Explained: From missile strikes to racers’ unrest, how Saudi Arabia is losing its sheen as an F1 venue

On Friday 25 March, 2022, a plume of smoke rushed heavenwards at a drastic pace, only to be spotted by F1 racers at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in the second largest city of Saudi Arabia. The missile struck on Friday, just before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race that was underway at the circuit around 10 miles away. The F1, in response, said in a statement, “The position at the moment is that we are waiting for further information from the authorities on what has happened.” The F1 did not elaborate. The racers called for an almost immediate boycott of the race, expressing distaste at the regime’s appalling human rights record while fearing for the safety of their teams. A four-hour-long meeting on Friday night managed to get the drivers on board to participating in the race. The following day, on 26 March, Saturday, FIA released the following statement on Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/hmZ0S9jQwA

— FIA (@fia) March 26, 2022

Reactions Lewis Hamilton was among those who very bluntly stated that they did not feel safe racing in the kingdom. Hamilton was quoted saying, “I am just looking forward to getting out.” It’s believed that Hamilton was strongly in favour of the cancellation of the race and after coming in 10th. “I am so happy the weekend is done,” he said. “I am so happy that everyone is safe, I am just looking forward to getting out. I just want to go home.” Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali batted for any further response to the occurrence “in the right way.” “When you have to manage such a situation I think that you need to divide the emotion with the rational aspect of it and try to manage all the information that you have to try to make the right assessment and to involve the right stakeholders, the right people in that decision,” he said, as per a Racefans.net report, adding, “There’s been a lot of discussion, a lot of debate, but safety, security for all the people of our world is at the maximum level of attention to all of us. And there’s no discussion about it. It’s just the first priority." Victor Max Verstappen said that drivers would seek a conversation with F1 regarding a decade-long contract with Saudi Arabia, which purportedly amounts to $900 million. “We had a lot of guarantees that of course it would be safe but after this weekend all the drivers together, we will speak with F1 and the team bosses to see what is happening for the future,” he said. McLaren’s Lando Norris said, “Of course, I am relieved (to have got through the weekend). It is a nervous place to be and you are going to have these nerves.” What might it mean for F1 in Saudi? F1’s initial contract agreed upon with Saudi officials was worth £500 million for a 10-year duration. This will likely cover a change of location of race, with an eventual move from Jeddah to Qiddiya being planned. Questions were asked this weekend whether lucrative deals signed with Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — which reportedly pays $55 million per year to host the race — are worth it, given everything else that can come with a race; and whether commercial interests take priority in making the final decision to host races. [caption id=“attachment_10496981” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  The plume of smoke that could be spotted from the Jeddah’s race circuit. A missile strike had just then taken place in Jeddah during the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix. AP[/caption] The deal garnered a lot of criticism and was considered by many as the latest display of ‘sportswashing’ to take away the limelight from Saudi’s terrible human rights record. The attack came two weeks after 81 people were put to death in Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s biggest mass execution. Even when F1 ran its inaugural event at the circuit last December, drivers expressed concerns about human rights. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez said, “I think there’s definitely some considerations that we will have to do as a group and see what’s best for the sport going forwards,” wherein Charles Leclerc added that he agreed. “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,” he said before the finale on Sunday. Force of change Can high-profile sports events act as a force for change for zones of unrest?

“We believe what we’re doing will have a very positive impact in the political situation,” Domenicali said.

F1 terminated its contract with Russia after it invaded Ukraine. Four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel said he wouldn’t have raced there anyway. Other drivers agreed and, during pre-season testing, they wore “No War” messages as they gathered behind a flag of Ukraine.

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If F1 is condoning countries that support war, like Russia, then why’s it willing to race in Saudi Arabia?

“It’s different if one country invades another country, or if something is going on with terrorists,” Williams team principal Jost Capito said.

Team principals were asked on the weekend how financial factors influence decisions to stay.

“We shouldn’t shy back or shut ourselves off from these countries because of the criticism that we’re getting,” McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl said. “I see the unique chance we have in sport to share this passion for Formula One, to drive this positive change.

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“Not just on the economics, for the country here, but also in terms of positive change on the society.”

Who is behind the missile strike? Yemen’s Houthis rebels acknowledged they had launched a series of attacks on the kingdom but were late to claim responsibility for it. A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s official government has spent seven years fighting the rebel group called Houthis, mainly via air strikes. The Houthis, in turn, use missiles and drones to attack both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its ally, the United Arab Emirates.

Because of the war, Yemen is now facing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

The Houthis took over Yemen’s capital in Sanaa in 2014 and since then the Saudi-led coalition has been in the line of fire for human rights violations. The Houthis too cite the same reason as they return fire to Saudi Arabia. Why Jeddah? The North Jeddah Bulk Plant, to the south of the city’s international airport, stores gasoline, jet fuel and diesel for use in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city. It is also a crucial hub for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca besides accounting for over a quarter of all of Saudi Arabia’s supplies. Videos of the blaze corresponded to known geographic features around the plant. The Saudi Arabian Oil Co, known as Saudi Aramco, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Houthis have twice targeted the North Jeddah plant with cruise missiles. One attack came in November 2020. The last came on Sunday as part of a wider barrage by the Houthis.

At the time of the 2020 attack, the targeted tank, which has a capacity of 500,000 barrels, held diesel fuel, according to a recent report by a UN panel of experts examining Yemen’s war. Repairing it after the last attack cost Aramco some $1.5 million.

The UN experts described the facility as a “civilian target,” which the Houthis should have avoided after the 2020 attack. “While the facility also supplies the Saudi military with petroleum products, it is mostly supplying civilian customers,” the panel said. “If the plant had been out of service of a significant period, the impact on the kingdom’s economy as well as on the welfare of the residents of the Western region would likely have been significant.” Cruise missiles and drones remain difficult to defend against, though the US recently sent a significant number of Patriot anti-missile interceptors to Saudi Arabia to resupply the kingdom amid the Houthi attacks. In September, the AP reported that the US had removed its own Patriot and THAAD defense systems from Prince Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh.

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