'Wishing peril': Marshal sacked for abusing driver amid F1 nightmare

Formula One's trip to Saudi Arabia has slowly been turning into a nightmare, and things took another turn after a race marshal was sacked over a series of abusive posts directed at Lewis Hamilton.

This weekend's Saudi Arabian GP has already been rocked by a missile attack on a nearby oil depot, which is owned by one of F1's major sponsors, Aramco.

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Drivers have been peppered with quations about Saudi Arabia's human rights record, while Haas' Mick Schumacher was taken to hospital during qualifying after a horrifying crash.

Throw in the drivers' complaints about the Jeddah cricuit, which F1 is racing on for just the second time, and it's been a decidedly egdy weekend for the sport.

Making matters worse has been the reveal that one of the track marshals has been removed from their post over a series of posts about seven-time champion Hamilton.

In one post, the man wrote 'I hope he has an accident' simialr to that endured by Romain Grosjean in 2020, in which the Frenchman barely escaped from the flaming wreckage of his car with his life after one of the worst accidents in the sport's history.

Other messages, which were written in Arabic, compared Hamilton to a 'dog' and made light of his efforts to speak out against the abuse of human rights.

“The Saudi authorities do not respond to dogs," one post read.

“If a person saw him, they would have responded to him.”

The comments were brought to the attention of the, FIA and F1, who promptly worked with the Saudi Sports and Motorcycle Federation to remove the marshal from duty.

The man will not attend the grand prix, and has since posted an apology to Hamilton.

Inauspicious weekend for Formula One in Saudi Arabia

F1 said it had received 'detailed assurances that the event is secure' in the wake of the rebal attack on the Aramco depot.

The attack happened while the first practice on Friday was taking place, and the 20 drivers met later that night in talks that stretched past 2 am to discuss safety concerns.

"Yesterday was a difficult day for Formula One and a stressful day for us Formula One drivers," the Grand Prix Drivers' Association said in a statement on Saturday.

"We went into long discussions between ourselves, with our team principals, and with the most senior people who run our sport. A large variety of opinions were shared and debated."

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said it was "important to listen to drivers" but that the decision to continue was correct.

"It has been a long night but first let's focus on the facts. We know that it's not the first time it's happening in this country and in this area," he said.

"Leaving the country would simply not have been the right choice."

In an earlier statement, F1 and governing body FIA confirmed that "following discussions with all the teams and drivers" the grand prix "will continue as scheduled."

The Houthis acknowledged the attacks on Friday evening and Saudi Arabia state TV called it a "hostile operation."

The Jeddah oil depot erupted in flames when attacked during Friday's first practice session.

Red Bull's Sergio Perez qualified on pole for the grand prix, followed by the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo will start from 12th, behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

It was a horror qualifying session for Hamilton, who failed to make it out of Q1 in a shocking turn of events, with Mercedes teammate George Russell qualifying sixth.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen will start fourth.

With AAP

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