A particular Friday, very particular. In Jeddah, it's hard to talk about the track at the end of the free practice session anyway. The challenge between Leclerc and Verstappen, today, has in fact gone slightly into the background. However, let's clarify: during the first free practice session, the Aramco oil plant was hit by a missile, coming from the Houthis, 20 km away from the circuit, causing a huge explosion, obviously arousing a lot of concern inside the paddock . At the end of FP2 as well, a further meeting was held between the Formula One entourage and the team principals who, also in the company of the local authorities, took stock of the situation. However, the line of thought of the team principals, at the end of the meeting, is quite clear: we run.
Domenicali: "We'll go on with the weekend"
Formula One president Stefano Domenicali reassured and guaranteed the dispute over the weekend, who told the media:
“We have received absolute guarantees that security comes first for the country and will be guaranteed. Local officials are here with their families and all systems are in place to protect this area. We feel safe and trust the local authorities. We will go ahead with the event as scheduled."
Ben Sulayem: "We keep running"
Closes the question, even the president of the FIA Ben Sulayem, stating: “We had meetings with the head of safety, with the team principals and the riders. They are targeting the infrastructure and not the pilots. We have had guarantees that this is a safe place and will remain so. We will continue to run."
So everything is confirmed: tomorrow we'll be back on track with FP3 scheduled for 15.00pm and qualifying at 18.00pm.
Source: Motorsport.com