We’re ten day away from the start of practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
But has much changed for the better in the ten months since the FIA belatedly dropped its efforts to shoehorn the race into the back-end of last year’s calendar?
Following the government’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in February of last year, over 2,000 Bahrainis have been imprisoned, more than 1,800 of which are alleged to have been tortured, and 62 have died.
This, it must be remembered, has taken place in a comparatively small nation of some 1.2 million inhabitants, less than half of which are Bahraini citizens (the rest are expatriates).
The government commissioned an inquiry chaired by UN war crimes expert Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni. His damning 500-page assessment (PDF link) detailed the use of “unnecessary and excessive force, terror-inspiring behaviour and unnecessary damage” by the security forces.
Bassiouni found a pattern of “torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse […] which in some cases was aimed at extracting confessions and statements by duress, while in other cases was intended for the purpose of retribution and punishment”.
While the Bahrain government has been quick to play up the scale of the investigation, critics say it has been slow to implement the report’s recommendations. Chief among which is Bassiouni himself, who said in January: “I think the public is going to come out in the end and say ‘You’re holding all of these investigations behind closed doors – this is a whitewash’.
“And I think that would be perfectly justified”.
While the government drags its feet protests have continued, albeit on a smaller scale which, given the numbers imprisoned and the heightened police presence, is hardly surprising.
Last month the European Parliament condemned the Bahrain government’s “ongoing” human rights violations including “the excessive use of tear gas, repression, acts of torture, unlawful detention and prosecution of peaceful protesters”.
“We’re all hoping the FIA calls it off”
The Bahraini government is telling anyone who will listen that the pro-democracy protesters are merely criminal rioters, possibly operating in league with factions in Iran – a dubious claim but one which resonates with some.
The FIA appears only too eager to believe everything it is told by the Bahrain government. This is hardly a surprise – last year they produced a flimsy document supporting a race in Bahrain just one week before the race organisers cancelled the Grand Prix.
Despite eventually scrubbing the 2011 F1 race from the calendar the FIA restored the event this year. On top of that it handed Bahrain a round of the World Endurance Championship, a pair of GP2 meetings (including the only non-F1-supporting round) and the final leg of the CIK-FIA U18 Karting World Championship.
F1 team principals have previously insisted they were satisfied to follow the FIA’s lead on Bahrain, despite the governing body having demonstrated a palpable lack of judgement on the matter last year.
Only yesterday did the teams begin to reveal their unease with the situation. One team principal told The Guardian: “We’re all hoping the FIA calls it off.
“From a purely legal point of view, in terms of insurance and government advice, we are clear to go. But what we find worrying is that there are issues happening every day.”
Hunger strike
The European Parliament has also called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all peaceful demonstrators, political activists, human rights defenders, doctors and paramedics, bloggers and journalists” including Bahrain Centre for Human Rights president Abdulhadi al-Khawaja.
Al-Khawaja, who the European Parliament says is being held “for exercising… rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly or complying with their professional obligations”, has been on hunger strike for the last two months.
There are fears for his life – and concerns for what might follow if he were to die in the hands of his captors. Just a few hours ago news broke of a bomb injuring seven policeman in Manama.
Against all common sense, F1 is about to jump into this powder keg. And it is doing so for exactly the same reason it kept returning to South Africa in the seventies and eighties, long after other sports had turned their backs on the apartheid regime.
The value of the Bahrain Grand Prix
The reason, of course, is money.
Bahrain is one of the most valuable races to F1, both in terms of how much they pay to hold the race and the degree of exposure sponsors get from the race.
In turn, it is extremely valuable to the Bahrain economy, which has taken a battering in the last 12 months. On top of that is the race’s inestimable value to the Bahraini royal family of presenting the impression that life has returned to normal.
This explains why F1 is playing its dangerous game of brinkmanship. Last year the race remained on the calendar until the Bahrain race organisers themselves called it off. This allowed Formula One Group to keep the ??25m ($40m) paid by the Bahrainis for the race even though it wasn’t held.
A decision not to go through with next Sunday’s race may not be taken until the teams are preparing to leave Shanghai this weekend.
And even then, we can’t rule out the possibility of a repeat of last year’s shambles where the race was repeatedly postponed and moved into different slots.
Recall that at one point last year the FIA was giving serious consideration to moving the inaugural Indian Grand Prix to make way for a rescheduled Bahrain race, and you can appreciate just how keen all involved are to keep cashing those cheques.
