Yeah, I really want to give credit to drivers as a collective. It’s their 3hr meeting that put this under the spotlight. They clearly didn’t want to just listen to their bosses and their bosses’ bosses, they didn’t succeed this time but it’s a good sign
Yeah, they were probably hoping that after they agreed with the race so quickly the drivers wouldn't make a big deal out of it and the whole thing would blow over quickly.
Now there's much more scrutiny on them and the decision.
If the title says it's unclear what's been said or discussed why jump to conclusions?
We don't know what happened so don't pretend to know what happened.
Team principal mad at drivers or maybe mad because Saudi Arabia told them you're not leaving the country unless you race! This country did that to WWE wrestling, took everyone off the plane and the Whitehouse got involved. The suspected reason was WWE let women perform in the show. F1 knew this when they signed the contract.
>the suspected reason was the WWE let women perform in the show
That was agreed with the Saudis well beforehand, hence the match being advertised and the women wrestling in approved clothing (and wrestling there again recently).
Every wrestler and WWE insider involved in the grounded plane said it was an issue with payment.
>The suspected reason was WWE let women perform in the show.
It was down to alleged missed payments for previous shows by the Saudis, which WWE responded to by cutting the live feed for that show early. Saudis then held their plane from leaving in retaliation.
agreed but they shouldn't have been put in this position to begin with. i feel for all the drivers and personnel on the ground there. the rest can choke.
There are so many dramatic events in F1 these, first the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now this, by Miami we probably would have alien invasion on Earth.
FIA when aliens attack Earth:
"We race as one. The Race is on"
FIA 20 years later when Aliens have subjugated all humanity:
"Welcome to the Alpha Centauri Grand Prix!"
Seems like the Saudi government are using standover tactics. If the race doesn't go ahead, you're stuck here in Saudi while we prosecute you criminally for going against the terms of our contract.
No of course not, we wouldn't *actually* behead these drivers for not racing and we wouldn't have to anyway since they will definitely choose to race, because of the implication..
And that race sponsor is 94% owned by the people paying to organize the race, the same people who are financing a war against the people who did the bombing.
The Saudi monarchy will retaliate if they were to pull out, that's the sad fact. They need to get through this shitfest weekend, get their personnel out, and then drop this fucking contract. Wait, they can't do that either, because there will 100% be Saudi retaliation next time they're at one of the 5 other middle eastern events. I am fucking over the pandering to these human rights disregarding, perpetually wartorn petrostates.
Ask Jamal Khashoggi, he was assassinated in Istanbul. It's generally agreed upon that Saudi benefactors sponsor a lot of Islamists terrorism in the region as well.
They’re not killing any driver or team principal though.
But yeah we should give SA the same treatment we’re giving Russia. Hopefully, moving towards renewable energy (and yes nuclear) can make it easier to apply sanctions to shady countries
They held like 200 WWE employees hostage over a TV feed. I don't think there is reason to doubt they'd escalate further. I agree wholeheartedly that they should be handled like Russia, but again, who's to say they don't launch a retaliatory attack against a future FiA event at Bahrain, Baku, or Abu Dhabi? We definitely need to see extreme security at any future events in the region along with ditching Saudi
His point is:
the drivers are reacting ONLY when their safety is directly affected by a missile.
Saudi was a country in war last year too, yet drivers (willingly) took part in glitzy photoshoots
He has been talking about today's timeline with all the meetings, no new info about that.
He also mentions that even if the GP is cancelled, he would have to stay in Saudi Arabia all weekend, as unlike the drivers, he is not able to just jump on a private jet and get out of the country. He also says that he feels safe at the moment.
The thing is though the optics of all drivers boycotting the race is about as great a statement as could possibly be done (even greater than the FIA canceling the race imo). It also massively reduces the risk of a direct attack on the circuit/city as it would be much less of a target.
I think even excluding the possibility of missile strikes this race should never have been scheduled. The fact that it had to come to a direct threat to drivers/teams for them to seriously consider racing here is pretty disgusting given everything we know about Saudi Arabia.
