"It smells burnt, is it my car?", Red Bull driver Max Verstappen said on the radio to his team during the F1 training before the Saudi GP this weekend.
It was not.
A large fire had broken out in an oil depot in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, near the F1 line.
According to the AP, this is an attack on state-owned Aramco's facility.
Huthi rebels in neighboring Yemen took responsibility for the fire.
"We have carried out several attacks with drones and ballistic missiles," the Huthi rebels said in a statement.
Training was delayed
The oil depot is located southeast of Jeddah International Airport.
The fire could be documented by photographers, as many journalists are on site to follow the F1 competition, and the cloud of smoke could be seen over a mile away.
The attack caused Friday's second training session to be delayed by 15 minutes, when drivers and stable managers were called to a crisis meeting with the F1 management.
At the end of the training, the Saudi Motorsport Company, the Saudi motorsport federation, issued a statement:
"Looking forward to welcoming fans"
"We are aware of the attack on the Aramco distribution in Jeddah earlier this afternoon and we are in direct contact with the Saudi security authorities, F1 and the FIA (International Motorsports Federation)," it wrote on Twitter and continues:
“The competition weekend will continue as planned.
The safety of all our guests continues to be our top priority and we look forward to welcoming fans to a weekend of world-class racing ”.
According to a military spokesman, large parts of the fire had been extinguished on Friday night.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest in Friday's second practice, followed by Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.
Additional meetings will be held during the evening.