Even before the lights went out on Sunday to signal the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, speculation was rife as to whether F1 would return. In the aftermath of Friday’s missile attack on the Aramco-owned facility, boycotting the race was discussed at length but for a host of reasons, Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s race went ahead – thankfully without further incident. Nevertheless, just because F1 chose to stay does not necessarily mean that the F1 circus will choose to return.

Motorsport is dangerous, it says so on the ticket, but no one expects that danger to include missile strikes mere miles from the race circuit. However, when discussing the events of the past few days, it is key to understand the region which F1 chose to race in. An area currently in a seven-year conflict between Yemeni Houthis, and a Saudi-led coalition. The former took responsibility for Friday’s attack on the Aramco-owned facility and is just the latest chapter in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The fire at the oil depot just six miles to the east of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit took more than 24 hours to bring under control but the fallout from the events of the past weekend will last far longer.

On Friday evening, in scenes mirroring the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, there was uncertainty whether the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend would continue. In Melbourne the race was called off due to the breakout of COVID-19 in the paddock so surely a missile attack would lead to a similar decision – apparently not.

Over the course of just under 5 hours on Friday night, as smoke was billowing in the distance,

the race was nearly called off due to a planned driver boycott over safety concerns. However, after a 4 and a half hour meeting, team bosses had managed to talk the drivers into continuing with the race weekend as planned. A point which was confirmed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team Principal Toto Wolff: "The drivers were pretty united in their initial discussions, but when they heard from us and the officials we were able to convince them that the race is the best thing to do."

So, what had the officials said to change the mind of the drivers?

Stefano Domenicali told the media “We have received total assurance that the country's safety is first. No matter what is the situation, safety has to be guaranteed. They [Saudi Arabian officials] are here with their families - actually here at the track. So they have in place all the systems to protect this area, the city, the places where we are going. So we feel confident and we have to trust the local authorities in that respect. Therefore, of course we will go ahead with the event."

The system in place to protect the area is believed to have included an anti-missile system protecting the airspace over the circuit. Friday’s attack on the oil refinery was only successful as the military’s defence systems did not cover that area. Two sentences which surely should never be written in any correspondence concerning any sport.

The Saudi minister of sport, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisa, confirmed this system was in place, in comments to reporters in Jeddah on Saturday as reported by autosport.com "Of course you can't cover the whole Kingdom…So the security agencies cover the areas where there is condensed population, where it has to be covered. That place wasn't covered because it's not a threat to anyone…So it's not a breach of the security, but as I said the area that we are in, the city itself, the hotels, everywhere else is on full security with all the necessary steps to make sure nothing happens."

Back to Friday evening and the FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem told an inquisitive media: "Who are [the Houthis] targeting? They are targeting the infrastructure, the economic infrastructure, not the civilians and of course not the track…The whole thing will be secure so let's go on racing." However, when asked as to whether all drivers agreed with the decision to race, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali replied with "They will be on track."

In fact the drivers had remained in their traditional Friday evening briefing far longer than expected. A meeting which would last four and a half hours confirms that the race was still in the balance as drivers were continuing to question the safety of the event. During this time, Stefano Domenicali had returned to the scene which he had left so confidently earlier and F1's managing director of motorsport, Ross Brawn, also joined the discussion along with a variety of F1 team bosses.

The content of the full discussion will remain a mystery but Williams team boss Jost Capito revealed to the media the following day that in Friday’s meeting there was "also another defence person in the meetings, not from here, from a different country, who looked into that independently and confirmed that everything is in place to have a safe event." While Haas F1 Team boss Guenther Steiner highlighted the fact that "If the authorities have their own family here and feel safe, I can feel safe.”

Saturday Qualifying and Sunday’s race did go ahead as planned. One of the main factors appears to be that flying out so many people ahead of schedule would have been a logistical nightmare. This point was highlighted in Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas’ remarks on Saturday: "We drivers were all concerned if it's safe for all of us to be here racing, and we got decent explanation on things. And also we went through all the options like, 'What if we don't race,' for example, because the teams would still have to stay here for a couple of days packing stuff, and it's also not like we can create some new fights so that everyone can get home. So [we decided] we're all already here, let's finish the race.”