Bahrain documentary
Al Jazeera’s “People and power: Bahrain” covers developments in the 12 months since last year’s demonstrations, and is well worth watching:
For more on developments in Bahrain in the last 24 hours, see today’s round-up.
Comment
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Browse all comment articles
Image ?? Red Bull/Getty images
Thnigs Must Change
10th April 2012, 1:29
The regime in Bahrain has been in power far too long.
Bahrain is run by a family called Al Khalifa who populate the Bahrain Government and all money making aspects of Government with family members.
They run the country for personal gain and personal profit.
Bahrain citizens who want democratic rights are thrown into prison, tortured and left to die if necessary.
The family mafia tells the world that the protesters are Iranian agitators.
As a British subject fully familiar with this Mickey Mouse regime, I can assure you that the people protesting are not Iranian agitators.
They are Bahrain Citizens and human beings like you and I.
They mostly happen to have a different religion to the ruling family which puts them in further jeopardy from the State.
Most Bahrainis are well educated
This is 2012 and they simply do not want to live under a feudal medieval regime anymore.
The Bahrain Ruling family have spent millions for years spinning and paying their way to get what they want. ( http://jalopnik.com/5900113/how-bahrain-spends-millions-to-spin-the-press )
Ally that to investigations about the governance of the sport ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jul/20/bernie-ecclestone-f1-bribery-allegations ) and you have a toxic mixture.
The repression of Bahrain citizens has been going on for decades but recent event in surrounding countries like Tunisia and Egypt where people have wrested democracy back from despotic dictators, must tell you how the people in Bahrain are also oppressed
Don’t leave your fellow human beings to bullying and torturing by the family that runs Bahrain without some sort of protest.
Abandon F1 racing in Bahrain, not just for this year but for every year until there is a fundamental root and branch change in the country.
Abandon it until people in Bahrain no longer have to give their lives in their quest for the rights we take for granted; the right to kick out our rulers if we don’t like them
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 1:57
Chinese people do not have that right. The teams will be arriving in China very shortly. The Chinese Grand Prix is taking place this weekend.
Why aren’t you demanding the same thing of China as you are Bahrain?
Things must Change
10th April 2012, 2:10
I don’t know the situtation in China.
I do know about Bahrain.
If you think F1 should not take place in China, then it’s up to you to put your detailed case before the readers of this blog
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 3:57
Well, thank you for admitting your ignorance. The alternative was hypocricy. China has many of the same issues as Bahrain. Perhaps they are not as overt as in Bahrain, but there is nevertheless oppression to be had by all in China. Google Ai Weiwei, or the reaction to Bo Xilai and see what you get.
This creates a very tenuous position for you: you have effectively said that the race cannot be held in Bahrain because of human rights violations – but the race in China can go ahead despite human rights violations. Do you see the moral paradox you have created for yourself? This is the danger of using Formula 1 to make political and/or moral statements – it is very easy to get caught up in a hypocritical contradiction.
The safest thing for Formula 1 to do is to exit Bahrain in an apolitical way. This can be done by either waiting for the Bahraini authorities to admit that the race cannot go ahead (as was the case last year), or to announce that the race has been cancelled because there are serious concerns over the safety of teams, drivers, media and spectators.
MaroonJack (@maroonjack)
10th April 2012, 7:53
If Formula One goes to Bahrain it will be an obvious sign of support for their current government and a move against the protesters. Currently the sport is a political tool in the hands of the Al Khalifa family. This is not the case with other countries. The British Grand Prix is not a sign of support for Her Majesty’s Government. The Grand Prix of America in Austin is not a sign of support for the Republican Party or the Texas governor Rick Perry.
Some countries have a lot on their conscience. I’d say that China and USA are far ahead of Bahrain when it comes to the human right violations, but when F1 goes to these countries it is not an act of support for the perpetrators. The Bahrain Grand Prix will be such a sign. That’s the difference.
Nigel
10th April 2012, 7:58
“The alternative was hypocricy. China has many of the same issues as Bahrain.”
If the Chinese GP were following on directly from the Tiananmen Square events, you might have a point. As it is, you’re defending the indefensible.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 8:38
Do you think China’s issues ended with the Tianamen protests? Don’t be ridiculous. In the past month, thirty Tibetian monks set themselves on fire in protest against Beijing’s policies. Where is the outrage over this? Why aren’t people demanding that the Chinese Grand Prix be cancelled?
