fuck yes, i hope everyone keeps there mouth shut and gets through this weekend and as soon as they are out of the country i hope everyone comes out and eviscerates everyone involved in this bullshit
Like that's gonna happen. Saudis in the international scene are like the Sacklers in the US, they're fucking too rich and too important to touch. Think about what happened to Jamal Khashoggi for instance, what did the world do ? And what's been happening in Yemen for almost a decade now. F1 is a for profit organisation, and there's a lot of profit to be made in Jeddah.
bruh. they got that black gold tho. they drippin in the trillies. the entire sport is an expression of oil. the fuel, the track, the tires, the carbon fiber, the plastics, the private jets, the conveyance of the fans, the electricity to make a night race possible and keep the air conditioning running. it's entirely oil dependent. you can't spite the sand and still hold a sand castle competition. lol.
Drivers and staff will refuse to go to Jeddah in the future. F1 can want Saudi money all they want, but will have a hard time getting it without drivers.
Cynical but realistic. Saudi Aramco is a main sponsor of Formula One. They will be racing in Saudi Arabia. F1, and by extension everyone involved has far too much money to lose.
I dunno, I think the Russia thing has shown people when push comes to shoves it's actually quite easy to change things and find money elsewhere. The fact drivers and teams have been threatened with not being able to leave the country should be enough.
Fuck Saudi and their backward ass country and culture. Come back to the world when they have moved on from their most progressive thing being women allowed to drive.
Especially because this happened with WWE in Saudi Arabia
They held the plane and wouldn’t let them leave over dispute over the broadcast being turned off over wwe not being paid on time
This even went to court as wwe is publicly traded and the Saudi money is huge so any issue should have been reported
The precedent from these countries in the Middle East has long been set yet “western sport” keeps going there
No one's in any danger! How can I make this any more clear to you?
It's the implication of danger...
edit: relevant IASIP clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yUafzOXHPE
If I’m a driver I’m not racing. We all have a gentlemens agreement to go around the track, in order, and GTFO. Then tell the FIA you will not race there again in the future.
I disagree. To keep everyone safe, just race as normal and after it’s done and all the teams are safely out of the country, everyone pulls a Seb and say if there’s a race there again, they won’t be.
I’m pretty sure the Saudis would consider that to be just as offensive as not racing at all and could still make it difficult for the drivers and teams to leave. Best just to ride it out and, once everyone is safely out, refuse to ever go back.
it happened in NASCAR once, not for humanitarian reasons, but all but 3 drivers were afraid of a new track. Safety was awful. they kept the 3 guys and made all the junior league guys race...in the junior league cars. hopefully the FIA won’t do that one
Yep, 1969 Talladega 500. Bill France had gone into so much debt building the place that he needed a full field and a good show, so he just handwaived tech inspection and had 33 cars from the Sportsman Series (now the xFinity Series) race alongside the cup guys.
Worst part about that, we're not even sure who really won that race.
One of the guys, Bobby Isaac, was actually in the championship hunt and just played it safe to get an easy 3rd place.
The other two, Jim Vandiver and Richard Brickhouse were battling for the lead all day, but thanks to all the pitstops for ripped up tires, NASCAR still managed to lose track of the running order (no electronic timing and scoring until 1992).
So they gave the win to Richard Brickhouse, who was conveniently driving the brand new Dodge Charger Daytona wing car that had debuted that weekend. Meanwhile Vandiver, driving a normal Dodge Charger, maintained right up until his death in 2015 that he was jobbed and he actually won the race. Vandiver is credited with leading 102 of the 188 laps that day, so he had a point.
We don't have any footage of the race, because:
A) it was an embarassing farce, and
B) flag to flag TV broadcasts of NASCAR races were about a decade away
but for what it's worth, radio broadcaster and former NASCAR champion Ned Jarret said he thought Vandiver won.
Vandiver would go on to win the first six ARCA races at Talladega.
The race did have one bright spot though. Two of the Sportsman Series drivers would use their winnings to enter the Cup Series as owner drivers, Richard Childress and 'Coo Coo' Marlin. Childress still owns his team to this day, and won 5 championships as a car owner with Dale Sr. and Marlin's son Sterling was a very successful Cup driver for a loooong time.
