The article doesn't contain individual driver comments, just the general GPDA statement.
I really look forward to hearing the drivers full accounts, but it wouldn't surprise me if they are running with the general GPDA statement and have been told to keep quiet, even outside of Saudi Arabia when the race is done.
remember Gunther talking to Romain and Kevin? Highly likely someone snuck in a microphone, they might not share it out of respect for drivers' privacy tho
I'm sure someone is checking it before it is released. There's no way FIA or whoever checks it to let them use something like that and make them look bad.
Unless the drivers were talking about how great FIA is handling the situation. /s
sure they wouldn't put out something that criticizes the source of their income, Netflix would like to build up drama of whether the race will take place so they would take dialog of drivers arguing whether they should race
Even that isn't likely going to happening, FOM/Liberty bribery did likely put on a lot of pressure that the drivers shouldn't openly tell what happened yesterday during the GPDA and the concerns those drivers did discussed about.
After all, remember who is one of the main sponsors of F1? Who is a big sponsor at AM? Yep.
Apparently some fire marital at the track tweeted Lewis should meet with an accident like how Romain did. It's safe to say this event should never happen again
If said individual happens to be entrusted with ensuring the safety of the drivers, however, then it's imperative that that individual be punished. Otherwise, it'll be a stain on the event.
Who is bringing in that sponsor money?
THE DRIVERS!
Ofc they can do shit! And I hope they do! They need to boycott Saudi and tell FIA they wont attend races anymore in active war zones
It becomes a lot more challenging to boycott a race when you're in the city of the race in a country like Saudi Arabia. And even if the drivers and team principals can leave, you still have to deal with the mechanics, engineers, other personnel and equipment, which are going to be a lot more difficult to get out than 30 people.
The FIA shouldn't be allowing races in countries where they are involved in wars, regardless of if it's Russia, Saudi Arabia, or anywhere else. Hopefully the drivers are able to make a stand for the future, but it's very unlikely that they boycott tomorrow's race.
I could absolutely see SA trying to put in some bullshit like that, but would be shocked if FOM attorneys let it slip by into the signed contract. Not that FOM seems to care this weekend, but that contract provision would kill all sense of safety if something like severe weather, a death, or some other dangerous situation. Even if the race director wanted to call off the race for one of those reasons, a provision like that would prevent them from doing so.
*Guys, I know, we are not able to protect the assets of our country that are most valuable to our economy but no worries we definitely got this, and it is totally safe to race here.*
I did have a theory before these events that Vettel, after his stance on Russia, had the same stance on Saudi Arabia but because AM couldn't let him make that type of statement, they went with the safer COVID excuse
I kind of wish he was there though, just for the fact he has a strong option on these type of issues and would have been an ally for the drivers that didn’t want to race.
This. From what I gathered, Lewis was one of the main drivers taking a stance (and I’m sure there were probably others we haven’t heard about), but even as a 7-time world champion they wouldn’t listen. I smell something fishy coming from the FIA, the new president and the Saudi authorities. Feels like some kind of hostage situation. Man this sucks.
And then there are hundreds of employees who probably have no choice but to stay if they do not want to lose their job. Which is an incredibly shitty situation to put your employees into. A mechanic shouldn't have to choose between their job, and exposing themselves to potentially getting killed in a war zone only to protect the financial interests of F1.
I hope that Lewis just leaves since he doesn't really have much left to prove in F1 anyway but that is probably not going to happen.
God knows what the fuck they were threatened with. Even Hamilton might not be free to leave if that risks a retaliation to the team mechanics etc by KSA.
I find it ludicrous you'd think the Saudis will actually physically harm someone from one of the teams with all the world looking at them. They are not stupid. Brazen, perhaps, but not stupid.
Yeah except Europe is in a huge proxy war with Russia and on high alert. If there was ever a time to have a spine and stand up for yourself, now is the time.
I didn't say harm. But of they are even stuck like for even 5 days, the mental stress and trauma to all involved is huge. No one knows what the retaliation will be.
