Saudi Arabia pledged maximum security to reassure rattled Formula One drivers as the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was set to go ahead despite an attack on an oil facility nearby by Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
The drivers revealed their concerns over the attack, which sent black smoke billowing over the area and was part of a wave of drone-and-missile assaults that triggered retaliatory air strikes on rebel strongholds.
The Iran-backed Huthi rebels fired on 16 targets across Saudi Arabia as they mark seven years since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the government in Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country.
The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people directly or indirectly and displaced millions, creating what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.