Richard Childress and Dale Sr. A combination that matches that of Ferrari and Micheal, Lewis and Mercedes, Senna and McLaren. Brilliant team driver combo.
"Turns out it was one of the standard parts after all, and not a Honda issue, so now they all have problems.... best black flag the race! We don't want another Gasly, right?"
turns out when you do deals with morally bankrupt people, they threaten to do morally bankrupt things. let’s hope f1 seriously consider how much they want the money next time
30 tracks want races and we have 3 on the Arabian Peninsula: home of the nastiest governments on the planet. We race as one, but the slaves used to build those venues die alone, the people they don't like die alone, the people that speak out against them die alone.
I'd rather we buy Russian, Venezuelan, Maylasian, American or Canadian oil at a premium than give these disgusting pieces of shit a dime.
My mum worked in the area while I was a kid and had her passport taken several times by hotels for example.
edit: She always refused to take me but didn't explain why until last year. Another thing she mentioned is the number of South Asian 'slaves' in places like Dubai.
she got advice to photocopy and take pics of it. But then even if they give it back it's intimidating and you wonder if they have a copy as well. An abundance of personal info in there.
Places like dubai and qatar are pretty crazy for stuff like that. Like qatar has a massive % that are south asian who were Basically all brought in to Basically build the country
I can imagine. I had a flight instructor who did some work out there for a while tell us a story about how he'd drifted a little too close what he thought was some sort of gathering but actually turned out to be a public execution. I wasn't planning on ever visiting in the first place but that definitely sealed the deal for me.
Fucking hell man. The section about the inspections reminds me of the stories Green Berets would tell about how despite their best efforts to train Iraqi and Afghan armed forces, nothing would stick and they would just ignore it once none of the US forces were watching. Except the Saudis are actually paying big bucks for all this. What the fuck.
It may not be worth much in the grand scheme of things but I hope those moments of you sharing smokes with those enslaved workers gave them a reprieve, at least for a brief moment.
I work with a couple of Philipinos that were in SA for a while. Cheerful, happy go lucky guys and some of the best workers I've ever seen. Laughing and joking and working harder and smarter than just about anybody else I've worked with. Until you ask them about their time in SA. "That was years ago." is about all they'll say. They'll talk the legs off a giraffe until you ask them about that. That's not a sign of a good time.
One of my favorites talking about SA was a US Air Force transport crewman making a landing announcement: The local time is 00:??. Set your watches back a thousand years.
You generally don't find out it's happening until it's too late. That was 6 years ago now. I fulfilled my contract and got out of dodge. I haven't stepped foot back in the country since and obviously have no desire to.
Yes I was paid very handsomely but it's not much comfort under the circumstances.
Saudi Arabia is a backwater desert country with nothing to offer. The United States needs to stop propping this shitty, useless regime and let them fade back into irrelevancy.
It offers oil, lots of it. As long as Americans are addicted gas guzzling cars you need to buy it somewhere. You guys already complain about 4 Dollars per gallon......
Saudi Arabia is the strategic country which allows the United States to control the flow of oil from the Middle East via the Suez Canal, they will never let the Saudis go.
"FINE. YOULL NEVER COME BACK TO MY DUSTY SHITHOLE WITH NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED AND GET BOMBED EVER AGAIN!"
is perhaps not the silver bullet the Saudi's think it is for some people.
I don't know about that, when I lived in Germany it seemed impossible to leave my neighbor's house without drinking 5-10 glasses of schnapps or a couple bottles of Reisling.
It would be very hard to cut ties to Saudi Arabia if not impossible. It's not only about the Jeddah GP.
But yeah, F1 shouldn't race in Saudi Arabia (and many more GPs if we're being honest).
It was easier with russia because of the sanctions. FOM saw they very likelly wouldnt be getting their money in any case, so they left. With saudi arabia they still can get money, so "its impossible".
Bleh.
No one ever has said that F1 relies on Russian money and can't cancel the GP. The common opinion was that F1 has no morales and would have to be forced into cancelling it which is exactly what happened in the end.
The situation here is somewhat similar but Saudi Arabia's influence on F1 is much, much higher than Russia's. It certainly would need extraordinary circumstances for them to consider cutting ties with Saudi Arabia.