So don’t try telling me that the situation in China has nothing to do with Bahrain.
Conor
10th April 2012, 10:17
In all fairness, their is very little protest against the race being held in Chine, where as Bahrain has a lot of violence and protest against it. China is a completely different kettle of fish. The reaction of China to a cancellation of the race would have far more reaching consequences for those who protest against it in the country than there is in Bahrain. There is also no point raising tensions with China as it is, may I point out that we may not even be able to run the sport come 2015 unless we keep things sweet with the Chinese Gov.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 10:46
This is not a question of what the protests are about. It’s a question of the consequences of letting local politics decide the future of the race.
The protesters in Bahrain are using the race as a means to an end. That end is democratic reform. The protesters in China are setting themselves on fire as a means to an end. That end is democratic reform. They both want the same basic thing. The difference is in how they are going about it.
If the FIA comes out today and says “We are cancelling the race in Bahrain, because we do not agree with the government’s actions”, then I guarantee you that about two minutes later, someone from an organisation like Amnesty International will ask “Why are you racing in China if you are cancelling the race in Bahrain?”. The FIA will have created a paradox where it is okay to race in China despite human rights abuses, but it is not okay to race in Bahrain because of human rights abuses. Both they and the sport will be branded hypocrites.
Now, I’m not saying that the race in Bahrain should go on regardless of what happens elsewhere. I never have said that, though I think a lot of people over the past year have reacted to my comments without actually taking the time to read all of them, and thus misrepresented what I have said. My argument is that the FIA cannot afford to let sport and politics mix, because of the serious consequences such a move would have. If the race in Bahrain is to be cancelled, then the FIA must find a way to do so that is entirely apolitical. I believe this can be done in one of two ways: 1) wait for the Bahrainis to admit that the country is in no condition to host a race, which is what happened last year, or 2) announce that the reports of ongoing fighting in the country have left serious concerns over the safety to teams and drivers, and so the race will be cancelled.
A lot of people have said that racing in Bahrain will damage the sport’s integrity. But I believe that using the sport to make a political or moral statement is improper (it’s not the sport’s place to make judgement) and will be equally-damaging to the integrity of Formula 1. Therefore, the only course of action is to exit the country apolitically.
Dafffid (@dafffid)
10th April 2012, 12:42
“This creates a very tenuous position for you: you have effectively said that the race cannot be held in Bahrain because of human rights violations – but the race in China can go ahead despite human rights violations.”
He didn’t ‘effectively’ say anything of the sort. Personally I’ve been saying for years that they shouldn’t race in China, that it should never have got the Olympics etc., and go ahead and discuss that as well if you’d like. But his point was perfectly clear and it was about Bahrain. Are you going to write to every academic that ever publishes a paper on any subject and lambaste them for not, in the same paper, considering every other comparable issue?
We can all expand the argument, we can all drag in – perfectly reasonably – other countries: American foreign policy, Russian domestic policy, Indian employment rights – pick a country, there’s something for everyone. But you can’t expect every point to be made by every poster in every post – you don’t yourself. So why throw around ludicrous accusations of hypocrisy, unless you’re simply projecting your own upon others?
If you want to make a point about the FIA not letting sport and politics mix, again, fine – but make that first or make it separately, don’t use the reply button to grind your seemingly endless axes in the face of others. Your language is, as ever, unnecessarily borderline hostile. There’s a fine line between making a valid point about comparisons with China and being an aggressive troll, and not for the first time, you crossed it.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
10th April 2012, 10:04
@Prisoner-Monkeys
Are you actually for real? The royal family in Bahrain is using the race to, as the article says, get a) exposure b) money and c) give the world the impression things are not as the media is reporting. And they may very well succeed given the race will be held in a controlled environment where they can choose what the world sees.
But where does China come into this? It doesn’t! The Chinese government cannot possibly expect the world to form an opinion on the entire country based on a Formula 1 race.
The difference is, Bahrain is a tiny island with 1 million people. A Grand Prix, to them, is the most exposure they’re going to get all year, and it makes it a perfect tool to pull the wool over the world’s eyes.
China is a country with 1.3 billion people. A Grand Prix to them is almost nothing. It certainly does not affect the world’s opinion of them as in the grand scheme of things, the audience they’re getting is tiny.