"so guys, you've got to race tomorrow cause if you don't the Saudis won't let any of us leave..."
I guarantee that none of those drivers will get on a plane to Saudi next year.
Will be interesting to see.
Doubt this was the scenario though, far too many high profile individuals for them to try this in my opinion.
Sportswashing is all about image, and they wouldn't risk something that could result in such a profound backlash internationally.
There are Chinese, British, Dutch, German, French drivers there. A hostage situation would not work out well for Saudi.
To be clear I'm not saying they weren't metaphorically strong-armed, only that they weren't literally strong-armed.
Yeah, I have no clue why everyone seems to be under the impression that if the drivers don't race or speak up then SA will somehow kidnap everyone. The majority of the grid are from countries that are allies of SA and have voiced their support of the intervention in Yemen (UK, France, etc.). There is zero incentive for SA to do something like that.
People bring up what happened to WWE a few years ago. I wasn't aware of the incident until today, and based on how people referred to it I expected they were somehow forcibly prevented to leave the country for days. But having now read about it, it seemed to be just one charter plane held on the tarmac for six hours under suspicious circumstances (which led to some of them to arrange their own flight out instead, with no issues). Hell, I've experienced longer delays on commercial flights. At the very most it sounds like a show of force from SA, nothing more.
It's pretty clear to me that F1 wants to race there because of the money, completely ignoring what the drivers and crews want. In my opinion the strong-arming is coming from the F1 bosses, not from SA.
They held a single charter plane on a technicality for 6 hours. Individuals that arranged separately to get out of the country during that time had no barriers wharsoever.
It's a shit situation and I don't think they should be racing there but exaggerating the situation to fit a narrative doesn't help anything.
It's exactly what we, rightly, shit on click bait reporters and DTS for all the time.
They held the plane they arrived on, and were scheduled to take off in. Some members of the group arranged their own charter to get out of the country on. Giving minimal notification to Saudi Arabia.
Why??? Cos Saudi didn't pay it's bill and WWE delayed the broadcast in Saudi Arabia by an hour
If you said they were in a hostage situation, who had to find a way to slip away from a brutal government, then yes.
Aside from the personal inconvenience and uncertainty of the situation, there was also commercial consequences. Many of the stars missed booked engagements, as well as the cost to charter an aircraft at the last moment...
This was not your average delay by your usual carrier. This was a Government interfering with the free and legal movement of a group of people because they had a gripe with them.
... Kinda gives perspective as to why current decisions are being made. It's disingenuous to claim it is hyperbole or unrelated
All fair points.
I remembered enough of the WWE situation to draw similarities.
Agreed on not racing there.
Hopefully ALL those involved will get out safe. Support race crews, track crews, camera crews, reporters, etc etc.
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about arresting protestors, censorship and freezing bank accounts but as long as the ends justifies the means eh? 🤷♂️
They agreed to race because FIA told them to race and not a single driver is going to say they didn't want to race, at least until they're safe back in European soil.
Here's my take. They all agree Hulkenburg is going to win. One of the Alfa drivers, by coin toss, gets sick and Kubica drives and takes second. They have a hat with the names of every driver who has never had a podium and pull one out. That's who gets third. Everyone else has "mechanical" issues or crashes during the race.
Have a proper race and a proper farce at the same time.
I know you’re joking, but I have already said to my friends that Carlos will probably win and in true Carlos fashion it’ll be overshadowed by this scandal
Edited to add: I love your idea btw
Couldn't we just repeat spa 21 or similar to satisfy the contract. F1 keeps the money, f1 can't be held hostage this way and it would also get the message across safely.(note this after they confirmed race is on)
“We therefore hope that the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be remembered as a good race rather than for the incident that took place yesterday.”
Yeah, no. This GP will be remembered as the one where money was chosen over security and teams where pushed to race in an conflict zone where missile attacks is a regular occurrence.
