F1 News: Missile Attack Close To Track Begs Questions Of Whether Saudi Arabian GP Will Go Ahead Or Not
While the first free practice session of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was taking place, there was an explosion next to the track, a mere 10km away.
Fire and black smoke could be seen from the track and drivers started complaining that they could smell burning in their cars.
“I can smell burning – is it my car,” Max Verstappen questioned his team over the radio, worrying that his Red Bull was having yet more issues following a disappointing end to his Bahrain Grand Prix.
Now, F1 is waiting for details on what happened, and and it has released a statement:
“The position at the moment is that we are waiting for further information from the authorities on what has happened.”
FP2 starts later today after a strong start from Ferrari.
These are the results of FP1:
- Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m30.772s, soft
- Verstappen (Red Bull) 1m30.888s, hard
- Bottas (Alfa Romeo) 1m31.084s, soft
- Sainz (Ferrari) 1m31.139s, soft
- Gasly (AlphaTauri) 1m31.317s, soft
- Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) 1m31.505s, soft
- Perez (Red Bull) 1m31.563s, soft
- Ocon (Alpine) 1m32.026s, soft
- Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m32.364s, soft
- Alonso (Alpine) 1m32.381s, soft
UPDATE
It’s now been confirmed that this was a missile attack as a Houthi missile hits Aramco oil facility in Jeddah.
BREAKING: Houthi missile hits Aramco oil facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/0TnMQ7s76Q
— BNO News (@BNONews) March 25, 2022
BREAKING: Houthi rebels said they launched multiple attacks on Saudi Arabia today, striking an Aramco oil facility in Jeddah ahead of F1.
A huge cloud of smoke was seen near the Formula One venue in the city. Via @AFP. pic.twitter.com/FY8lTmXlMb
— Aya Iskandarani (@Aya_Isk) March 25, 2022
https://twitter.com/LappedCars/status/1507399158927396869
“BREAKING: Houthi rebels said they launched multiple attacks on Saudi Arabia today, striking an Aramco oil facility in Jeddah ahead of F1,” a journalist writes on Twitter.
More information to come as we get it.
Further update
Another meeting between drivers, teams, and the FIA at 10pm local time to discuss the explosion.
