The second round of the 2022 championship featured a missile attack on an oil facility near the circuit on Friday at the hands of Yemen’s Houthis rebels.
This prompted F1 bosses, teams and drivers to discuss whether the event was safe and ultimately it was decided to proceed.
However, the situation led those responsible for the race to review the incident on a large scale and to develop a plan to prevent it from happening again in the future.
Race managers have met individually with all teams and drivers over the course of the last few races to discuss the situation and make sure the competitors are comfortable ahead of 2023.
As part of the ongoing negotiations, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Sport, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal, attended last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix to offer an update on the progress made.
“We talked to teams and drivers about the necessary steps that have been taken, working with F1 in particular, and our number one priority is safety for everyone,” he said speaking to some media, including Motorsport.com.
“This not just on the track, but across the realm. Oddly, three days after the attack a ceasefire was announced. So I think with all the media that came to the race, it was a way to show aggression and to get attention. But we were confident about safety and security at the time. “
Prince Abdulaziz believes it is important for there to be an open discussion about anyone’s concerns in F1, and admitted that more could have been done to talk to the drivers and teams sooner.
“I think we need to do more to maintain dialogue and open communication between us. It was also a novelty for us to learn to manage, perhaps we didn’t contact many teams before the race. We realized that it was necessary to do it now,” so here we are “.
“We know we have concerns about some issues. We are not perfect and we have never claimed to be perfect. But at least we are learning from our experiences and are taking steps to improve things in the future.”
Prince Abdulaziz said additional F1 safety measures will be taken by 2023.
“We are working with F1 to make sure that all concerns of the drivers, teams or individuals, and even the fans, are met. We know everything is safe, but we need to explain what measures have been taken.”
“During the event, more than 4,000 troops were deployed for this very reason, because when these things happen it is feared that the people who want to aggravate the situation will notice. So we have made sure that no one compromises the safety of the event and of the city. “.
“For us, safety is even more important than F1. It is a nation, so it is our number one priority. And we are working with them.”
Changes to the layout
In addition to strengthening safety around the facility, minor changes will be made to the barriers of the Jeddah circuit for 2023, in order to improve the visibility of the drivers.
“We are working with the FIA and F1 for some changes to the track. The track is the same, but for safety reasons we will improve visibility.”
“We also realized that the new car is more sensitive to curbs, as happened in Miami, so we changed them.”
“Since we finished the second race we have been working constantly with the FIA and F1 to make sure we get to the next one well prepared.”
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