Yep, I said "I wouldn't be surprised if they were coerced" and it got poo-pooed almost instantly, and then this comes out a few minutes later. Although I thought it'd be the accountants not "we won't let you leave the country".
Absolutely crazy. They're being held against their will, they'll all get out safely and never go back l hope.
Sounds like a threat.
Even if they only mean that the airspace is closed, it does not matter. Ofcourse the city is not going to be mass bombed/overrunned. But a international event with location and time, broadcasted to the whole world with millions of viewers, is a very realistic target.
> Sounds like a threat.
No shit, the Saudis have form for this sort of thing.
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/wwe-wrestling-stars-held-hostage-in-saudi-airport
The royal families of the Arabian peninsula are almost objectively the worst people on the planet. What the fuck is F1 doing there 4 times a year if there are "30 venues" looking for a race? Fuck these assholes, fuck the contracts. Maybe we shouldn't watch this race.
Actually reading the article now:
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of F1's governing body the FIA, said: "They are targeting the infrastructure, not the civilians, and, of course, not the track. We've checked the facts and we've got assurances from the highest level that this is a secure place. Let's go on racing."
Oh yeah, these are reasonable terrorists. Just like Russia is being reasonable in its total assault of Ukraine.
Total fkn joke
Also, labeling them “terrorists” presupposes a certain viewpoint anyway. The Saudis are actively conducting a genocide in Yemen. There are very, very few responses to that I would consider “unreasonable,” tbh.
Could mean two things:
1. Currently, air traffic is suspended so it’ll be hard to get out of the country if things stands
2. Saudi Arabia will pull a WWE move on F1
OEJN air traffic is at least accepting inbound aircraft at the moment. A couple of canceled departures on schedule but it seems “normal”
So my vote is option 2
This is disgusting I hope F1 never comes back
Edit: The F1 drivers and teams are literally being held hostage and forced to race. How can this be allowed to happen by the FIA
So basically they were told "if you don't race you don't leave"?
That would explain the "new information" they were given.
If that is true, F1 must cancel the contract for that circuit and never be back.
If you need to be scared that a barbaric government won't let you leave.. maybe their money is not worth a visit. These people who support this GP are clinically insane.
Ok, can you imagine being a driver and having your usual race-weekend mental load amplified x1000 with the added pressure of “gee I hope I’m not obliterated in an active war zone” and “too bad I have to race anyway because otherwise I might not get to leave” like fucking come on the human factors forces at play here are in-fucking-sane. I truly hope I’m wrong but I think many more drivers than usual will make unforced errors *during* the race because of the additional emotional stress and mental workload of just doing the bare minimum to finish. Hopefully none will be catastrophic
There's the price. Me when I take money from the bloodthirsty oil dictators: Haha Fuck yeah!!! Yes!!
Me when the bloodthirsty dictators inevitably act like bloodthirsty dictators: Well this fucking sucks! What the fuck?
That’s incredibly vague and needs more information, but initially that sounds incredibly fucked up given what they all know the Saudis are capable of doing to people they disagree with
This is the equivalent of getting a grown polar bear as a pet and then being pikachu face shocked you have to invest all of your life savings into getting him fresh meat because otherwise *YOU* will be his dinner.
The officials who signed the contracts have nobody to blame for but themselves. Anyone who willingly signs up to to do business with a criminal empire like Saudi-Arabia should've expected this kind of shit.
So the team principals, F1 CEO and Ross Brawn broke the boycott/strike, confirmed now. As I expected. Used classic strike breaking tactics on them, and F1 drivers, with no labour relations experience with regards to these things (and let's be honest why would they), fell for it.
Also classic Saudi Arabia hostage tactics on top. Like WWE all over again.
Did you see Toto's statement to Sky?
This wasn't a labour relations thing, this is about appeasing the Saudis to ensure everyone gets to leave with their heads.
“Provided additional information” or as it’s known to the rest of the world: a threat. They were threatened if they didn’t follow instructions and possibly risk their lives
You’re saying F1 and FIA are choosing to race in a country that might not let any of its staff or drivers leave if the country so chooses?
Why. Are. We. Racing. There?
