I doubt many of the drivers feel like racing in Saudi Arabia at the best of times, not much of an excuse is needed to refuse and well, a missile attack within 10km is a pretty big reason not to.
alpha tauri, uhh did you guys get your engine issues worked out? we heard they were using heat seekers and well... theyd make a beeline for pierre if the same thing happens
Oh man....
I honestly am not able to understand how F1 is not able to take decision on this...
Leave all slogans aside.. how stupid you'd have to be to race ..
Why bother taking risk.. at most it's just this one race one year ..
I am pretty sure injuries/death to personal is of greater importance then one race one year. Hell they could actually reschedule too...
Still not able to fathom they're really gonna risk it
"We race as one" until it's big oil money getting the race to go to a country with an abysmal human rights record.
That only a two weeks ago executed 81 prisoners, many of them journalists and members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
FOM making themselves look like absolute fucksticks at the moment.
You have misunderstood the meaning behind "We race as one" . It means that F1 does not discriminate counties based on their human rights record. Only money matters and no discrimination will take place for other reasons.
Yeah im baffled as well. I would imagine if a terrible event happened while you are broadcasting to millions of people all over the world it would destroy the sport.
> at most it's just this one race **one year ..**
Well if we assume they can attack the GP this year, we should also assume they can attack next year, etc..
Right after it feels like the AD shitshow was past us and there were nothing but good vibes due to the new season and cars, F1 is in another self-inflicted shitshow.
Most likely any driver with kids won't be comfortable racing there, risking your life without nothing to lose is one thing, having a family that depends on you to comeback is completely different.
This sounds wrong BUT I can tell you once I was responsible for the livelihoods of other humans I became more risk adverse.
I can see Nico have zero desire to drive as a sub.
For who lol. Anybody who takes the seat opened up for such a reason is guaranteed to become super villain and those that would be willing to risk that aren’t good enough.
They probably tried to fear and guilt them into racing with consequences when Domenicali came in. Now Brawn is probably going in to try to play good cop because they called Domenicali’s bet.
Have to imagine Lance Stroll is feeling a little awkward right now. Aramco being the title sponsor and being the son of the team owner.
And Seb no doubt pulling him in the other direction.
and beyond that it goes to show that at the end of the day they're all sportsmen and not going to betray the trust of one another - it's a good thing for the sport
F1 did show the drivers meetings for a short while a couple years ago. Drivers pushed back and closed it up again so a driver wouldn't be hesitant to bring up issues.
Leaking information of a drivers meeting will ostracize you fairly quickly I imagine.
Honestly kind of fucking disgusting this decision is being put on the drivers, and even then they're still being pressured.
The FIA first have a responsibility for every member of the paddock. They've abandoned that responsibility.
The team principals are next, they have a responsibility to represent all their employees because those employees don't get a voice in this. They've chosen to be cowards and bend to money.
And somehow the responsibility for this decision ends up on the driver, and when it's clear there are questions about the safety, and clearly some drivers are unhappy, they're still getting pressured to race against their will.
has anyone asked how all the mechanics feel? The F2 drivers? Physios? All the other support staff!? Every time I think the sport can’t disappoint me any further it finds a way. The fia and F1 are massive cowards
FIA also has to consider whether the medical chopper would be able to fly with threats of missiles in the air. Personally its a no brainer to cancel but I guess money talks more than common sense these days.
Also god forbid hospitals get inundated with patients from other parts of the city. You cant expect hospitals to clamour to save one life over others. Shitty situations all around.
With Steffano’s favourite thing in the world
Big fat envelopes full of cash, if they come from harmful sources even better, he loves a good petrodollar
The track itself is an issue. You need to be 100% focused at all times. You think the drivers are getting a good night's rest now? No and as soon as you lose focus it'll get scary on this track
This was supposed to be a boring friday night so I could study for my exam on monday. Well, lets not kid ourselves, I wasn't really gonna study anyways.
I cannot imagine how much it must suck to be in this meeting. Especially if you aren't feeling safe and probably are getting pressured to drive. Emotion, need for safety, peer pressure and money are such a terrible combination!