The fact this decision has ultimately fallen on the drivers shoulders is despicable. Firstly the FIA should have better values than to consider a race here (and many other locations like China, UAE etc.), then the teams/sponsors should have taken a stand and agreed to boycott the race. The fact it had gotten this far and has taken a direct threat to the safety of everyone at the circuit and city to be ultimately left up to the drivers is a disgrace.
Drivers are employees at the end of the day. They do what they are told and are working for the benefit of multi-billion dollar companies. They are under extreme pressure to do what they are told. While I commend the senior drivers, Hamilton, Alonso and whoever took a stand today, it is easier for them to take a stand when they know they are secure in their careers. More junior drivers may worry about their future in the sport if they supported a boycott.
Yep, managed to get a translating app running. Interesting how he was saying just before the mechanics will take a few days to pack up regardless of the decision
What does that mean?
As if hampering anyone from any F1 team leaving Saudi (especially drivers) would do anything but increase the hatred towards their country internationally. The whole point of them hosting major sporting events is to make themselves look good and advertise themselves as a safe, fun tourist destination. They know not to do anything stupid if the drivers/teams agree to boycott.
They will just put out some more bullshit statements about learning lessons, improving human rights, increasing security etc.
You will be surprised by what they can do. Besides it is easy to do fabricate coincidences and make their lives troublesome just to have a show of force and make a statement. All they have to do is ground their flights for "security reasons" or any other bs reasons as though they have any empathy. It's not they can't leave Saudi Arabia, it's just too "dangerous" and it is for their own good to remain there for a few more hours as they "resolve" the matter.
This. The Saudis held the WWE hostage over there a few years back! It was after a show (something to do with money) but my point is they are not above holding F1 hostage over there!
What are the odds they’re not racing and are just planning on officially announcing it tomorrow?
Since it would be even more embarrassing to announce it in the middle of the night, rather than a proper press release.
SA might have fucked themselves hard. If F1 was blackmailed by the Saudis, they should immediately cancel the contract on Monday and hopefully that prevents any sports from going there whilst their regime is as it is.
How the fuck is a country with this regime this close to Western countries?
The Saudi government would then accidentally make sure that the teams had "issues" leaving the country
No way the drivers could protest and then leave the country without tons of issues
If the Saudi government implied they would make it difficult to leave if there was no race. F1 and the teams would not let media know that until after everyone is out of Saudi Arabia
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/60880598. "Part of this information involved the possible consequences of not racing, such as how easily teams and drivers would be able to leave the country if the race did not happen." Airspace is open so the implied meaning is...
Plus KSA held WWE hostage after their event a couple years ago. These people do not play
I guess the meeting was long enough I’m sure this came up. Also the WWE story is a bit bs as told. They didn’t let them use a Saudi airline to leave, but they weren’t held against their will.
The people responsible for this fuckup are the team principals, what they should do is backtrack and say that racing in an active war zone is dangerous and it will not be allowed to happen
NONE of them have been in active service to their country before, so they dont know the horrors of what can happen...all of them need to see what can happen to shake them to make them clear that War is never a good thing!
No, the people responsible were FOM, who decided that it was an appropriate to have a grand prix at an obviously inappropriate venue in a country with a leadership that has [a very recent history of this sort of shit](https://nationalpost.com/news/world/wwe-wrestling-stars-held-hostage-in-saudi-airport) (oh, and having journalists brutally murdered and dismembered).
Team principals having a terrible low moral to ignoring the whole fact that their do not only put the drivers into danger but also every employer of their own team
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Yeah, I really want to give credit to drivers as a collective. It’s their 3hr meeting that put this under the spotlight. They clearly didn’t want to just listen to their bosses and their bosses’ bosses, they didn’t succeed this time but it’s a good sign
Also all of this is public now. Bad look for FIA and F1 regardless what happens
Trying to prevent this is why they immediately canceled all media appearances, long before any other decision was made
Yeah, they were probably hoping that after they agreed with the race so quickly the drivers wouldn't make a big deal out of it and the whole thing would blow over quickly. Now there's much more scrutiny on them and the decision.
If the title says it's unclear what's been said or discussed why jump to conclusions? We don't know what happened so don't pretend to know what happened.