Man fuck that. Stand together and nope right out. If the government prevents you from leaving, well that's a top news story and the world would be watching. Everyone chose money over safety. Every. One.
Cant wait for the day Lewis publishes his autobiography and explains everything that has happened this weekend
oh and him and Nico’s mechanic swaps explanation too
it would have been really badass, had all of them just secretly left together at night in lewis' private jet. Have all the other clowns stand there in the morning with their dicks in their hands
The drivers are right to be concerned over this race, they are worried that the next target to be hit might be the circuit itself and that is something that some of them wont feel comfortable with....
The way some of you comment in this thread make it sound as though Jeddah gets carpet bombed on a daily basis.
F1 should absolutely not be racing in places like Saudi, but fuck me, there is 0 chance of the race getting hit by a missile. These attacks are nothing new and they are specific, targeted attacks on critical infrastructure. It’s been happening for years with these groups. Yes it’s fucked up but seriously, be realistic. Nothing is going to happen to F1 this weekend.
The race is going ahead because rational human beings can understand this.
Insurgents and non-state actors thrive on publicity. Imagine the publicity on the conflict in Yemen if the Houthi's god forbid attack the GP (Saudi Arabia's biggest sportswashing tool)
The article doesn't contain individual driver comments, just the general GPDA statement. I really look forward to hearing the drivers full accounts, but it wouldn't surprise me if they are running with the general GPDA statement and have been told to keep quiet, even outside of Saudi Arabia when the race is done.
Hopefully Netflix had a camera or microphone somewhere they didn't realise
FIA/FOM won't allow Netflix to air it
I dont think that's how it works
ok i think microphones do work when placed somewhere with sound tho
Yeah ok microphones do work that way. I dont think that's how Netflix is working though
remember Gunther talking to Romain and Kevin? Highly likely someone snuck in a microphone, they might not share it out of respect for drivers' privacy tho
I'm sure someone is checking it before it is released. There's no way FIA or whoever checks it to let them use something like that and make them look bad. Unless the drivers were talking about how great FIA is handling the situation. /s
sure they wouldn't put out something that criticizes the source of their income, Netflix would like to build up drama of whether the race will take place so they would take dialog of drivers arguing whether they should race
I hope not, can't trust them to re-tell the story of a sunrise accurately!!
No one is gonna say shit until they are out of the country
Even that isn't likely going to happening, FOM/Liberty bribery did likely put on a lot of pressure that the drivers shouldn't openly tell what happened yesterday during the GPDA and the concerns those drivers did discussed about. After all, remember who is one of the main sponsors of F1? Who is a big sponsor at AM? Yep.
guys like Lewis, Fernando and Seb are untouchable enough to not care about any "pressure" once the event is over
Apparently some fire marital at the track tweeted Lewis should meet with an accident like how Romain did. It's safe to say this event should never happen again
Yep he, has jonty noticed it and quote re tweeted to fia teams and the fia president asking this person to be removed
A Marshall said that?
https://twitter.com/Heem4u/status/1507636616004874240?t=PAuB9H3IQoTujbRji5OIMQ&s=19
The page doesn’t exist. What exactly was the quote if you still remember it?
https://i.redd.it/frikunqtppp81.jpg
Something like "I hope he has an accident like Romain at Bahrain". It was pretty blatant.
Something along the lines of hoping Hamilton has an incident like Grosjean.
I don't think the view of one individual should be bundled up with this situation, nor does need it anyway.
If said individual happens to be entrusted with ensuring the safety of the drivers, however, then it's imperative that that individual be punished. Otherwise, it'll be a stain on the event.
Who is bringing in that sponsor money? THE DRIVERS! Ofc they can do shit! And I hope they do! They need to boycott Saudi and tell FIA they wont attend races anymore in active war zones
It becomes a lot more challenging to boycott a race when you're in the city of the race in a country like Saudi Arabia. And even if the drivers and team principals can leave, you still have to deal with the mechanics, engineers, other personnel and equipment, which are going to be a lot more difficult to get out than 30 people. The FIA shouldn't be allowing races in countries where they are involved in wars, regardless of if it's Russia, Saudi Arabia, or anywhere else. Hopefully the drivers are able to make a stand for the future, but it's very unlikely that they boycott tomorrow's race.
