FORMULA 1 MUST THINK AGAIN
There was a certain uneasy feeling surrounding the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah last weekend. And that was before the nearby missile attack on Friday, which caused late-night meetings and a genuine discussion about cancelling the race. The national media supposed that the reason the race was given the green light was due to the finances that underpin it, and, given grand prix racing’s track record (remember the Covid-hit Melbourne race in 2020, anyone?) that argument seems to carry water.
It just added to the concerns. Firstly, the high-speed circuit is, perhaps, a step too far for Formula 1. Mick Schumacher’s accident on Saturday during qualifying highlighted just how dangerous the venue is. Given the focus on safety and all the measures that have been introduced into grand prix racing, it is astonishing that drivers are expected to go flat out with zero run off and poor visibility through a number of the corners.
Before the opening grand prix in the country last year, several drivers raised their voices on Saudi Arabia’s human rights track record and Lewis Hamilton wore a special crash helmet to highlight the cause of equality. These arguments just add weight to the fact that Formula 1 should not be racing in the country at all. And we haven’t even touched on the Yemen issue.
Grand prix racing bosses say that they are present in the country to highlight the issues and hosting a grand prix in Jeddah shines a spotlight on the issues. That is a very hard argument to swallow – what, exactly, has having a Formula 1 race done to alleviate the problems? The square root of nothing, is our guess.
Given that countries are tripping over themselves to host a high-profile grand prix – or so we are told – you have to think that there are many more appropriate places for one of the globe’s richest sports to ply its trade.
It is a good job that the actual action on track was a belter, as
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc went toe-to-toe again in a breathless race. It was great to watch, but it shouldn’t take the focus away from the wider issues.
In this issue, we pick out our young drivers to watch in 2022 and it has been a pleasure to hear the stories from each of them. Motor racing can be a fickle sport and none of the drivers we have spoken to are guaranteed success, but they are all worthy. It will be interesting to follow their progress over the forthcoming season.
Graham Keilloh puts the readers’ questions to Alastair Caldwell in a full-throttle Q&A, and the former McLaren team manager – and current classic rally enthusiast – certainly doesn’t hold back with his opinions.
Also in this issue, we have the results of our MN poll to uncover your favourite rallying machine and we launch our next monthly poll to determined which driver had the best crash helmet design. Turn to page 40-41 to find out how to get involved.