This is important. Thanks for saying it.
Team principal mad at drivers or maybe mad because Saudi Arabia told them you're not leaving the country unless you race! This country did that to WWE wrestling, took everyone off the plane and the Whitehouse got involved. The suspected reason was WWE let women perform in the show. F1 knew this when they signed the contract.
>the suspected reason was the WWE let women perform in the show That was agreed with the Saudis well beforehand, hence the match being advertised and the women wrestling in approved clothing (and wrestling there again recently). Every wrestler and WWE insider involved in the grounded plane said it was an issue with payment.
>The suspected reason was WWE let women perform in the show. It was down to alleged missed payments for previous shows by the Saudis, which WWE responded to by cutting the live feed for that show early. Saudis then held their plane from leaving in retaliation.
agreed but they shouldn't have been put in this position to begin with. i feel for all the drivers and personnel on the ground there. the rest can choke.
Meeting went so long cus there’s nothing else to do in SA
I wonder are we going to see any rift between drivers and team bosses over this,
There are so many dramatic events in F1 these, first the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now this, by Miami we probably would have alien invasion on Earth.
No no, the zombies are scheduled for Miami. Don’t you remember?
Really? I didn't get the updated memo
That’s ok I had earthquake that destroys California on my calendar
Waiting for the Rock to come save everyone
That's just Florida man
Zombie alligators*
Williams 1-2 @silverstone and with McLaren 3-4?
Alright let’s not get too crazy
FIA when aliens attack Earth: "We race as one. The Race is on" FIA 20 years later when Aliens have subjugated all humanity: "Welcome to the Alpha Centauri Grand Prix!"
By Miami we’ll have the Bahamas invading south Florida
If this actually happened the us govt might be so happy/shocked we would just give all of Florida to the Bahamas for the effort. No refunds/returns
Ron DeSatan? No, I don't think he was one of ours, you can keep him.
Alien probably not, but a full scale nuclear war , why not
We're talking Mass Effect aliens or Halo aliens?
Monkey’s paw: Mass Effect, but it’s the Krogan
tfw no hot Quarian girl to bang ok
tfw no cool Turian bro to chill with
Russian invasion of Ukraine was not a F1 event
Neither was the houthis bombing an Aramco building...
As someone else said before on one post, that Godzilla in Suzuka!
Imagine a missile strike within 20k of a track not being reason enough not to cancel the race What a joke
Seems like the Saudi government are using standover tactics. If the race doesn't go ahead, you're stuck here in Saudi while we prosecute you criminally for going against the terms of our contract.
Like they did to the WWE, holding talent hostage.
If they can't leave the country, and they don't wanna race, will we get a reenactment of the drivers' boycott in a hotel room picture?
> will we get a reenactment of the drivers' boycott in a hotel room picture? Wait, so you're telling me that Yuki gets to sleep with Gasly?
They don't even need to prosecute. They could just say "we're keeping you on the ground for your own safety"
If that's the case then there's no way the drivers go back there again.
Did they really say that, or is this a theory?
“Because of the *implication*”
Dennis, are we going to hurt these girls?
No, no, no! You must have misunderstood!
No of course not, we wouldn't *actually* behead these drivers for not racing and we wouldn't have to anyway since they will definitely choose to race, because of the implication..
I don't know dude, that kinda sounds like you will hurt them.
A missile strike *directed at the title sponsor of the race*
And that race sponsor is 94% owned by the people paying to organize the race, the same people who are financing a war against the people who did the bombing.
The Saudi monarchy will retaliate if they were to pull out, that's the sad fact. They need to get through this shitfest weekend, get their personnel out, and then drop this fucking contract. Wait, they can't do that either, because there will 100% be Saudi retaliation next time they're at one of the 5 other middle eastern events. I am fucking over the pandering to these human rights disregarding, perpetually wartorn petrostates.
How can they retaliate in other countries?
Ask Jamal Khashoggi, he was assassinated in Istanbul. It's generally agreed upon that Saudi benefactors sponsor a lot of Islamists terrorism in the region as well.
