“These things happen here”– Toto Wolff claims racing 10 miles away from missile attack is ‘culturally acceptable’ in Saudi Arabia

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claims racing only 10 miles away from a missile attack is “culturally acceptable” in Saudi Arabia.

On Friday, tensions piqued in the F1 grid when during Free Practice 1, a missile attack happened only a few miles away from the track. The Houthi rebels, who are in constant war with the Saudi Arabian government, took the responsibility.

But the attack prompted a four-hour-long meeting between the drivers on the same day. In the end, the whole F1 grid agreed to go ahead with the weekend and race.

Meanwhile, Toto Wolff speaking on the situation, claims to understand the conflict in the region. He states that it’s culturally acceptable in Saudi Arabia to race a mere 10 miles away from a missile attack.

“When you consider the various political conflicts with more severe situations for the population that have been going on in the Middle East for a while,” Wolff said.

“I love going to [Israeli city] Tel Aviv, but if you live in Tel Aviv, you are pretty used to situations where drones are being flown over, and it goes in both directions.

“There wasn’t any attack into Saudi Arabia that caused any civilian casualties, as I have been told for a long time. So that is why we need to understand that this is culturally very different to how we see our western cultures.

“For us, is it acceptable to race 10 miles from where there is a drone rocket going in a petrol tank? Certainly not. But for here, within their culture, these things happen here.”

Also read: Why F1 drivers agreed to race in Jeddah despite missile attack only few miles away from circuit on Friday

Toto Wolff is not happy with Mercedes’ situation

Mercedes seems to struggle massively with their pace in the past two Grand Prix. Wolff claims that it isn’t only because of the power unit, but something fundamentally is wrong with the car.

Even ahead of the race, it doesn’t seem Mercedes have a chance against Ferrari and Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton would be starting from P14 as Mick Schumacher is not available to race, and Daniel Ricciardo has been handed a grid penalty.

But it is not enough for Mercedes to catch up to their rivals. Hence, Wolff has agreed that it is time for his team to wake up and find solutions in the car.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton doesn’t think he has any chance to do anything significant in Saudi Arabian GP race