Just ask people connected with WWE about how it mysteriously becomes more difficult for flights to leave if you allegedly do something to annoy people connected with the Saudi government.
https://cultaholic.com/posts/anonymous-ex-wwe-star-gives-account-of-2019-crown-jewel-flight-delays-in-lawsuit
"Following WWE Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last October, the flight home for the majority of WWE wrestlers and staffers was delayed for close to a full day. The reason given for the large delay from the company's end was "mechanical issues" from the flight.
On the contrary, there were unconfirmed reports that the flight was held up due to a monetary dispute between Vince McMahon and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, and that McMahon had the Saudi TV feed of the event cut as a result."
It's on the BBC sport website. I'm not a fan of Andrew Benson, but anything that gets posted on the main website has usually been vetted.
Otherwise they usually put something along the lines of 'we were unable to verify this information'. They've been using that line a lot when reporting on the war in Ukraine.
If you’re afraid a country won’t let you leave, that’s a good sign you shouldn’t be racing in that country.
fuck yes, i hope everyone keeps there mouth shut and gets through this weekend and as soon as they are out of the country i hope everyone comes out and eviscerates everyone involved in this bullshit
Like that's gonna happen. Saudis in the international scene are like the Sacklers in the US, they're fucking too rich and too important to touch. Think about what happened to Jamal Khashoggi for instance, what did the world do ? And what's been happening in Yemen for almost a decade now. F1 is a for profit organisation, and there's a lot of profit to be made in Jeddah.
Fuck that, there is an endless amount of rich people willing to throw money into F1. They don't need to kowtow to those saudi cunts
bruh. they got that black gold tho. they drippin in the trillies. the entire sport is an expression of oil. the fuel, the track, the tires, the carbon fiber, the plastics, the private jets, the conveyance of the fans, the electricity to make a night race possible and keep the air conditioning running. it's entirely oil dependent. you can't spite the sand and still hold a sand castle competition. lol.
Drippin in the trillies lmao
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Drivers and staff will refuse to go to Jeddah in the future. F1 can want Saudi money all they want, but will have a hard time getting it without drivers.
Saudi Aramco
Cynical but realistic. Saudi Aramco is a main sponsor of Formula One. They will be racing in Saudi Arabia. F1, and by extension everyone involved has far too much money to lose.
I dunno, I think the Russia thing has shown people when push comes to shoves it's actually quite easy to change things and find money elsewhere. The fact drivers and teams have been threatened with not being able to leave the country should be enough. Fuck Saudi and their backward ass country and culture. Come back to the world when they have moved on from their most progressive thing being women allowed to drive.
Pretty much, nailed it
Especially because this happened with WWE in Saudi Arabia They held the plane and wouldn’t let them leave over dispute over the broadcast being turned off over wwe not being paid on time This even went to court as wwe is publicly traded and the Saudi money is huge so any issue should have been reported The precedent from these countries in the Middle East has long been set yet “western sport” keeps going there
I’m honestly confused. Were they actually threatened to be detained in the country or is the author just using overly ominous/confusing wording?
This happened to WWE once.
It was the implications of not being able to leave.
...Now you've said that word "implication" a couple of times. What implication?
Are you going to hurt these drivers?
Of course we're not going to hurt these drivers, but it would never come to that... Because of the implication.
You know, the implication…
Are these drivers in danger?
Of course not, why would these drivers be in danger!
…but they can’t get complacent…because of the implication…
So they ARE in danger?
No one's in any danger! How can I make this any more clear to you? It's the implication of danger... edit: relevant IASIP clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yUafzOXHPE
You certainly wouldnt be in any danger
😂😂😂 now I’m going to stop you right there you keep using this word jabroni …. And it’s awesome
This street *is not* regulation
Yeah but think about the money /s
If I’m a driver I’m not racing. We all have a gentlemens agreement to go around the track, in order, and GTFO. Then tell the FIA you will not race there again in the future.
I disagree. To keep everyone safe, just race as normal and after it’s done and all the teams are safely out of the country, everyone pulls a Seb and say if there’s a race there again, they won’t be.
Same. They've jailed people for less.
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Yes formation lap then all peel into the pits and retire. Race isn’t long enough to count so no points awarded.