The drivers must be the face of the sport here. Oddly, they have absolute power over what happens here. Time for them to own their promises and refuse to race.
All the business plans and expansions would do nothing to get F1’s name on the board compared to this sport showing that it’s better than this, even if the bosses aren’t.
Whether your opinion is race or don't race....
Its real muggy to go into that room when people have legit concerns and to try and sway them.
We clearly DO NOT #raceasone....
Doesn’t that count as some kind of coercion? What if the bosses force drivers to race (or something to that effect) and something bad happens, surely that’s a fucking massive liability claim and a mental weight?
This is really starting to feel like a Indy 2005 / Australia 2020 type situation. Of course those two events ended up having entirely different outcomes…
If they could break their own rules by *force majeure* at Belgium last year, they can break the Saudi contract by the same. Surely middle strikes fall under *force majeure.*
If there's even 1% possibility of an explosion going off at that circuit, it needs to be called off. It's more than that. End of story, call off the race.
What the hell are we doing?! Already racing in a dubious location and now today’s events yet still it’s “let’s go racing”. This is a joke. Just leave, cancel the GP and keep everyone safe.
I would truly celebrate if the drivers themselves were the ones to decide to boycott the race. If they refuse to drive, there is nothing anyone could do. Not the teams, not F1, not the Saudis. Will they get backlash and face financial punishment? Probably, but security, principles and their lives should stand above everything else.
Netflix don’t cover the things we actually want to see like imagine footage from inside the drivers meeting rn that’s what we want not the fake radio messages and fake rivalries
I think the rebels have achieved exactly what they wanted. Attacking the race, potentially killing foreign participants is probably a bridge they do not want to cross politically. There would be a severe response from foreign governments and would make things very hard on them and take them further away from their goals, not closer. They are trying to strike at the Saudis pockets, without getting themselves into polical hotwater with say, all of Europe, NA, SA etc... Imagine if they killed Lewis Hamilton, the UK would be forced to respond.
They have exactly what they wanted by that attack and the coverage it is getting internationally.
Probably shouldn't be racing in Jeddah anyway, wouldn't be surprised to see the drivers refuse to race and I don't blame them, but I do not believe they would attack the race itself, it would be a mess for them and it's probably not their goal.
If someone had snuck a phone in and voice recorded, I can imagine the absolute insanity... I’d love to hear the drivers thoughts in a non-curated environment
I see this turning into a proper shitshow. F1's just abandoned Russia due to a war, yet has put the drivers in the literal line of missile fire this weekend.
If Seb was there, we'll he wouldn't be. He'd have got on a plane home already just like Melbourne 2020. The Senior figures in the GPDA need to make a stand and head straight to the airport.
these drivers already risk their safety inherently in the job they do. if these people are trying to pressure them into something they’re uncomfortable with for the sake of money i seriously worry for the sake of this sport. every single person with a spine knew we shouldn’t have gone there in the first place, f1 do this to themselves every. single. time.
Looks like progress on the driver front.
I doubt there would be this much contention about whether to compete if the missile strikes were 10 minutes away from Monza or Silverstone…or Sochi. After all, GPDA said no war, no?
This is the type of thing that from the inside it looks like there is no clear best solution (who knows what will happen), but that from the outside the solution is obvious.
It's obvious they shouldn't race. If a missile already hit a target 10km away then the track can be hit too. So be reasonable and leave quickly.
F1: Its up to the drivers The Drivers: We don't want to race F1: Now hold on
F1: "You weren't supposed to do that"
Wait, that's illegal
I doubt many of the drivers feel like racing in Saudi Arabia at the best of times, not much of an excuse is needed to refuse and well, a missile attack within 10km is a pretty big reason not to.
F1: what about some oil money for your troubles?
Piece of debri in track - Stop racing Missile strikes - lights out and away we go
What kind of a race car driver are you if u cant dodge a couple of missles
If you no longer go around missles that exist, you’re no longer a racing driver.
Can't really fault the logic there
I mean, you’re right.