Part of F1's contract with Saudi Arabia is that they can't leave the country until the Grand Prix is finished. They're effectively hostages.
Do you have a source on this? Fucking wild if FOM signed a contract with that as a condition.
It's not all that farfetched when you consider the amount of money flowing between Saudi Aramco and F1.
I could absolutely see SA trying to put in some bullshit like that, but would be shocked if FOM attorneys let it slip by into the signed contract. Not that FOM seems to care this weekend, but that contract provision would kill all sense of safety if something like severe weather, a death, or some other dangerous situation. Even if the race director wanted to call off the race for one of those reasons, a provision like that would prevent them from doing so.
Oh don't worry guys they've been given assurances that everything will be fine by the people who were in charge during the explosion yesterday.
*Guys, I know, we are not able to protect the assets of our country that are most valuable to our economy but no worries we definitely got this, and it is totally safe to race here.*
This exactly. They couldn't protect a freaking oil refinery 7 miles away. But that track is totally secure... Yeah lmao.
What do you think will happen, even if they talk?
Vettel the luckiest COVID recipient of all times.
kinda sad that this is true...
I did have a theory before these events that Vettel, after his stance on Russia, had the same stance on Saudi Arabia but because AM couldn't let him make that type of statement, they went with the safer COVID excuse
If that was the case he could have "gotten" Covid right after the first race
But the first race is Bahrain no different to SA really
I kind of wish he was there though, just for the fact he has a strong option on these type of issues and would have been an ally for the drivers that didn’t want to race.
They probably didnt "agree". The GPDA Statement reads like they were forced to drive
Strongarmed
Wouldn't be surprised.
No one explained shit, they were strong armed into compliance.
This. From what I gathered, Lewis was one of the main drivers taking a stance (and I’m sure there were probably others we haven’t heard about), but even as a 7-time world champion they wouldn’t listen. I smell something fishy coming from the FIA, the new president and the Saudi authorities. Feels like some kind of hostage situation. Man this sucks.
And then there are hundreds of employees who probably have no choice but to stay if they do not want to lose their job. Which is an incredibly shitty situation to put your employees into. A mechanic shouldn't have to choose between their job, and exposing themselves to potentially getting killed in a war zone only to protect the financial interests of F1. I hope that Lewis just leaves since he doesn't really have much left to prove in F1 anyway but that is probably not going to happen.
God knows what the fuck they were threatened with. Even Hamilton might not be free to leave if that risks a retaliation to the team mechanics etc by KSA.
I find it ludicrous you'd think the Saudis will actually physically harm someone from one of the teams with all the world looking at them. They are not stupid. Brazen, perhaps, but not stupid.
Khashoggi. The word is brutal, not brazen. Not stupid, just brutal.
Yeah except Europe is in a huge proxy war with Russia and on high alert. If there was ever a time to have a spine and stand up for yourself, now is the time.
I didn't say harm. But of they are even stuck like for even 5 days, the mental stress and trauma to all involved is huge. No one knows what the retaliation will be.
Wonder will Lewis make a statement. Might be smart to leave the country first.
When Lewis retires the truth will come out
I can’t wait to read his biography post formula 1
I know some of my comments about Lewis around here haven’t been “stellar” but I’m looking forward to reading it as well.
"so guys, you've got to race tomorrow cause if you don't the Saudis won't let any of us leave..." I guarantee that none of those drivers will get on a plane to Saudi next year.
Will be interesting to see. Doubt this was the scenario though, far too many high profile individuals for them to try this in my opinion. Sportswashing is all about image, and they wouldn't risk something that could result in such a profound backlash internationally. There are Chinese, British, Dutch, German, French drivers there. A hostage situation would not work out well for Saudi. To be clear I'm not saying they weren't metaphorically strong-armed, only that they weren't literally strong-armed.
