Ecuador. The The start of the race is scheduled for Sunday at 15:00 in Ecuador.
“They have taken place lengthy conversations between the parties involvedthe Saudi government authorities and the agencies responsible for security, which gave complete guarantees that the event is safe”, added F1 and the FIA.
The attack on the Jeddah oil facility is among the 16 claimed by the Houthis on Fridayon the eve of the seventh anniversary of the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen to support the government against the rebels, close to Iran.
In response, the coalition carried out airstrikes in Yemen overnight from Friday to Saturdayin Sanaa and Hodeida, cities controlled by the rebels, according to the official Saudi agency SPA.
‘Maximum security’
The attack in Jeddah caused a gigantic fire and a cloud of black smoke visible from circuit during the first free trials, while the second free practice session was delayed by 15 minutes.
“Perhaps it is difficult to understand if you have never driven an F1 on the fast and complicated circuit of Jeddah, but seeing the smoke caused by the incident made it difficult to be a fully focused pilot and forget the natural human concerns”, affirmed the pilots in their reaction published through their GPDA union.
“A wide variety of opinions were pooled and debated, and having listened to F1 officials but also the Saudi government explaining to us how security measures were raised to the maximumthe result was the decision to participate in the rehearsals and qualifications today and in the race tomorrow”, they added.
“So we hope that the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP will be remembered as a nice race more than the incident that occurred yesterday (Friday),” the drivers concluded.
Right after the second free rehearsals on Friday afternoon, the Championship organizers announced that the GP was held despite the attack.
But after the meeting, which ended at 02:00, only one of the pilots, the Mexican Sergio Perez (Red Bull), it was expressed. “Ready and fully focused on tomorrow’s qualifying”wrote Czech Perez on Twitter.
Several team leaders assured the media present: “Let’s run”. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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