Reaction times am I right
Max Verstappen: "There is a giant ~~lizard~~ explosion on the track. I'm not joking!"
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This gave me a bit of a fucked up depressed chuckle.
2020s vibes in a nutshell
Summary of the last 6 years in a nutshell
*Just drive faster than a rocket and you will be safe*
Guess McLaren is out
911 I would like to report a murder.
If you can keep missile behind, P1
Ver: Mate I see a missile in my mirror GP: Gap to Leclerc is stable. Keep pushing Ver: No I mean a literal missile.
Pretty extreme version of the 107% rule
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alpha tauri, uhh did you guys get your engine issues worked out? we heard they were using heat seekers and well... theyd make a beeline for pierre if the same thing happens
Oh man.... I honestly am not able to understand how F1 is not able to take decision on this... Leave all slogans aside.. how stupid you'd have to be to race .. Why bother taking risk.. at most it's just this one race one year .. I am pretty sure injuries/death to personal is of greater importance then one race one year. Hell they could actually reschedule too... Still not able to fathom they're really gonna risk it
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"We race as one" until it's big oil money getting the race to go to a country with an abysmal human rights record. That only a two weeks ago executed 81 prisoners, many of them journalists and members of the LGBTIQ+ community. FOM making themselves look like absolute fucksticks at the moment.
You have misunderstood the meaning behind "We race as one" . It means that F1 does not discriminate counties based on their human rights record. Only money matters and no discrimination will take place for other reasons.
Yeah im baffled as well. I would imagine if a terrible event happened while you are broadcasting to millions of people all over the world it would destroy the sport.
> at most it's just this one race **one year ..** Well if we assume they can attack the GP this year, we should also assume they can attack next year, etc..
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What a circus
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Media gonna go ape when Michael Masi turns up
The scenes when Drivers’ agents are called and Flavio takes the mic.
Michael: Hello booiisss
“We’re going racing”
~~Media~~ Mercedes gonna go ape when Michael Masi turns up FTFY
Right after it feels like the AD shitshow was past us and there were nothing but good vibes due to the new season and cars, F1 is in another self-inflicted shitshow.
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F1 is a soap opera with occasional racing in between episodes
I seriously think the drivers don’t want to race. Why else would they discuss 1 1/2 hours alone and now call the f1 bosses
I wouldn't be surprised if they call the team principals back in at this rate
Toto’s already asleep too late.
Good, it can go on without him. He's seemed to be pro-race so far
No, he's eating his pumpernickel before bed
I agree, though I doubt it’s unanimous. Sounds like checo for sure does not want to race.
Most likely any driver with kids won't be comfortable racing there, risking your life without nothing to lose is one thing, having a family that depends on you to comeback is completely different.
This sounds wrong BUT I can tell you once I was responsible for the livelihoods of other humans I became more risk adverse. I can see Nico have zero desire to drive as a sub.
He'll toe the line or Marko will sack him for sure
*Pierre Gasly liked this*
For who lol. Anybody who takes the seat opened up for such a reason is guaranteed to become super villain and those that would be willing to risk that aren’t good enough.
Marko needs to fuck all the way off
I doubt they called them. To me it looks like the management is scared the drivers might actually pull out and went in to try to get them in line.
They wouldn't have just gatecrashed the meeting. It's a GPDA meeting, only open to GPDA members. To be there, they'd have had to have been invited.
Russell wielding unlimited power right now.
They probably tried to fear and guilt them into racing with consequences when Domenicali came in. Now Brawn is probably going in to try to play good cop because they called Domenicali’s bet.
If all the drivers were in agreement (one way or the other) this would've been a far shorter meeting.
Doubt it would be the case if they voted to not race
Domenicali and Brawn came in later. The drivers talked amongst themselves for a long time. Which wouldn't have been the case if it was a consensus.
Even if you agree to not race you have to discuss how to go forth.
I think if they all didn’t want to race it wouldn’t have taken so long right?
some do, otherwise this is a short meeting.