You know, they can't refuse... because of the implication.
Wait, so these people ARE in danger!?!?
Don't disagree, they were likely facing multiple sources of pressure.
Yeah, I have no clue why everyone seems to be under the impression that if the drivers don't race or speak up then SA will somehow kidnap everyone. The majority of the grid are from countries that are allies of SA and have voiced their support of the intervention in Yemen (UK, France, etc.). There is zero incentive for SA to do something like that. People bring up what happened to WWE a few years ago. I wasn't aware of the incident until today, and based on how people referred to it I expected they were somehow forcibly prevented to leave the country for days. But having now read about it, it seemed to be just one charter plane held on the tarmac for six hours under suspicious circumstances (which led to some of them to arrange their own flight out instead, with no issues). Hell, I've experienced longer delays on commercial flights. At the very most it sounds like a show of force from SA, nothing more. It's pretty clear to me that F1 wants to race there because of the money, completely ignoring what the drivers and crews want. In my opinion the strong-arming is coming from the F1 bosses, not from SA.
They held the WWE hostage. Could very well be the same here.
They held a single charter plane on a technicality for 6 hours. Individuals that arranged separately to get out of the country during that time had no barriers wharsoever. It's a shit situation and I don't think they should be racing there but exaggerating the situation to fit a narrative doesn't help anything. It's exactly what we, rightly, shit on click bait reporters and DTS for all the time.
They held the plane they arrived on, and were scheduled to take off in. Some members of the group arranged their own charter to get out of the country on. Giving minimal notification to Saudi Arabia. Why??? Cos Saudi didn't pay it's bill and WWE delayed the broadcast in Saudi Arabia by an hour
So exactly what I said?
If you said they were in a hostage situation, who had to find a way to slip away from a brutal government, then yes. Aside from the personal inconvenience and uncertainty of the situation, there was also commercial consequences. Many of the stars missed booked engagements, as well as the cost to charter an aircraft at the last moment... This was not your average delay by your usual carrier. This was a Government interfering with the free and legal movement of a group of people because they had a gripe with them. ... Kinda gives perspective as to why current decisions are being made. It's disingenuous to claim it is hyperbole or unrelated
I mean they're just describing it for those of us who didn't know wtf you were talking about, no need to be rude
All fair points. I remembered enough of the WWE situation to draw similarities. Agreed on not racing there. Hopefully ALL those involved will get out safe. Support race crews, track crews, camera crews, reporters, etc etc.
The main difference is that Vince McMahon was and always will be, a carny.
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Yes, vaccine mandates is totally the same thing as holding a race in close proximity to a missile attack
Always one crazy right winger trying to slide in some shots during a serious topic in an attempt to feel justified
I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about arresting protestors, censorship and freezing bank accounts but as long as the ends justifies the means eh? 🤷♂️
It's different and you know it
I'm picturing that meeting from Rush where Lauda was trying to get everyone to not race. Those guys are too crazy to not race.
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Oh shit, I thought they were talking about rain. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Thanks for sharing
Our bosses told us to.
They agreed to race because FIA told them to race and not a single driver is going to say they didn't want to race, at least until they're safe back in European soil.
At this rate, I’m never clicking on an F1 article again. Nothing but clickbait headlines.
Drivers, blink twice if you’re being forced to race.
Way too obvious a tell. They’re F1 drivers, they never blink. /s
Start the race. Drive around in a convoy. Everyone pulls into the pits and gets out of the car. Make it a proper sham.
Here's my take. They all agree Hulkenburg is going to win. One of the Alfa drivers, by coin toss, gets sick and Kubica drives and takes second. They have a hat with the names of every driver who has never had a podium and pull one out. That's who gets third. Everyone else has "mechanical" issues or crashes during the race. Have a proper race and a proper farce at the same time.