Speaking on Saturday, GPDA Director George Russell explained the need for the lengthy meeting: "I think the clarity was needed, the conversation was certainly needed. And I think it was good, we were all standing united, firstly, between all the drivers, and then together with Formula One, and ultimately, we trust in Stefano, Formula One as a whole. And, you know, we wouldn't be here if we didn't think it was right to be here."

Another driver to voice his concern ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix was Scuderia Ferrari racer Carlos Sainz: "I think there will need to be discussions after this race because clearly what has happened in the last 24 hours is definitely a point of discussion and consideration that we need to take going into the future." His teammate Charles Leclerc stated, "I don't want to go too much into details on this subject now, but it's definitely a discussion that we should have after this race, once everything calms down and we'll look back at it, and then we'll see."

Having won a memorable Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, this sentiment was matched by Max Verstappen in his remarks the following day as the reigning F1 Drivers’ Champion said in the post-race press conference: "We had a lot of guarantees that, of course, we would be safe but I think after this weekend, all the drivers also together, we will speak with F1 and of course also the team bosses to see what's happening for the future."

Stefano Domenicali always says that holding F1 races in countries like Saudi Arabia shines a light on that country and can be a factor for a change. For many, all that the situation of the past few days has done is shine on light on the continuing debate of whether F1 should race in Saudi Arabia to begin with. Even though F1 is only two races into a 15-year deal with Saudi Arabia (worth a reported $65 million per Grand Prix) many people make the argument that F1 in Saudi Arabia is not just for financial reasons.

On this issue, McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl told autosport.com "I feel comfortable being part of Formula 1 as a global sport, as part of a member of a team having the chance to help positive change in countries we go to where different cultures exist. That is for me the point of this discussion and we shouldn't shy back or shut ourselves off from these countries because of the criticism that we are getting."

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff told media which included MotorLAT: "We just 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 away from a drone rocket that is going in a petrol tank? Certainly not. But for here, within their culture, these things happen here…I think the drivers are stakeholders in the sport, as are the teams and the commercial rights holder." Wolff said. "And that's why everybody's opinion is allowed and will be part of a discussion. But at the end it's Stefano who decides where we race, together with Mohammed, and that is what it is. But certainly we want to avoid a situation like Friday where we didn't know if the race was on or not.”

The comment of ‘Stefano Domenicali chooses where we race’ was heard far and wide in the paddock and Sky Sports F1 wasted no time to ask F1’s CEO as to whether the recent events in Jeddah had left question marks over the future of the event.

"No, I think it is not a matter of question marks, it is a matter of understanding the situation for sure," Domenicali explained. "We are not blind but we don't have to forget one thing, this country also through Formula One and the sport we believe is doing a massive step forward. You cannot pretend to change a culture that is a millennium old in a blink of an eye, the resources they are moving in place to move forward, you see here women couldn't drive a couple of years ago, they are here on the grid, they are cheering, they are changing a lot of laws to make sure this is happening, we don't have to not consider that. Of course there is tension, things to improve, we don't want to be political on that, but I believe we are playing a very important role in the modernisation of this country, we are focusing on making sure this is at the centre of our agenda."

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/24545/f1-saudi-arabian-gp-domenicali-defends-the-choice-of-racing-in-saudi-arabia

Even before this week, the Jeddah Corniche Circuit was in the spotlight as it was considered a very dangerous track. Despite modifications made to widen the track in the hope of improving visibility, there was still a well-documented high speed crash involving Mick Schumacher during qualifying.

Obviously, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) agreed collectively that they would take part in qualifying and the race and this showed the decision was in their hands. However, one must wonder why they race at locations where such a decision is needed to begin with.

In closing, there clearly remains uncertainty over the safety of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit; there also remains uncertainty over the safety of the location and there apparently remains so many other countries vying for an F1 race that a single calendar could reach 30 Grand Prix locations one day. Sir Lewis Hamilton said on Saturday "I'm looking forward to going home." I think you’ll be hard pressed to find too many people who are looking forward to coming again.