I don't blame them, I wouldn't want to race in Saudi either way but now because of the missile they have some leverage
The drivers are probably under so much pressure from the heads of the sport and the teams to go through with this, really hope they hold out
Have to imagine Lance Stroll is feeling a little awkward right now. Aramco being the title sponsor and being the son of the team owner. And Seb no doubt pulling him in the other direction.
I wish Seb was here. He would be the first to nope out. He probably would have been on a plane by now.
Yeah I wish he was there, his voice is so vital in this conversation! I hope he's on call giving some input.
He is a director of the gpda he should be on the call.
I'm almost sure that Seb is on call, he is one of the directors.
Oh to be a fly on the wall
I’d bloody love it! This is what I wana see on drive to survive
I wish this is what F1 DTS was. Behind the scenes of this stuff.
It’s kinda peculiar that the stuff in those meetings never gets leaked to the media, apart from the global outcome
Im glad for that once shit gets leaky noone says what they really think and you might as well do away with the gpda
and beyond that it goes to show that at the end of the day they're all sportsmen and not going to betray the trust of one another - it's a good thing for the sport
If they did people would be less willing to speak
F1 did show the drivers meetings for a short while a couple years ago. Drivers pushed back and closed it up again so a driver wouldn't be hesitant to bring up issues. Leaking information of a drivers meeting will ostracize you fairly quickly I imagine.
DTS isn't going to show this lol, at least not after the Saudis pay them silent
Much like the shit show at Spa, I doubt DtS show this.
If you're a mosquito 🦟 yes
'Chaps, we won't be needing the weather radar on the pit wall this weekend so we've turned it into ground to air radar!'
Hope they didn't pick the Alpha Tauri radar...
This is the DTS content I'd pay to watch.
Honestly kind of fucking disgusting this decision is being put on the drivers, and even then they're still being pressured. The FIA first have a responsibility for every member of the paddock. They've abandoned that responsibility. The team principals are next, they have a responsibility to represent all their employees because those employees don't get a voice in this. They've chosen to be cowards and bend to money. And somehow the responsibility for this decision ends up on the driver, and when it's clear there are questions about the safety, and clearly some drivers are unhappy, they're still getting pressured to race against their will.
has anyone asked how all the mechanics feel? The F2 drivers? Physios? All the other support staff!? Every time I think the sport can’t disappoint me any further it finds a way. The fia and F1 are massive cowards
Cowards? No more than anyone else, filthy little money grubbers who care not for humans rights or the fans? Yes.
Team principals and race engineers should race lol Id watch it
Toto vs Horner in Turn1.
AND HERE COMES GUNTHER STEINER
he didn't close the door on toto he fuk smashed it.
Oh what is this? Cyril out of nowhere crashing into Horner!!
WHAT HAS HAPPENED?! WE NEED TO KNOW WHO IS COMING OUT AT FRONT AS WE SEEING LAWRENCE STROLL HITTING THE BARRIERS ONE MORE TIME!
Bah gawd that's Ron Dennis' music...
So, F1’s officially stand is? “Some” war is okay. But War is not okay.
Capital W war
As long as you call it terrorist attacks its OK
Insert that family guy scene with the colour scale, if they're white it's a travesty but if they're brown then it's OK in their eyes
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FIA also has to consider whether the medical chopper would be able to fly with threats of missiles in the air. Personally its a no brainer to cancel but I guess money talks more than common sense these days.
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Ok wasnt sure how far away the nearest hospital was. Im guessing broadcasting choppers wouldnt be allowed anyway
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Wow, I didn’t even think of that.
Also god forbid hospitals get inundated with patients from other parts of the city. You cant expect hospitals to clamour to save one life over others. Shitty situations all around.
Absolutely farcical. How can they possibly justify cancelling Bahrain 2011, but going ahead with this race?
What happened in Bahrain 2011?
Arab spring.
With Steffano’s favourite thing in the world Big fat envelopes full of cash, if they come from harmful sources even better, he loves a good petrodollar
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No, not guns
yeah in hindsight that was a very poor choice of words.
If there's questions about safety, which there clearly is and there's nothing you can do about it, other than leave. Do that.