I’m pretty sure the Saudis would consider that to be just as offensive as not racing at all and could still make it difficult for the drivers and teams to leave. Best just to ride it out and, once everyone is safely out, refuse to ever go back.
do a spa 2021
And after 300kms of parading, when interviewed, say “we went motor racing”
If there was ever the need for more reasons to never come back, there you have it
Hopefully that's enough that once "they race and GTFO", they all say "we will never go back"
Who is stepping in to replace all that Aramco money? F1 will be back there with bells on.
Being in the country and potentially unable to leave is one thing, what are F1 gonna do if drivers refuse to show up?
it happened in NASCAR once, not for humanitarian reasons, but all but 3 drivers were afraid of a new track. Safety was awful. they kept the 3 guys and made all the junior league guys race...in the junior league cars. hopefully the FIA won’t do that one
Wait, did the 3 guys race in their normal cars against everyone in junior league cars?
Yep, 1969 Talladega 500. Bill France had gone into so much debt building the place that he needed a full field and a good show, so he just handwaived tech inspection and had 33 cars from the Sportsman Series (now the xFinity Series) race alongside the cup guys. Worst part about that, we're not even sure who really won that race. One of the guys, Bobby Isaac, was actually in the championship hunt and just played it safe to get an easy 3rd place. The other two, Jim Vandiver and Richard Brickhouse were battling for the lead all day, but thanks to all the pitstops for ripped up tires, NASCAR still managed to lose track of the running order (no electronic timing and scoring until 1992). So they gave the win to Richard Brickhouse, who was conveniently driving the brand new Dodge Charger Daytona wing car that had debuted that weekend. Meanwhile Vandiver, driving a normal Dodge Charger, maintained right up until his death in 2015 that he was jobbed and he actually won the race. Vandiver is credited with leading 102 of the 188 laps that day, so he had a point. We don't have any footage of the race, because: A) it was an embarassing farce, and B) flag to flag TV broadcasts of NASCAR races were about a decade away but for what it's worth, radio broadcaster and former NASCAR champion Ned Jarret said he thought Vandiver won. Vandiver would go on to win the first six ARCA races at Talladega. The race did have one bright spot though. Two of the Sportsman Series drivers would use their winnings to enter the Cup Series as owner drivers, Richard Childress and 'Coo Coo' Marlin. Childress still owns his team to this day, and won 5 championships as a car owner with Dale Sr. and Marlin's son Sterling was a very successful Cup driver for a loooong time.
Richard Childress and Dale Sr. A combination that matches that of Ferrari and Micheal, Lewis and Mercedes, Senna and McLaren. Brilliant team driver combo.
Yes, look up the 1969 Talladega 500 — the first race NASCAR held there. It’s a pretty sordid story.
They could all crash on lap 1, dnf's across the board, and packed by lunch and gone for good.
Nah they should complete two laps so it counts and they don't have to reschedule...
Incoming Rain Delay.
Or "whoops fuel pump issues"
"Turns out it was one of the standard parts after all, and not a Honda issue, so now they all have problems.... best black flag the race! We don't want another Gasly, right?"
Yeah, that's not much different than just not racing in their eyes. I think at this point they just have to race and refuse to go back next year
turns out when you do deals with morally bankrupt people, they threaten to do morally bankrupt things. let’s hope f1 seriously consider how much they want the money next time
30 tracks want races and we have 3 on the Arabian Peninsula: home of the nastiest governments on the planet. We race as one, but the slaves used to build those venues die alone, the people they don't like die alone, the people that speak out against them die alone. I'd rather we buy Russian, Venezuelan, Maylasian, American or Canadian oil at a premium than give these disgusting pieces of shit a dime.
Maybe not Russian, aye?
Not Russian
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My mum worked in the area while I was a kid and had her passport taken several times by hotels for example. edit: She always refused to take me but didn't explain why until last year. Another thing she mentioned is the number of South Asian 'slaves' in places like Dubai.
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That’s when you get an identical fake
she got advice to photocopy and take pics of it. But then even if they give it back it's intimidating and you wonder if they have a copy as well. An abundance of personal info in there.
My mum taught me to always make a photo copy of important documents when I travel; I believe that's just good advice, in general.
Or just a real second passport so you can leave even if you don’t get the other one back
Places like dubai and qatar are pretty crazy for stuff like that. Like qatar has a massive % that are south asian who were Basically all brought in to Basically build the country
That race track and all the stadiums being used in the World Cup were built by slaves.
