F1 drivers release statement: 'Difficult to keep focus'

It was unclear until deep into the night: will the Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia go ahead or not after the attack near the circuit? After hours of discussion, the drivers decided that today and tomorrow there will be racing at the fast street circuit 'as normal'.

Drivers' statement

A few hours before getting into their cars for the third and final free practice session, the drivers came out with a joint statement on what had happened the day before. "Yesterday was a difficult day for Formula One and a stressful day for us Formula One drivers. Perhaps it is hard to comprehend if you have never driven an F1 car on this fast and challenging Jeddah track, but on seeing the smoke from the incident it was difficult to remain a fully focused race driver and erase natural human concerns."

The statement continued: "Consequently we went into long discussions between ourselves, with our team principals, and with the most senior people who run our sport. A large variety of opinions were shared and debated and, having listened not only to the Formula 1 powers but also to the Saudi government ministers who explained how security measures were being elevated to the maximum, the outcome was a resolution that we would practice and qualify today and race tomorrow."

Reminder

"We therefore hope that the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be remembered as a good race rather than for the incident that took place yesterday," the statement concluded.

GPDA statment: pic.twitter.com/mVbUnD49JL

— alex wurz (@alex_wurz) March 26, 2022