Formula 1 drivers to ask for more input over where sport races after Saudi Arabia drama

A number of drivers did not want to continue with Saudi Arabian GP after Friday missile attack nearby; Incident said to have accelerated a desire from the drivers to discuss having more influence on sport’s policy

Formula One’s drivers are preparing to ask for more input over where the sport races in future.

As Sky Sports News reported on Monday, the drivers are set for a meeting with F1 bosses following the events in Saudi Arabia last weekend.

Top of the agenda will be the security threat surrounding a militant attack on a nearby oil facility during Friday practice in Jeddah.

A number of drivers did not want to continue with the race weekend but were talked around by F1 chief Stefano Domenicali and team bosses following a series of meetings.

The incident is said to have accelerated a desire from the drivers to discuss having more influence in the sport’s policy making.

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Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished the Saudi Arabian GP in 10th position and queried if he’d even get a point with race engineer Peter Bonnington.

A number of drivers feel they are playing an ever more prominent role as the face of the sport and carrying the brand’s messaging to the public.

Drivers have recently had to answer awkward questions about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and the cancellation of the Russian Grand Prix following their invasion of Ukraine.

On influencing these big issues, Lewis Hamilton said in Jeddah: “We don’t decide where we go (to race). I think we do have an opportunity to try – we are duty bound to try – and do what we can while we’re here.”

F1 has made greater driver engagement with the audience an integral part of its plans in the post-Bernie Ecclestone era.

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F1 Team Principals have unanimously defended the choice to race in Saudi Arabia, despite the attack at an oil depot near the Jeddah circuit.

Via digital and social media, fan interaction has been developed significantly in the last five years.

F1 intend to make a full assessment of what happened in Jeddah which will be shared with all stakeholders, including the drivers.

Meetings are expected to take place before the next Grand Prix in Melbourne Australia on April 10.