During today’s press conference, ahead of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix which will take place this weekend in Jeddah, the topic of what had happened last year was reopened. On March 25 2022, a missile had hit an Aramco oil base a few kilometers from the circuit, but the conditions had been defined as “safe” by the organizers and the Formula 1 weekend went on as if nothing had happened.
Today almost all the drivers, when asked what they thought about it, answered positively.
“We trust FOM and the organisation to keep us safe,” said Alpine driver Esteban Ocon.
“Obviously it was scary what happened last year and none of us wants to ever experience something like that. But we trust everybody around to put us in a safe situation to race.”
Then Norris added: “I’m happy we’re racing here.
“I think Formula 1 and what we’re doing as a sport is a good thing so I’m not worried about anything.”
Also Carlos Sainz seemed pretty positive: “They have given us enough reassurances and enough explanations to say that we are in a safe place right now” the Spaniard said.
“As my understanding goes I need to guide myself by that. Time will tell but I’m confident that they obviously are not lying to us and they are putting together a safe event.
“Honestly, I think it’s a great circuit for Formula 1 and every year the fan base keeps growing. So I think we need to try to enjoy our stay here and enjoy the race as much as possible.” He added.
Lewis Hamilton provided a cautiously opposite view from the other drivers:
“Not much really to add,” the Mercedes driver said.
“All the opposite really to everything they said, hopefully everyone has a safe weekend and hopefully everyone gets home safe after this. That’s as much as we can do.”