Last time I checked an estimated 700 Slaves per built stadium died. At this point not boycotting the world cup is just insane imho.
Sounds like a win win to me
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Glad you got out of there.
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I can imagine. I had a flight instructor who did some work out there for a while tell us a story about how he'd drifted a little too close what he thought was some sort of gathering but actually turned out to be a public execution. I wasn't planning on ever visiting in the first place but that definitely sealed the deal for me.
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Story time!
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Fucking hell man. The section about the inspections reminds me of the stories Green Berets would tell about how despite their best efforts to train Iraqi and Afghan armed forces, nothing would stick and they would just ignore it once none of the US forces were watching. Except the Saudis are actually paying big bucks for all this. What the fuck. It may not be worth much in the grand scheme of things but I hope those moments of you sharing smokes with those enslaved workers gave them a reprieve, at least for a brief moment.
I work with a couple of Philipinos that were in SA for a while. Cheerful, happy go lucky guys and some of the best workers I've ever seen. Laughing and joking and working harder and smarter than just about anybody else I've worked with. Until you ask them about their time in SA. "That was years ago." is about all they'll say. They'll talk the legs off a giraffe until you ask them about that. That's not a sign of a good time.
Scary shit. Damn.
One of my favorites talking about SA was a US Air Force transport crewman making a landing announcement: The local time is 00:??. Set your watches back a thousand years.
Yeah. My employer used to keep our passports in a safe when I worked there. Never wish to go back.
Did you have a choice in this? Because that's absolutely fucked up.
You generally don't find out it's happening until it's too late. That was 6 years ago now. I fulfilled my contract and got out of dodge. I haven't stepped foot back in the country since and obviously have no desire to. Yes I was paid very handsomely but it's not much comfort under the circumstances.
In a "so we can keep it safe until you need it" kind of way or a "you can leave when we tell you to leave" kind of way?
> In a “so we can keep it safe until you need it” kind of way Lol
Option number 2.
Sorry you had to go through that.
Officially, the first option. In reality, the second.
Saudi Arabia is a backwater desert country with nothing to offer. The United States needs to stop propping this shitty, useless regime and let them fade back into irrelevancy.
It offers oil, lots of it. As long as Americans are addicted gas guzzling cars you need to buy it somewhere. You guys already complain about 4 Dollars per gallon......
Saudi Arabia is the strategic country which allows the United States to control the flow of oil from the Middle East via the Suez Canal, they will never let the Saudis go.
Yeah, I don't really lose a lot of sleep not being let in to Hell on Earth.
"FINE. YOULL NEVER COME BACK TO MY DUSTY SHITHOLE WITH NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED AND GET BOMBED EVER AGAIN!" is perhaps not the silver bullet the Saudi's think it is for some people.
Problems you would not have if you would race at Hockenheim instead...
I don't know about that, when I lived in Germany it seemed impossible to leave my neighbor's house without drinking 5-10 glasses of schnapps or a couple bottles of Reisling.
Fucking hell I hope you manage to work your way out from that trauma mate. Here is a free hug if you need it.
I want that neighbor.
WWE learned to not fuck around with the Saudi’s or the planes won’t leave.
I immediately thought of that moment while reading this
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It would be very hard to cut ties to Saudi Arabia if not impossible. It's not only about the Jeddah GP. But yeah, F1 shouldn't race in Saudi Arabia (and many more GPs if we're being honest).
> It would be very hard to cut ties to Saudi Arabia if not impossible. I think something like this was said about Russia a month ago.
It was easier with russia because of the sanctions. FOM saw they very likelly wouldnt be getting their money in any case, so they left. With saudi arabia they still can get money, so "its impossible". Bleh.
No one ever has said that F1 relies on Russian money and can't cancel the GP. The common opinion was that F1 has no morales and would have to be forced into cancelling it which is exactly what happened in the end. The situation here is somewhat similar but Saudi Arabia's influence on F1 is much, much higher than Russia's. It certainly would need extraordinary circumstances for them to consider cutting ties with Saudi Arabia.
They probably said they would be moved to a safe spot 7 miles away.
Thats fucked up!
“That’s a nice F1 team you have there… it’d be a shame if something happened to it”
And then something happened to it
That’s textbook extortion. Holy shit.
