We would cancel the race if there was a genuine threat

play

If there was a genuine security threat to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Saudi Arabia would not have hesitated in canceling it.

A missile attack on an oil depot 10 km east of the circuit raised concerns about security at the venue, which led to a close call for the Formula One drivers.

The attack on the facility was claimed by a military spokesman for Yemen's Houthis, who have been battling a coalition led by Saudi Arabia for seven years.

The Saudi Arabian government and security services assured the teams and drivers that the race was not at risk of being attacked.

If there is a threat, then we will cancel the race, but there is no threat, and that is what we discussed with everyone, according to Prince Abdulaziz.

All the security agencies have the highest alert for any threats, just like what happened yesterday. I would say that everyone is on 24-hour watch, in terms of where the threat could come from, and what to do about it.

The media is here, everyone is here, and we have high security levels, so we know it is recognised as the spotlight. From the beginning, we knew that. It was on the outskirts of the city, there were no casualties and it was on a fuel tank that was burning.

It was not possible to protect all of Saudi Arabia from missile attacks, but Prince Abdulaziz was confident that the military would not allow for a similar attack on the race track.

He said that the security agencies cover the areas where there is a small population.

The oil depot is not a threat to anyone. We were lucky that it happened in that area, but they were surprised it happened there.

The area that we are in, the city itself, the hotels, everywhere else is on full security with all the necessary steps to make sure nothing happens.

Although the drivers agreed to race, it has become clear that they want to revisit questions about the future of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix once this weekend's event is over.

Saudi Arabia is willing to give assurances to the teams and drivers that the race will continue.

He said that they were open and that they had got into the details. We are willing to sit down and see where the issues are, what assurances they need, if they need any of the assurances we already gave them, and so on.

We are here to host Formula One as best as it can be anywhere in the world. We want people to come and watch the best Formula One race.

Formula One or any other event that we are hosting within the kingdom will get this. We will have an open discussion with them to see what feedback they give us and what concerns they have, so we will show them everything.