F1
F1 and GPDA confirm Saudi GP will take place
F1 cars will be able to race on the Corniche circuit in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). © DPPI
The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix takes place in a climate of tension. Friday, on the sidelines of the free tests in Jeddah, an attack by the Houthi rebels, at war against the government of Yemen supported by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, provoked the explosion of an Aramco oil infrastructure, around fifteen kilometers from the circuit on the Corniche.
Several meetings were organized during the night from Friday to Saturday with drivers, team managers and sporting authorities. FIA President Mohamed Ben Sulayem and his Group counterpart F1 Stefano Domenicali had confirmed that the Grand Prix would continue this weekend.
This Saturday morning, March 26, F1 released a press release attesting to the good conduct of the event. “ Formula 1 and the FIA can confirm that following discussions with all teams and drivers, the Formula 1 Saudi Grand Prix will go ahead as planned.
Joint statement on the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix pic.twitter.com/xsyYpvVmhB
- Formula 1 (@ F1) March 26, 2022
Following the widely reported incident that took place in Jeddah on Friday, there were extensive discussions between all stakeholders, Saudi government authorities and security agencies who gave comprehensive and detailed assurances so that the event is secure.
It was agreed with all stakeholders to maintain a clear and open dialogue throughout the event and in the future. »
In the process, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association reacted through Alexander Wurz's Twitter account. The Austrian is the President of the GPDA, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association. The former F1 driver andEndurance has chaired this body independent of the FIA and the teams since 2014.
“Yesterday (Friday) was a difficult day for the F1 and stressful for us, F1 drivers. It's not easy to maintain full concentration as a racing driver and erase natural and human concerns when you see smoke coming from the incident. Maybe it's complicated to understand this if you've never driven an F1 car on this fast and technical circuit in Jeddah.
GPDA statement: pic.twitter.com/mVbUnD49JL
— alex wurz (@alex_wurz) March 26, 2022
Therefore, we conducted long conversations among ourselves (members of the GPDA. Editor’s note), with our team directors and the most qualified personalities who lead our sport. A wide range of opinions were shared and debated, and, after listening not only to F1 leaders but also to Saudi government ministers, who explained to us how safety measures were going to be raised to their maximum, the outcome was to decide to continue testing, qualifying today (SATURDAY) and the race tomorrow (Sunday) »
ALSO READ > The story of the night in Jeddah by our special correspondent
Medhi Casaurang
Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!
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26/03/2022 at 11:09 a.m.
The opposite would have been surprising !! With MBS and ARAMCO, it's hard to imagine that the race won't take place, too many dollars at stake...