Before Formula 1 races – fireball over Jeddah, oil depot on fire
Fire and smoke billowed over Jeddah on Friday afternoon, the burning Aramco oil depot clouding the sky
Source: AP/Hassan Ammar
Formula 1 is visiting Saudi Arabia this weekend. During the day’s practice, a huge explosion occurs in Jeddah, the venue. It was confirmed that it was a rebel attack. The stock exchanges react with a rise in oil prices.
IAn explosion erupted near the Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia, the site of Sunday’s Formula 1 Grand Prix. According to media reports, supporters of the Houthi rebels from Yemen are said to have destroyed the building of the state oil company Saudi Aramco. A ball of fire and a large plume of smoke were seen over the city in Saudi Arabia. The depot is twelve kilometers from the track. “We are waiting for more information from the authorities about what happened,” she said formula 1 on Friday with the menacing scenes.
Saudi Arabia and Aramco did not immediately confirm the fire. Saudi state television later said there had been a “hostile operation” by Houthi rebels near Jeddah. The fire appeared to be raging in the same fuel depot that the Houthis had been attacking for the past few days.
The Houthis confirmed in the afternoon that they were responsible for the attack. A rebel spokesman said the oil plant in Jeddah had been attacked with rockets, and other refineries in Ras Tanura and Rabigh with drones. The stock exchanges reacted to the reports with an increase in oil prices.
The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia in the Yemeni civil war intercepted nine drones loaded with explosive devices that the Houthis are said to have launched towards the south, east and center of the kingdom, according to a television report on Friday.
Air traffic diverted via Jeddah
In Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran, both vying for regional dominance, are waging a proxy war. While Iran supports the Shiite Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia is leading a group of Sunni-leaning Gulf states in the fight against these insurgents. Saudi Arabia is thus supporting the internationally recognized Yemeni government of Abd-Rabbu Mansur Hadi, which was driven out of the capital Sana’a by the Houthi rebels in 2014.
Air traffic over Jeddah was immediately diverted on Friday, but operations at the race track were not suspended for the time being. After the first practice session for the Formula 1 drivers, the Formula 2 cars drove onto the track as planned. The employees also went about their normal activities in the paddock. There was a smell of burnt petrol everywhere.
The second practice session for the Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia started just 15 minutes late in the evening. Before the start, a meeting with all drivers and team bosses was convened. Later, there should be “an official statement on how safety can be guaranteed,” said Red Bull Motorsport Director Helmut Marko on the Sky TV channel. If safety can be guaranteed for the remainder of the Grand Prix weekend, “we should drive,” added the Austrian.
It would not be the first Houthi attack during a motorsport event in Saudi Arabia. It was only at the end of February 2021 that a rocket attack by the rebels on the capital Riyadh was repelled when Formula E, the electric counterpart to Formula 1, was holding its first two races of the season there.