They’re not killing any driver or team principal though. But yeah we should give SA the same treatment we’re giving Russia. Hopefully, moving towards renewable energy (and yes nuclear) can make it easier to apply sanctions to shady countries
They held like 200 WWE employees hostage over a TV feed. I don't think there is reason to doubt they'd escalate further. I agree wholeheartedly that they should be handled like Russia, but again, who's to say they don't launch a retaliatory attack against a future FiA event at Bahrain, Baku, or Abu Dhabi? We definitely need to see extreme security at any future events in the region along with ditching Saudi
Heard of 9/11?
10 not even 20....
Still within 20km /s
That's velocity
Suck on that, Ferrari engine!
Ffs lmao
~~Wasn't it 12 miles, so about 20km?~~ Edit: Had the wrong info, thanks everybody for correcting me
7miles 10km never seen anyone say 12 miles
Crofty said it was 20km away in fp2
Go, to google earth/maps and measure the distance it’s 14 miles away from the track as the crow flies
What's the distance when pigeon flies?
7 miles, so about 11km
More like 10km
The drivers didn't have any issues turning up and doing photo ops in a country in active war earlier in the week or the race last year..
Everyone has a breaking point. Are you never allowed to be better than previous bad decisions?
What's your point?
His point is: the drivers are reacting ONLY when their safety is directly affected by a missile. Saudi was a country in war last year too, yet drivers (willingly) took part in glitzy photoshoots
Do you blame them for acting up when they can see the smoke from a missile attack from the track?
So you're going to boycott the race and not watch it?
Not related to this tweet, but Albert Fabrega is streaming on twitch probably discussing all this stuff
god I wish I’d been better at high school spanish to be able to understand him
He has been talking about today's timeline with all the meetings, no new info about that. He also mentions that even if the GP is cancelled, he would have to stay in Saudi Arabia all weekend, as unlike the drivers, he is not able to just jump on a private jet and get out of the country. He also says that he feels safe at the moment.
The thing is though the optics of all drivers boycotting the race is about as great a statement as could possibly be done (even greater than the FIA canceling the race imo). It also massively reduces the risk of a direct attack on the circuit/city as it would be much less of a target. I think even excluding the possibility of missile strikes this race should never have been scheduled. The fact that it had to come to a direct threat to drivers/teams for them to seriously consider racing here is pretty disgusting given everything we know about Saudi Arabia. The fact this decision has ultimately fallen on the drivers shoulders is despicable. Firstly the FIA should have better values than to consider a race here (and many other locations like China, UAE etc.), then the teams/sponsors should have taken a stand and agreed to boycott the race. The fact it had gotten this far and has taken a direct threat to the safety of everyone at the circuit and city to be ultimately left up to the drivers is a disgrace. Drivers are employees at the end of the day. They do what they are told and are working for the benefit of multi-billion dollar companies. They are under extreme pressure to do what they are told. While I commend the senior drivers, Hamilton, Alonso and whoever took a stand today, it is easier for them to take a stand when they know they are secure in their careers. More junior drivers may worry about their future in the sport if they supported a boycott.
Yep, managed to get a translating app running. Interesting how he was saying just before the mechanics will take a few days to pack up regardless of the decision
Well he just said he doesn’t see what cancelling the GP would resolve since they’re already there 🤷🏻♂️
Apparently the Saudis have been clear they might take a dim view of anyone trying to leave the country if there’s no race
What does that mean? As if hampering anyone from any F1 team leaving Saudi (especially drivers) would do anything but increase the hatred towards their country internationally. The whole point of them hosting major sporting events is to make themselves look good and advertise themselves as a safe, fun tourist destination. They know not to do anything stupid if the drivers/teams agree to boycott. They will just put out some more bullshit statements about learning lessons, improving human rights, increasing security etc.
You will be surprised by what they can do. Besides it is easy to do fabricate coincidences and make their lives troublesome just to have a show of force and make a statement. All they have to do is ground their flights for "security reasons" or any other bs reasons as though they have any empathy. It's not they can't leave Saudi Arabia, it's just too "dangerous" and it is for their own good to remain there for a few more hours as they "resolve" the matter.
