Valtteri Bottas says F1 will reconsider their future race destinations following the missile attack in Jeddah last weekend.
The Saudi Arabian GP was marred by missile attacks on a nearby Aramco facility last Friday. Midway into FP1 that day, thick clouds of smoke could be seen from the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, sparking panic and confusion.
Soon, it was revealed that the strikes were carried out by the Houthi rebels. This led to several meetings between the FIA, F1, drivers and organizers, who all worked on deciding what the best course of action was.
BREAKING: Houthi missile attack reported in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/k0GTvbHMLL
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) March 25, 2022
There were talks of the race being cancelled altogether, but all teams decided on going ahead with it at the end. The decision was unanimous and several figures including Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer insisted that they had sufficient evidence to feel safe.
Regardless, many felt that racing just 12 miles away from a place that had been struck by missiles isn’t normal. Most of the F1 community called for the race to be scrapped, and not all drivers felt very comfortable.
F1 had to make some guarantees to the drivers on the future, says Valtteri Bottas
The team principals were convinced that racing was the best thing to do. Drivers on the other hand, were not easily convinced. All twenty drivers were engaged in a meeting with each other late into the night.
In the end, F1 had to make certain promises to them regarding their future. This included the selection of Grand Prix venues, which has been a subject of criticism lately.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas revealed that these promises are what made drivers compete in the race eventually.
F1 drivers held talks with the sports bosses until the early hours of the morning to outline their safety concerns following a missile attack in Jeddah. pic.twitter.com/KIGOyQR9bR
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) March 26, 2022
“It’s definitely been a challenging weekend,” Bottas said. “Obviously, the drivers’ meeting went on quite late. And in some places, you don’t need to have that discussion.”
“F1 promised to reconsider all the events for the future, including this one. To make sure that we go to the right places where they can guarantee our safety 100 per cent, always, when we go there.”
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