F1 had initially said there was unanimous support among drivers and teams for the event to continue as planned, following rocket fire by the Houthi rebel group in Yemen at a nearby Aramco oil depot on Friday. However, all 20 drivers remained in the F1 hostel after the team bosses, Stefano Domenicali and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem left the initial meeting shortly after the delayed second training session. A Grand Prix Drivers Association meeting was then set up, with the drivers continuing their conversations together for over two hours. The team bosses returned shortly before 1.30 a.m. local time and after talks with the drivers they left together to go to the racetrack while the drivers stayed together. The race understands that some drivers had expressed serious discomfort about continuing the Grand Prix under the circumstances. And the dramatic recall of team leaders for further talks showed that either the GPDA had reached a consensus that the drivers did not want to race, or that several of them were pushing for a boycott to challenge the race. McLaren team leader Andreas Seidl returned to the drivers’ meeting shortly after with the other team leaders. After further discussions about Seidl, the team of drivers began to disperse, more than four hours after they first met Domenicali, with GPDA Director George Russell going to the tower building to join the team bosses. As the drivers and team leaders began to leave the paddock, it became clear that the result for the time being was that the race would indeed proceed as planned, indicating that sufficient assurances had been given to influence the drivers who were against it. None of those who left the circuit were willing to comment on the media that was still present, although Sergio Perez immediately wrote on Twitter that he was “ready and fully focused” for the qualification. F1’s preference for the race to continue is based on local information suggesting that the Grand Prix itself would not be a target for the Houthis and enhanced security measures around the track. Thanks for your response!