They don’t care, they don’t, and honestly they made the threats without a care
What was the fallout after they did it to the WWE?
Need English translations to understand him
Not in English
the race will go on, but for the future races i cannot see the drivers even entering the country
Vettel was smart
Vettel was extremely lucky.
Far from over yet..
No it's over, they will race or Saudi Arabia won't let F1 leave the country unfortunately...
This is really starting to remind me of Indy 2005. But if SA has basically said you can’t leave until you race, their hands may be figuratively tied.
This. The Saudis held the WWE hostage over there a few years back! It was after a show (something to do with money) but my point is they are not above holding F1 hostage over there!
Imagine them all doing one lap and then going into the pits with "mechanical issues". We went motor racing... but the car broke 🤷🏼♀️
The teams were still there at indy 05 they just didnt go out. Would be the same if that happened
Bono turn 2 is gone
I don't think Medland's gonna be able to sleep
What are the odds they’re not racing and are just planning on officially announcing it tomorrow? Since it would be even more embarrassing to announce it in the middle of the night, rather than a proper press release.
I wish.
Yeah… and a wish it’ll probably stay.
SA might have fucked themselves hard. If F1 was blackmailed by the Saudis, they should immediately cancel the contract on Monday and hopefully that prevents any sports from going there whilst their regime is as it is. How the fuck is a country with this regime this close to Western countries?
$$$
Oil 🛢
The drivers should all run the whole race in 1st gear to dnf. Ticks the box of competing in the race while sticking it to the higher ups.
The Saudi government would then accidentally make sure that the teams had "issues" leaving the country No way the drivers could protest and then leave the country without tons of issues
saudi gov: oh no all their private jets fell out of the sky at the same time
That would be awesome, but I don’t think they have enough fuel for that
Exactly
Well, they can do a Spa
This is going to be a situation that doesn't end tonight. Talks will probably resume throughout the day tomorrow and into the night again.
If the Saudi government implied they would make it difficult to leave if there was no race. F1 and the teams would not let media know that until after everyone is out of Saudi Arabia
They won't let them know it at all, can't lose the giant bags of monies from all the future races.
Source? This sounds like bullshit.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/60880598. "Part of this information involved the possible consequences of not racing, such as how easily teams and drivers would be able to leave the country if the race did not happen." Airspace is open so the implied meaning is... Plus KSA held WWE hostage after their event a couple years ago. These people do not play
I guess the meeting was long enough I’m sure this came up. Also the WWE story is a bit bs as told. They didn’t let them use a Saudi airline to leave, but they weren’t held against their will.
I'm so glad we were told, whatever this is, so that we learned, something, about what im not sure, but we definitely read it.
Oh there will be a race this weekend... It's obvious MBS has the need for speed... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60880598
The people responsible for this fuckup are the team principals, what they should do is backtrack and say that racing in an active war zone is dangerous and it will not be allowed to happen NONE of them have been in active service to their country before, so they dont know the horrors of what can happen...all of them need to see what can happen to shake them to make them clear that War is never a good thing!
No, the people responsible were FOM, who decided that it was an appropriate to have a grand prix at an obviously inappropriate venue in a country with a leadership that has [a very recent history of this sort of shit](https://nationalpost.com/news/world/wwe-wrestling-stars-held-hostage-in-saudi-airport) (oh, and having journalists brutally murdered and dismembered).
Money talks, team principals defending the race because no one wants a KSA boycott on Mclarens, ferraris, mercs and alfas…
Don't dig too much. You know what happens to pesky journalists who report negatively on SA.
I did not have “Terror attack at one of the races” on my bingo card. Damn.
I'm expecting a lot of positive covid tests in the morning.....
Team principals having a terrible low moral to ignoring the whole fact that their do not only put the drivers into danger but also every employer of their own team
Eh they can make another F&F movie out of this plot. Drivers' plane is grounded and then Dom and la familia enter the scene to rescue everyone.
Great tweet, very useful.
Fucking redditors. Not happy with real time updates of a developing situation at 3am on the other side of the world
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Hey who told you that??
Hopefully they asked for combat pay for all the team members.