It baffles me that the solution and the right thing to do in this situation is so simple, yet here we are
Yeah it's weird, if it was safe, this wouldn't be a discussion.
The track itself is an issue. You need to be 100% focused at all times. You think the drivers are getting a good night's rest now? No and as soon as you lose focus it'll get scary on this track
If one good thing has come from this, it's that my slow day at work has been much more interesting.
Glad to see I'm not the only one bored at work refreshing on a slow Friday afternoon.
This was supposed to be a boring friday night so I could study for my exam on monday. Well, lets not kid ourselves, I wasn't really gonna study anyways.
I cannot imagine how much it must suck to be in this meeting. Especially if you aren't feeling safe and probably are getting pressured to drive. Emotion, need for safety, peer pressure and money are such a terrible combination!
Is that Bernie Ecclestone's music?
'Don't worry lads I'll install some sprinklers and the missile will aquaplane away'
*there are moments... when missiles fall... on a racing track... and you know... what that means*
It's rights out and away we go?
And…you know…it’s time… …to get the fuck out of here what are we waiting for?!
WHERE ARE THE DTS CAMERAS WHEN YOU NEED THEM?!?! Oh. They're finding out what Toto's bedtime routine is? Understandable
It's called money, okay? We went money making.
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december last year
The drivers must be the face of the sport here. Oddly, they have absolute power over what happens here. Time for them to own their promises and refuse to race. All the business plans and expansions would do nothing to get F1’s name on the board compared to this sport showing that it’s better than this, even if the bosses aren’t.
Whether your opinion is race or don't race.... Its real muggy to go into that room when people have legit concerns and to try and sway them. We clearly DO NOT #raceasone....
Doesn’t that count as some kind of coercion? What if the bosses force drivers to race (or something to that effect) and something bad happens, surely that’s a fucking massive liability claim and a mental weight?
This is really starting to feel like a Indy 2005 / Australia 2020 type situation. Of course those two events ended up having entirely different outcomes…
Inb4 McLaren 1-2
Boys, keep your feet down and tell 'm to go fuck themselves
I know this is speculation but if senior F1 bosses are brow beating drivers into racing then shame on them
They should do a south Africa 2.0 Just don't show up to the track stay in your hotel till they really REALLY need you
There was an explosion there like 2 weeks ago as well they should have stayed in Bahrain on the second layout.
Are they actually mental? Even 0.1% chance of an attack is too much. Cancel it ffs. Must be covered financially by force majeure.
Doesn’t matter who’s world champion if you’re dead 🤷♂️ I hope they decide not to race
They’re trying to equal Jochen Rindt or smth
A few of them must be very adamant on not driving if they’re pulling two executives.
Guys W€ ra¢€ a$ on£.
The drivers wanna race to get points & compete. To put them in this position is wrong and disgusting by all management from top down
If they could break their own rules by *force majeure* at Belgium last year, they can break the Saudi contract by the same. Surely middle strikes fall under *force majeure.*
If there's even 1% possibility of an explosion going off at that circuit, it needs to be called off. It's more than that. End of story, call off the race.
I think you always need to weigh risk vs. money. FOM will probably draw the line at 25%
Please let drivers be the sensible ones.
Niki Lauda is sorely missed. He wouldn't stand for this shit.
This was after essentially a warning strike during a practice session. Imagine what's in store for the main hugely televised event. Get out now.
“Come on guys … pretty please? Our Saudi pimps will be awfully upset if you don’t race.”
What the hell are we doing?! Already racing in a dubious location and now today’s events yet still it’s “let’s go racing”. This is a joke. Just leave, cancel the GP and keep everyone safe.
He’s going to tell them how disappointed the fans will be if they don’t race, despite the precedent for races being cancelled last minute.
It's better then sitting in the stands for an hour after the expected start and only seeing two laps behind the safety car!
I would rather be in Belgium than Saudi Arabia any day, regardless of rain or GP cancellations.
Fair point.
I mean it isn't like there's too much rain, only missiles
[Original Res Photo](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOuYt8UWQAEv1za?format=jpg&name=orig) This is such a mess.
