Saudi Arabian GP: Ferrari & Red Bull remain strong in practice but missile attack nearby overshadows Friday running

Ferrari and Red Bull continued their strong showings at the start of the season with good performances in both FP1 and FP2 on Friday at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but the day’s running was overshadowed by a missile attack hitting the Aramco fuel depot nearby.

Formula 1 is in Saudi for the second time this season, with the race being held at the front end of the campaign rather than towards the back, as was the case last year.

It’s a country, of course, that has rightly been criticised for a poor human rights record and that was once again one of the topics of discussion heading into race weekend, with 81 executions taking place on one day earlier on this year in the country.

And, towards the end of FP1, there was concern over the status of the race with a missile attack near the track, credited to Houthi rebels, that hit the Aramco fuel depot in Jeddah.

In recent weeks, several missile strikes have hit the city of Jeddah but, despite this, F1 has remained firmly intent on still running this weekend’s Grand Prix.

FP2 went ahead as planned later on on Friday, with F1 management set to meet after the session at 7pm GMT for an official update, though it has already been revealed that the plan remains for the full event to go ahead.

Just normal things. pic.twitter.com/W3QcCHv5Bx

As per Autosport:

“In an emergency meeting between F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and the drivers and teams ahead of a delayed second free practice session, it is understood that it was made clear that there was no question of the event being called off.”

As for the actual on-track action, Charles Leclerc went quickest in FP1, leaving it late to beat Max Verstappen, before the same result in FP2, with Carlos Sainz third quickest both times as well.