The second test of the 2022 Formula 1 season was overshadowed by a missile attack on an oil facility near the circuit on Friday, when free practice was being held, something that the Yemeni Houthis claimed.
This caused the heads of the Great Circus, the pilots and teams, to meet urgently at night to discuss whether it was safe to compete in Jeddah or not, and in the end it was agreed to continue with the initial program, which happened without major incident. .
The situation in the Saudi city made the organizers of the grand prix review what happened, and they launched a plan so that it would not happen again in the future. In addition, they have met individually with all the teams and drivers to discuss the matter in recent races to ensure that everyone enters the 2023 event with peace of mind.
As part of the discussions, Saudi Arabia’s sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal , attended last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix to give an update on progress. Speaking to media outlets including Motorsport.com, he said the meetings were positive.
“We have spoken with them about the necessary measures that have been taken, working with Formula 1 in particular, and our number one priority is safety for all,” he said. “That’s not just on the track, but in the whole kingdom [of Saudi Arabia].”
“Interestingly, three days after that [attack], a ceasefire was announced, so I think with all the media that came [on the run], it was a way of showing aggressiveness to capture the flow of information, but we were sure that security and protection were there at the time,” the country’s prince continued.
Abdulaziz felt it was important to speak openly about the concerns anyone in Formula 1 has, as he said the race could have done more to speak to drivers and teams.
“I think what we have to do is maintain an open dialogue and communication between us,” he said. “For us, it was even a learning curve, so maybe we didn’t get to a lot of the teams before the test, we saw that was necessary [now], so we took action.”
“We know that we have some concerns regarding some issues, we are not perfect, and we have never said we are, but we are learning from our experiences. We are taking steps to improve in the future,” the Saudi prince explained.
In addition to this, he said that more security measures will be taken for 2023 to make everything even calmer for the Formula 1 community: “We are working to make sure that any concerns that drivers, teams or even fans have, which We’re trying to do that.”
“We know it’s safe, but we have to explain what measures we have taken, more than 4,000 troops were deployed during the event just to make sure, because when those things happen, you are afraid that people who want to make it worse will find out, so we try to that no one affected the safety of the race and of the city”, he explained. “For us, safety is much more important than Formula 1, as it is a nation, it is our priority, and we are working on it.”
F1 Saudi Arabian GP Jeddah track adjustments
In addition to reinforcing security around the track, Saudi Arabia is going to make small changes to the barriers at the Jeddah circuit by 2023 in order to improve visibility: “We are working with the FIA and Formula 1 to make certain modifications to the clue”.
“The layout is the same, but for security reasons, we will improve visibility,” said Prince Abdulaziz. “We have also learned that the new car is more sensitive to curbs, and that already happened in Miami, so we have changed them compared to the first year. We have been working since the second test here with the FIA and Formula 1 to make sure that we arrive at the next appointment well prepared”.
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