The governing bodies of Formula 1 reconfirmed, on Saturday March 26, 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.

"After discussions with all teams and drivers (which lasted late into the night from Friday to Saturday, editor's note), the Saudi Arabian Formula 1 Grand Prix will continue as planned," said the Formula 1 promoter. and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in a statement.

“Extensive discussions were held between the stakeholders, the Saudi government authorities and the agencies responsible for the security which gave complete and detailed assurances on the security of the event”, add the authorities.

The pilots, who remained silent after this meeting, subsequently expressed their "resolution to participate in practice and qualifying today and in the race tomorrow", through the voice of their association (the GPDA).

New attacks claimed by the Houthis 

The attack in Jeddah is part of a wave 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.

It caused a gigantic fire and a cloud of black smoke visible from the circuit during free practice 1.

"It might 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 explained through the GPDA. 

Several team bosses also spoke at the start of the afternoon, during their usual Saturday press conference.

None betrayed the secret of the previous day's exchanges, but "the most important thing was to be sure of being safe again," said McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl.

Pilots "not fully relaxed" 

"The drivers are not 100% happy and completely relaxed but they have heard the assurances and understood that the important thing is to stay here to race," added his Ferrari counterpart Mattia Binotto.

“As F1, what we can do is try to have a positive impact in the countries we visit, justifies the Italian, in unison with the other team leaders. It is our duty , our task."

Comments that echo the responses of all the players in the championship when they are asked about the advisability of racing in countries accused of human rights violations, starting with Saudi Arabia, where F1 was established the last season.

As for knowing if this GP has its place, "it is not us (the teams) who are in charge of the calendar" but F1 and the FIA, recalls Jost Capito for Williams, even if the teams are obviously consulted.

"If discussions need to take place, they will take place after the Grand Prix but not during, as long as we are safe," he said.

Just after free practice 2 on Friday evening, the championship organizers had announced the continuation of the GP despite the attack but the pilots needed more than four hours to discuss it, separating around 02:20 local time without an official announcement concerning their position.

However, the question seemed settled, with several team bosses saying "we're going to run" to the media present.

In retaliation for Friday's events, the coalition carried out overnight airstrikes in Sanaa and Hodeidah, Yemeni towns held by rebels, according to the official Saudi agency SPA. 

According to a senior Saudi official contacted by AFP on Saturday, the Houthi rebels have offered a ceasefire and peace talks to end the war that has paralyzed the country for seven years.

With AFP

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