I just want to go home, says Lewis Hamilton after Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton said he was looking forward to getting out of Saudi Arabia following Sunday’s controversial race.

The second round of the new Formula One season had been in doubt 48 hours earlier following a nearby missile strike on an oil refinery during first practice.

After an extraordinary four-hour meeting on Friday night, the drivers were ready to withdraw, only to be talked round by F1 bosses following assurances from Saudi authorities.

It is understood the drivers will meet with F1 to discuss the future of the race in Jeddah, possibly by a virtual call in the coming days, or in-person at the next round in Australia on April 10th.

Hamilton, who finished a disappointing 10th, said: “I am so happy the weekend is done and I am also just so happy that everyone is safe. I am looking forward to getting out.”

Asked if he had any reservations about returning to Saudi Arabia next year, Hamilton replied: “I just want to go home.”

Hamilton’s fellow Briton, the 22-year-old McLaren driver Lando Norris, added: “Of course I am relieved [to have got through the weekend].

“Under any circumstance all we want to do is race. But it is a nervous place to be and you are going to have these nerves and that is why we had the discussions we did. We were given the reassurances and told it is safe and we had to believe that.

“Whether we come back or not – I would love to look forward to do that because it is a fun track, but those are discussions we will have after the weekend.”

Hamilton all but wrote off his chances of winning an eighth world championship after conceding that a victory “feels like a long way away”.

As Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc engaged in their second ding-dong duel for victory inside a week, with the world champion