GPDA issues statement after 'stressful day' in Jeddah

The Grand Prix Drivers Association issued a statement on Saturday saying that it had been reassured by "security measures being elevated to the maximim" in Jeddah after Friday's "stressful day".

A missile attack on a nearby Saudi Aramco oil depot conducted by Yemen's Houti rebels put the second round of the F1 world championship in jeopardy.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, backed by Saudi Arabia authorities, sought to reassure F1's teams and drivers, which led to a statement in which it said that the latter had unanimously agreed to continue the Saudi Arabian GP weekend.

However, it later transpired that not all drivers supported the statement. The group took the opportunity to convene under the banner of the GPDA after its routine drivers' briefing in the evening.

• Read also: F1 chiefs and team bosses ward off boycott threat in Jeddah

The meeting extended into the early hours of Saturday and required at one point the presence of Domenicali and Ross Brawn. Later, F1's team bosses were called in to alleviate the drivers' concerns and more importantly to ward off a threat of a boycott.

Eventually, following a private discussion between the bosses, who were joined by GPDA director George Russell, it was agreed that the race weekend would proceed as scheduled.

On Saturday, GPDA chairman Alex Wurz published a statement on behalf of the drivers, calling Friday "a difficult day for Formula One and a stressful day for us Formula One drivers".

"Perhaps it is hard to comprehend if you have never driven an F1 car on this fast and challenging Jeddah track but on seeing the smoke from the incident it was difficult to remain a fully focused race driver and erase natural human concerns," continued the statement.

"Consequently, we went into long discussions between ourselves, with our team principals, and with the most senior people who run our sport.

"A large variety of opinions were shared and debated and having listened not only to the Formula 1 powers but also to the Saudi government ministers who explained how security measures were being elevated to the maximum, the outcome was a resolution that we would practise and qualify today and race tomorrow.

"We therefore hope that the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be remembered as a good race rather than for the incident that took place yesterday."

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