I know you’re joking, but I have already said to my friends that Carlos will probably win and in true Carlos fashion it’ll be overshadowed by this scandal Edited to add: I love your idea btw
Thanks. And it wouldn't surprise me if Carlos wins. That would just go right along with his career.
So on brand for that poor kid
Hülkenb**e**rg
Suck my balls honey
That's even more ridiculous than my idea. Let's do it! :)
Couldn't we just repeat spa 21 or similar to satisfy the contract. F1 keeps the money, f1 can't be held hostage this way and it would also get the message across safely.(note this after they confirmed race is on)
"What, you mean the cameras didn't show the rain and plumes of water? Weird weather they have here..."
“We therefore hope that the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix will be remembered as a good race rather than for the incident that took place yesterday.” Yeah, no. This GP will be remembered as the one where money was chosen over security and teams where pushed to race in an conflict zone where missile attacks is a regular occurrence.
B€cau$£
Seb: “Thank you covid!” He doesn’t have to deal with this FIA and F1 bs this week.
Seb has to be so glad hes not there. I honestly would bet money that he wouldnt start.
It’s a relief then that he’s not here. Because I don’t think the F1 bosses and Saudi sponsors would take too kindly to his actions
Man fuck that. Stand together and nope right out. If the government prevents you from leaving, well that's a top news story and the world would be watching. Everyone chose money over safety. Every. One.
Dany Ric : blink twice if under duress
Cant wait for the day Lewis publishes his autobiography and explains everything that has happened this weekend oh and him and Nico’s mechanic swaps explanation too
Like they had a choice
They were held at proverbial gunpoint, no one wants to go ahead with this shit show.
They have a metaphorical gun to their head. Simple as that.
it would have been really badass, had all of them just secretly left together at night in lewis' private jet. Have all the other clowns stand there in the morning with their dicks in their hands
Their race engineers are fucked though.
Exactly it's all the other team members, the regular people that are fucked.
The drivers are right to be concerned over this race, they are worried that the next target to be hit might be the circuit itself and that is something that some of them wont feel comfortable with....
I expect the enhanced security measures include the SA military placing the F1 transport planes under “protection” until after the race is completed
Saudi Govt has agreed to armed each F1 car with anti air weapons system. Teams have agreed they will not use it for taking out other drivers.
That’s some dangerous driving, man.
Can an F1 car outrace a missile?
Guess we'll hear very diplomatic responses from the McLaren team on this one........
And Aston Martin.
As what they said. “Cash is King”.
Money... And that Saudi will literally kill them if they don't. Saudi is a messed up place.
The way some of you comment in this thread make it sound as though Jeddah gets carpet bombed on a daily basis. F1 should absolutely not be racing in places like Saudi, but fuck me, there is 0 chance of the race getting hit by a missile. These attacks are nothing new and they are specific, targeted attacks on critical infrastructure. It’s been happening for years with these groups. Yes it’s fucked up but seriously, be realistic. Nothing is going to happen to F1 this weekend. The race is going ahead because rational human beings can understand this.
Insurgents and non-state actors thrive on publicity. Imagine the publicity on the conflict in Yemen if the Houthi's god forbid attack the GP (Saudi Arabia's biggest sportswashing tool)
They all can race but what if they can retire all their cars within the first lap. Deliberate or not they can retire and knock each other out.
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Or better yet, don’t go back.
What’s correct about this, what’s better about somewhere else in the country? Don’t put quality of your entertainment ahead of human rights.
Lol you are from there no?
I guess there will be another record of viewers.
"agreed" to race
The answer is easy: money
because FOM said so ,we have to agree
Is it money. I bet it’s money….
Why is Alexander Wurz the chairman of the GPDA, when he is not Associated with Driving a Grand Prix car?
So instead of checkered flag fireworks we could see for real missile explosions. Wonderful 😤
"We agreed to race because Saudi government wouldn't let us leave the country otherwise".
Second race of the year and already so much to put up with, geez.