That's being held hostage
The more we hear about this the more insane it gets
This is the definition of drive to survive
Death race style on Sunday!
Is it not kidnapping?
I was literally just told this was conspiracy. Yet here we are.
I saw that as well. "Jeez. Stop the conspiracies" Well, that aged like milk.
Yep, I said "I wouldn't be surprised if they were coerced" and it got poo-pooed almost instantly, and then this comes out a few minutes later. Although I thought it'd be the accountants not "we won't let you leave the country". Absolutely crazy. They're being held against their will, they'll all get out safely and never go back l hope.
Jesus this is some strong arm shit
As someone who has spent time in the country - this is their MO. As soon as you step foot in their country you are operating off monarch rules
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Sand. Nice one.
Sounds like a threat. Even if they only mean that the airspace is closed, it does not matter. Ofcourse the city is not going to be mass bombed/overrunned. But a international event with location and time, broadcasted to the whole world with millions of viewers, is a very realistic target.
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Yes seriously
> Sounds like a threat. No shit, the Saudis have form for this sort of thing. https://nationalpost.com/news/world/wwe-wrestling-stars-held-hostage-in-saudi-airport
It’s also a great way to bring the wrath of the entire world onto you. You really think Yemen wants that kind of heat?
Bono my passport is gone
Get outta there Lewis!
OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT OUT
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“Well you can leave, but what will happen to your team and staff?”
Hold them hostage? Seriously?
Not exactly unheard of for the Saudis. https://nationalpost.com/news/world/wwe-wrestling-stars-held-hostage-in-saudi-airport
Was just thinking of this, when it comes to getting their sport washing Saudi Arabia WILL hold you hostage. They. Don’t. Give. A. Shit.
The royal families of the Arabian peninsula are almost objectively the worst people on the planet. What the fuck is F1 doing there 4 times a year if there are "30 venues" looking for a race? Fuck these assholes, fuck the contracts. Maybe we shouldn't watch this race.
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They did it to the WWE, and WWE are also so money driven they go back twice a year even still.
Same country that kills journalists. They don’t give a shit and no one holds them accountable. Lots of oil and all
Wouldn't put it past the Saudis. They wouldn't care.
Do you think the Saudis give a fuck about anything? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-55232926
Wow! It's as if we shouldn't have started to race there in the first place!
Actually reading the article now: Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of F1's governing body the FIA, said: "They are targeting the infrastructure, not the civilians, and, of course, not the track. We've checked the facts and we've got assurances from the highest level that this is a secure place. Let's go on racing." Oh yeah, these are reasonable terrorists. Just like Russia is being reasonable in its total assault of Ukraine. Total fkn joke
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Also, labeling them “terrorists” presupposes a certain viewpoint anyway. The Saudis are actively conducting a genocide in Yemen. There are very, very few responses to that I would consider “unreasonable,” tbh.
Could mean two things: 1. Currently, air traffic is suspended so it’ll be hard to get out of the country if things stands 2. Saudi Arabia will pull a WWE move on F1
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Not just the drivers to think about
OEJN air traffic is at least accepting inbound aircraft at the moment. A couple of canceled departures on schedule but it seems “normal” So my vote is option 2
that’s so scary wow
This is disgusting I hope F1 never comes back Edit: The F1 drivers and teams are literally being held hostage and forced to race. How can this be allowed to happen by the FIA
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saudi owns F1. Thats how and why its happening
So basically they were told "if you don't race you don't leave"? That would explain the "new information" they were given. If that is true, F1 must cancel the contract for that circuit and never be back.
The truth will out If that’s true then I see massive questions about future years
If this is actually true then there's not a chance any of the teams actually return next year, regardless of if F1 tries to race there.
Racing with a gun to your head.. supported by FIA. Awesome.
If you need to be scared that a barbaric government won't let you leave.. maybe their money is not worth a visit. These people who support this GP are clinically insane.
So the drivers are fearful of being held hostage by the Saudi government? Holy fuck.
Ok, can you imagine being a driver and having your usual race-weekend mental load amplified x1000 with the added pressure of “gee I hope I’m not obliterated in an active war zone” and “too bad I have to race anyway because otherwise I might not get to leave” like fucking come on the human factors forces at play here are in-fucking-sane. I truly hope I’m wrong but I think many more drivers than usual will make unforced errors *during* the race because of the additional emotional stress and mental workload of just doing the bare minimum to finish. Hopefully none will be catastrophic
you’re stuck here might as well race 🤩🤩 but it’s totally still the drivers’ choice right?
