Yemen's Houthi rebels on Friday confirmed a missile and drone attack on several refineries in Jeddah, the scene of this weekend's Saudi Arabian GP.

According to a spokesman for this armed group, quoted by the Reuters agency, the targets of these armed actions were the Aramco refineries, the world's largest oil company, Ras Tanura and Rabigh.

The dense plume of smoke, visible to the naked eye, carried the stench of burning oil onto the circuit.

As the first free practices had not yet finished,

Max Verstappen

was one of the first to detect the smell.

"I smell burning, is it my car?" the reigning world champion commented on the radio.

A few minutes later, after the end of the session, F1 limited itself to advancing a brief statement.

"We await news from the local authorities."

The second free session, scheduled for 8:00 p.m. (two less in mainland Spain), began with a slight delay of 15 minutes.

The Aramco facilities are located about 20 km south of the Corniche Circuit, next to the port area, well known among motor fans, who in the last two years have seen the Dakar Rally caravan arrive there.

It must be remembered that in March 2020, Aramco signed as the main sponsor of F1, in exchange for about 50 million euros per year.

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