'Drivers persuaded to do race by extra information'

The FIA and the organisers of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix were the first to decide that the GP would go ahead despite the rocket attacks in Jeddah. The team bosses quickly followed suit, but the drivers needed convincing. 'Additional information' seems to have helped the FIA.

A remarkable decision by the FIA on Friday to Saturday night to allow the GP weekend to go ahead after all. All drivers were in consultation for hours, because the FIA had put the choice with the drivers themselves. It seemed that there was no unanimity. Only after 02:00 local time the message came out that the drivers have said they will race this weekend. This caused a lot of surprise in the F1 world.

Drivers received extra information

The BBC reports that a large number of drivers had serious concerns about safety after the rocket attacks. Whether it was a majority of drivers is not clear. This large group did eventually agree to race this weekend because additional information was made available to them. Possibly that was the reason why Ross Brawn and Stefano Domenicali joined the consultation. The British news medium further reports that some of this extra information was about the possible consequences for the drivers if they did not race; for example, about how easily the drivers and teams can leave the country again if they decide not to race.

This information does not exactly make the situation better. It even seems that the drivers are put under pressure to continue with the weekend in an unsafe situation. From the story of the BBC it seems that contracts cannot be breached and that even if drivers decide not to race it is still difficult to leave the area. That the teams and drivers have decided to let the race go ahead is dangerous and doesn't seem very wise. But the FIA and the GP organisation have pushed the teams and drivers into this situation by not taking responsibility for the whole F1 apparatus themselves.