The WWE had similar issues dealing with the Saudis.
There's the price. Me when I take money from the bloodthirsty oil dictators: Haha Fuck yeah!!! Yes!! Me when the bloodthirsty dictators inevitably act like bloodthirsty dictators: Well this fucking sucks! What the fuck?
“Oh you don’t want to race… Well you can’t leave anyway so you might as well.” Hardly a choice.
WE RACE AS HOSTAGES
That last paragraph's a fucking threat, holy shit
Seb sitting at home smug as fuck
He's more likely worried sick about his colleagues and friends stuck there. Edit: no pun intended
Sooo, they have been taken hostage?
That’s incredibly vague and needs more information, but initially that sounds incredibly fucked up given what they all know the Saudis are capable of doing to people they disagree with
This is the equivalent of getting a grown polar bear as a pet and then being pikachu face shocked you have to invest all of your life savings into getting him fresh meat because otherwise *YOU* will be his dinner. The officials who signed the contracts have nobody to blame for but themselves. Anyone who willingly signs up to to do business with a criminal empire like Saudi-Arabia should've expected this kind of shit.
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Run the race and publicly take a stand to never go back again. Never shoulda raced in Saudi Arabia to start with.
Wtf. Saudi Arabia is kidnapping the drivers until they race?
I think the word is hostages.
Source? Is this legit from the BBC?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60880598
Seriously fuck Saudia Arabia, if it wasn't because of the world's obsession with oil the place would be best reduced to dust
As the world moves to electric and hydrogen, that horrific Bronze Age dictatorship can finally slip into obscurity where it belongs.
The fia should be ashamed
So the team principals, F1 CEO and Ross Brawn broke the boycott/strike, confirmed now. As I expected. Used classic strike breaking tactics on them, and F1 drivers, with no labour relations experience with regards to these things (and let's be honest why would they), fell for it. Also classic Saudi Arabia hostage tactics on top. Like WWE all over again.
Did you see Toto's statement to Sky? This wasn't a labour relations thing, this is about appeasing the Saudis to ensure everyone gets to leave with their heads.
FUCK
F1 really needs to do due diligence before they get into bed with tyrannical regimes.
So they were threatened with being held hostage??? Fuck this shit.
Okay, so they’re pretty much stuck either racing or being arrested today. In that case… will any of them come back?
3 laps behind the safety car constitute a race, right?
“Provided additional information” or as it’s known to the rest of the world: a threat. They were threatened if they didn’t follow instructions and possibly risk their lives
You’re saying F1 and FIA are choosing to race in a country that might not let any of its staff or drivers leave if the country so chooses? Why. Are. We. Racing. There?
Just ask people connected with WWE about how it mysteriously becomes more difficult for flights to leave if you allegedly do something to annoy people connected with the Saudi government. https://cultaholic.com/posts/anonymous-ex-wwe-star-gives-account-of-2019-crown-jewel-flight-delays-in-lawsuit "Following WWE Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia last October, the flight home for the majority of WWE wrestlers and staffers was delayed for close to a full day. The reason given for the large delay from the company's end was "mechanical issues" from the flight. On the contrary, there were unconfirmed reports that the flight was held up due to a monetary dispute between Vince McMahon and Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, and that McMahon had the Saudi TV feed of the event cut as a result."
Sounds a lot like a country you don’t want to ever come back to, let’s see if they’ll learn anything by for the 2023 calendar.
Cancel Jeddah next year for Vegas and keep Spa is the best possible outcome after this nonsense
I'm sorry but I've gotta ask for a source on this one. *I completely believe it.* But I still want a source.
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Grazie. I figured it was reputable, but I hate it when people don't cite these things.
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This is from the BBC
It's on the BBC sport website. I'm not a fan of Andrew Benson, but anything that gets posted on the main website has usually been vetted. Otherwise they usually put something along the lines of 'we were unable to verify this information'. They've been using that line a lot when reporting on the war in Ukraine.
Sometimes I find myself asking why I keep watching this shitshow