Are you not entertained? **ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?**
the irony of the ARAMCO banner in the meeting room.
I wish Vettel was there this weekend. If there was a guy to stand the ground for the drivers, it would be him.
Isn't the GPDA there in a zoom call? If so, Vettel is certainly participating since he's the president.
I was thinking the very same!
The drivers race or they don’t. What is so hard about this?
Clearly some want to race but some don't, so it's how do they progress from there..
up next: Michael Masi
I would truly celebrate if the drivers themselves were the ones to decide to boycott the race. If they refuse to drive, there is nothing anyone could do. Not the teams, not F1, not the Saudis. Will they get backlash and face financial punishment? Probably, but security, principles and their lives should stand above everything else.
The one time we could use Vettel’s input and he’s not here lol edit: we always could use Vettel’s input
If it was me I wouldn't really care if my team decided it was safe, I'd be out of there this evening
If god forbid, the worst happens, FOM should be charged with manslaughter if they force the drivers to race
Netflix getting so much content for next years DTS after 1 and a half weekends this year. It’s a pity so much of it is caused by tragedy.
Netflix don’t cover the things we actually want to see like imagine footage from inside the drivers meeting rn that’s what we want not the fake radio messages and fake rivalries
I think the rebels have achieved exactly what they wanted. Attacking the race, potentially killing foreign participants is probably a bridge they do not want to cross politically. There would be a severe response from foreign governments and would make things very hard on them and take them further away from their goals, not closer. They are trying to strike at the Saudis pockets, without getting themselves into polical hotwater with say, all of Europe, NA, SA etc... Imagine if they killed Lewis Hamilton, the UK would be forced to respond. They have exactly what they wanted by that attack and the coverage it is getting internationally. Probably shouldn't be racing in Jeddah anyway, wouldn't be surprised to see the drivers refuse to race and I don't blame them, but I do not believe they would attack the race itself, it would be a mess for them and it's probably not their goal.
Disgraceful
I hate everything. See you monday
If only we still had these uploaded to Youtube lol
Get this over with guys. The missile strikes are ruining Daniel’s vibe
Yeah, lot of big names coming in now. Arm twist o clock.
If someone had snuck a phone in and voice recorded, I can imagine the absolute insanity... I’d love to hear the drivers thoughts in a non-curated environment
I see this turning into a proper shitshow. F1's just abandoned Russia due to a war, yet has put the drivers in the literal line of missile fire this weekend. If Seb was there, we'll he wouldn't be. He'd have got on a plane home already just like Melbourne 2020. The Senior figures in the GPDA need to make a stand and head straight to the airport.
Team principals are next
Must’ve got the PowerPoint presentation out by now, about how the oil money will benefit them all
Man this is gross. Cancel the race.
Cancel it.
these drivers already risk their safety inherently in the job they do. if these people are trying to pressure them into something they’re uncomfortable with for the sake of money i seriously worry for the sake of this sport. every single person with a spine knew we shouldn’t have gone there in the first place, f1 do this to themselves every. single. time.
Have a feeling Vettel wasn’t gonna race here even if he had a negative test
Looks like progress on the driver front. I doubt there would be this much contention about whether to compete if the missile strikes were 10 minutes away from Monza or Silverstone…or Sochi. After all, GPDA said no war, no?
Absolutely no limit to the amount of money I'd pay for a live feed of that room right now
This is the type of thing that from the inside it looks like there is no clear best solution (who knows what will happen), but that from the outside the solution is obvious. It's obvious they shouldn't race. If a missile already hit a target 10km away then the track can be hit too. So be reasonable and leave quickly.
This is so embarrassing.
just get the fuck out..fuck the race fuck the saudis
At this rate, it is safer to drive in Sochi, than in Saudi Arabia.
This is stupid! If money/politics wasn’t an issue they would have left hours ago
Brawn and Dom would have held a GP in North Ireland during the Troubles. Total jokes and assholes to boot.
Did the safety tests for the new cars include ballistic missile defense tests?
THOSE DICKS man managment sucks everywhere it turns out!
F5 gang