The meetings have taken place in the vicinity of the Jeddah Corniche circuit, both between team leaders and between drivers, even intertwined, but despite the fact that the Saudi Arabian GP has continued, the doubt is in the air.
Formula 1 has dealt throughout its more than 70-year history with situations in which the ethics and the Economic factor have come into conflict. However, the most recent case has come with the celebration of the second Saudi Arabian GP in 2022: the impact of a missile on Friday against a refinery 10km from the Jeddah circuit set off all the alarms.
A meeting of the team leaders with Stefano Domenicali and Mohammed Ben Sulayem It served to calm things down and guarantee the continuity of the Grand Prix, but the drivers locked themselves in for more than 4 hours after Free Practice 2 and jeopardized the test program. The 55 million a year that the track promoter will pay until 2025, the year of the end of this agreement with F1, were noted in the negotiations.
However, some team bosses consider that the option of not returning to Saudi Arabia from next year should be studied. Is that a realistic option? Below we offer you the opinions of the main representatives who have taken part in this discussion in the last few hours.
Jost Capito (Williams)
«We do not take care of the calendar, but the situation here has been like this for many years. I think there was a missile attack during the Formula E race early last year. There were no worries coming here at the end of last year, and the situation for this weekend hasn’t changed at all.
Therefore, I think the discussion should have been held earlier, and now it will be after, but not during the event. As long as they confirm the security, that we will be safe.
Guenther Steiner (Haas)
«Now is not the time to discuss whether it is right or wrong to be here.. That will come in the future. It will be discussed, the FIA and the FOM will study it and it will be decided what to do, but I think for now we have to focus on this weekend’s event and finish it and then start again from scratch.
“We have to focus on this weekend’s event and finish it and then start again from scratch”
For me, the guarantee is that the authorities have their own families here and they feel safe. We will reconsider our position if there are more attacks, we will re-examine what is happening, but for now I have no worries. I can’t look into the future, but if something happens we can deal with it when it comes, hopefully it doesn’t.”
Mike KrackAston Martin
“There will be a lot of discussions after this event. I can only repeat that the teams do not make the calendarbut the FIA and Formula 1. Obviously we will give our opinion if we are asked, and then we will move on.
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Andreas Seidl (McLaren)
“Being sincere, for me that is not important» (speaking about whether the economic benefits compensated the situation of each country).
I feel comfortable being part of Formula 1 as a global sport, being a member of a team and having the opportunity to really help make a difference. positive change in the countries we go to, where, for example, there are different cultures. For me that is the point of this discussion, and I think we should not back down or close ourselves off from these countries because of the criticism we are receiving.
I see that we have a unique opportunity as a sport to share this passion for Formula 1 and also to drive this positive change. Not only economically, but also in terms of positive change in society. Therefore, I feel comfortable with the decision that Formula 1 is taking to go to the races.
Mattia Binotto (Ferrari)
“We were all worried, because what has happened near the circuit are not normal events. As a team we received guarantees from Formula 1, from the Saudi government authorities and from the security agencies that everything would be under control. I think it had to be explained to the pilots.
We made them understand that, in fact, we are safe and secure. After those long discussions, which is important to have transparentThey understood and supported that it is important to stay and continue the weekend and drive here in Saudi Arabia for the weekend. In a way, I think leaving the country would not have been the right option, there was no reason being here.