Why is the F1 race being run in Saudi Arabia, despite a missile strike next to the track? Sport’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh believes that after the incident, the discussion about taking the Games to countries like Saudi Arabia will intensify.
26.3. 16:32 • Updated March 26th. 16:35
The Formula 1 weekend continues in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, although a missile strike took place just ten kilometers from the race track on Friday.
The teams and drivers held a meeting on Friday, after which the race weekend was announced to continue as normal. After that, however, the drivers still held an emergency meeting that lasted until the wee hours.
British Sky Sports told earlier (switch to another service) based on their sources, that at least Mercedes Lewis HamiltonFerrarin Carlos Sainz and AlphaTaurin Pierre Gasly would have questioned in particular the continuation of the race weekend in Jeddah. Viaplay on-site reporter Mervi Kallio said To Ilta-Sanomat (you switch to another service) citing their sources, that too Fernando Alonso would have been reluctant to drive.
Despite this, after a meeting that lasted until midnight, it was decided to take the race weekend as normal.
The gathering of the drivers, which stretched into the night, is spoken by Sport’s F1 expert Jukka Mildhin according to the fact that while the race is set to continue, athletes have a challenging place to continue performing in a changed race environment.
– We do not really know what the drivers have considered or decided at their own meeting. For some reason, it has been decided to continue the race. What makes the situation awkward for athletes is that we’re now talking mainly about the little guys over 20 who get into this situation, Mildh ponders.
– Not to mention the crowds of the stalls, many of which are familiar. There are certainly many points in this follow-up decision that they all question.
Mildh says the most mentally safe environment for athletes in this situation is definitely a helmet from an F1 car. According to media reports, drivers were concerned about the safety situation outside the F1 track.
There’s still no feel of a sports party at the weekend’s race events. Even before the missile strike, some of the drivers, led by seven-time Mercedes champion Hamilton, have expressed reluctance to race in Saudi Arabia, citing the human rights situation. The country’s brutal execution practice in particular has sparked debate.
Saudi Arabia executed 81 people two weeks ago. The executed had been sentenced to death for various crimes, including murders and belonging to militant groups.
Was it right to continue the race weekend?
The attack took place in Jeddah on an oil refinery and occurred during F1 drills that began at 4 p.m. on Friday. Jeddah Street Track is located on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
Among other things, Reuters reported that the warehouse of oil refiner Saudi Aramco was attacked by a huthi guerrilla group in Yemen. Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is the world’s largest oil and energy company. Aramco is also the Main Sponsor of Aston Martin’s F1 team and a major sponsor of the F1 series.
Already last weekend, there was a fire at Aramco’s premises in Jeddah when huthi rebels fired a missile strike. At the time, Saudi Air Defense managed to repel the attack, but it still caused a fire.
F1 expert Jukka Mildh emphasizes the anomaly of the situation on a historical scale.
– This situation is special in that Formula 1 has not encountered any such drama so close to a competitive event throughout its existence. That in itself is a miracle. In this situation, one cannot think only of the safety of the drivers, but of the hundreds working on the series. The declining sense of security is a big deal and will affect many others, Mildh sums up.
Mildh believes the missile strike is a kind of reversal to the growing debate over the grievances of the species. He mentions that the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and several other countries, for example, is not good, which is a hot topic for the organizers of the series.
– I think such a blow will fuel the debate about why the series is run in such places. While F1 has never faced such a close threat before, I believe things are now on the table, he notes.
– Many people think that ending this weekend is at least partially wrong, but the decision to continue has been made jointly. The organizers of the race have made a promise of a safe environment, so it goes.
Serial communication line
Aramco’s role as the main sponsor of the F1 series is likely to weigh heavily on the decision to continue the race weekend. Mildh believes it is wrong to claim that drivers ’opinion of continuing the race would have been silenced even if all of Friday’s press conferences were canceled after the attack. In his opinion, the way out of the continuation of the race is in line with the F1 model and it aims to take into account the stakeholders as well.
– I think it is interesting that there is a headline in the media that the mouths of drivers are blocked by this threat. I don’t think it should be interpreted as saying that the organization has said, “you are not allowed to talk,” Mildh begins.
– In my experience, Formula 1 is a very high-quality communication environment with many stakeholders to be taken into account. These nocturnal talks have taken place to find a common ground between all. The series seeks to create a common front with respect to the message so as not to cause confusion, he opens.
In creating a common message, Mildh also refers to the SuperLicense for the sport, which, for example, forbids public criticism of the FIA. That, too, he thinks has changed a great deal with the way the culture of publicity has changed and how important its image in the media is to the series.
– So I don’t interpret this as meaning that it was not intended to silence the drivers. Instead, it’s a way for skilled people to consider their message on this issue, he sums up.
The time trials for the F1 race in Saudi Arabia are scheduled for Saturday from 7 p.m.