Petra Ecclestone claims 'the world is waiting for Dubai to break' as she likens Iranian missile strikes to Covid - after sparking controversy for jetting around the world during pandemic

Petra Ecclestone has claimed 'the world is waiting for Dubai to break' as she likened the the Iranian missile strikes plaguing the UAE to the Covid pandemic. 

The F1 heiress, 37, who recently moved from Los Angeles to Dubai with her husband Sam Palmer and four children, shared her latest take on the ongoing political situation in the Middle East via her Instagram page on Tuesday. 

The original post shared with her 111k followers read: 'Covid. Floods. Missiles. Every time, the same story told differently, the world watching, waiting for Dubai to break. Every time the same answer. It didn't.'

Petra and Sam, who she married in 2022, have joined a slew of influencers and reality stars in defending Dubai, despite early concern, with many insisting they are in 'the safest city in the world' while Petra declared she has 'no regrets' over their move.

Her insistence comes after Petra and her family hit headlines in 2021 for their travel during the coronavirus pandemic, which Petra blamed on being 'a huge hypochondriac', saying: 'We've flown around the world to try to escape coronavirus'.

Petra's latest post comes among many defending Dubai and remaining defiant as the area has been hit by Iranian forces retaliating over US airstrikes.

Her mention of covid in the latest post comes after, 'Illness-phobic' Petra defended travelling to seven countries in lockdown to 'escape coronavirus', claiming that 'others would if they could'.

The family went from London to Croatia to LA, then Switzerland, Monaco and France, then back to LA and Monaco, then The Maldives and back to Monaco.

Talking to the Times' T2, Petra asserted she hasn't broken rules and said: 'We’re currently in Monaco. For now. Not sure where we’ll be next week . . . 

'We’re very Covid-conscious. We’ve flown completely around the world to try and miss it. What I think we’ve realised now is you can’t run from coronavirus.'

The couple returned to London from their then-home in LA when the pandemic hit in March 2020 and they hardly left the house at this point. They then flew to Croatia to stay on her Formula One boss dad Bernie's yacht for one month in the summer.

But because her sister Tamara, 41, and her father Bernie, 95, were both in Switzerland with their families, they decided to go there so their children could partake in outdoor activities instead of being cooped up at home.

As the virus grew, the family travelled to Monaco after two months because 'it has done very well for coronavirus,' Sam noted.

Despite schools being open there, the couple have been home-schooling their children but their nanny-housekeeper contracted coronavirus and so they've been doing everything themselves.

Acknowledging how difficult single mothers would be finding this situation, homeschooling in an apartment, Sam said: 'We can't really complain.'

Like Petra, reality stars and influencers who ditched the UK for a life in the sun, have come out and said they still feel like they are 'in one of the safest places in the world'.

This comes despite the area being the target of missile strikes and suicide drones for the third day running, which the defence team are working to intercept.

Sharing a selfie from her living room, Petra asked fans to send her questions and revealed whether she wished she hadn't moved from the U.S following the trouble.

One fan asked: 'Do you regret moving to DubaI?', to which she replied: 'No'.

Despite the fearful outcries of residents who said they lived through the 'scariest night of their lives' when the attacks began, many have insisted they still feel safe.

Vicky Pattison and Luisa Zissman claimed Dubai is still 'one of the safest places in the world' as they vouched for the city's government on social media.

TV personality Vicky, 38, has revealed that she was evacuated to her five-star hotel's underground car park two days ago as a 'precautionary measure', as she shared an update with her 'concerned' fans on social media.