Protesters in China will always be heard, but those in Bahrain will not. Putting a Grand Prix there is indirectly condoning what’s happening over there and the human rights abuses. And whether you like it or not, this is precisely what F1 does not need.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
10th April 2012, 10:05
And I challenge you to give me reasons to support your argument against mine rather than resorting to picking apart my phrasing.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 10:23
@damonsmedley – So, a situation where protesters are setting themselves on fire is a perfectly acceptable state of affairs, but a situation where protesters are clashing with police is not? Don’t you think that’s a bit of a contradiction, if not very backwards? Saying “It’s okay – China is a bigger country than Bahrain” is not an acceptable reason.
I’m not saying that Bahrain should go ahead in spite of what is happening. I’m saying that if the race is to be cancelled, it should not be cancelled for political or moral reasons. The minute that the FIA announce “We are not going to Bahrain because the government is oppressing its people” is the minute that some other activist group will come out and say “Well, you’re not going to Bahrain, so why are you going to this country with these problems?”
The first, last and only reason why the Bahrain Grand Prix should be cancelled is because the state of affairs represents a threat to the safety of teams, drivers, the media and spectators.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
10th April 2012, 10:35
@Prisoner-Monkeys But it goes further than that. F1 will be supporting the government by going to Bahrain, which is absolutely terrible for the sport’s image. I don’t think anyone knows what the backlash could be from this. F1 has its public image and a large portion of its fanbase at stake.
I think F1 can make a strong case for itself even if it did cancel the race for moral/political reasons. In this case, people’s lives are being put at risk so F1 can get its race fee cheque. And the government wants exposure for its image and of course for advertisers. So that’s why I think it’s different to China.
And I didn’t say it like it’s OK because China is bigger. I meant that Bahrain is using F1 as a political tool, whereas China isn’t.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 10:51
@damonsmedley – Ultimately, that doesn’t make any difference. But if Formula 1 decides to make a political or moral statement about the situation in Bahrain, then it will be all of two minutes before someone, somewhere, will demand to know why Formula 1 is not making the same political/moral statement about another country, like China, regardless of the differences between the two countries. And that could be just as damaging to the sport as staying in Bahrain.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th April 2012, 11:03
Bahrain is organised by the government and is being used by said government for political ends (in contravention of the FIA Statutes – specifically Article 1, which the Turkish GP podium incident of 2007 demonstrated was meant to be applied broadly).
China is organised by a semi-private organisation, with the government merely providing funding (as per most races on the calendar). China may not be in a good political position, but it hasn’t broken any of the FIA regulations yet. For that matter, the people who got F1 to China have been convicted of fraud connected with that act; it is unlikely that a protest against the race would be interpreted as a protest against the government when the government itself views the race with the sort of divided attitude (nice tourism benefit, shame about the price) that is typical of most races on the calendar.
This is why F1 is stuck in the Chinese contract irrespective of any ethical opinion it might hold, and why it cannot go to Bahrain without breaking its own regulations or making a political statement. Its very presence or absence is that statement, thanks to the actions of the organisers. That would apply even if everyone in Bahrain were best friends with one another.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
10th April 2012, 20:51
Thank you @Alianora-La-Canta! Much better phrasing of my point, and you’ve also given clear reasons. Interested to see the response now…
JCost (@jcost)
10th April 2012, 10:52
Why do you keep putting Bahrain and China in the same frame? I think they’re quite different. China is not a democracy and their population still faces limited rights but it’s very different from a family autocracy disguised as a Constitutional monarchy.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 11:07
@jcost
There are two reasons:
1) At their most basic, conceptual level, the issues faced by Bahrain and China are essentially the same. Both are dictatorships. Both oppress their people.
and
2) If I can connect the dots, surely someone else can. You’ve seen the reactions to what is happening on Bahrain. It’s not hard to find other people on the internet who feel the same way about China. So if the Bahrain Grand Prix were cancelled, it would take all of two minutes for them to pounce on it. And do you really think they’re going to back down if you argue the finer points of difference between the situation in Bahrain and the situation in China?
JCost (@jcost)
10th April 2012, 11:20
China, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Swaziland, North Korea are all de facto authoritarian regimes? Are they all equal?
France, US, Greece, South Africa, Pakistan, Brazil, Venezuela are all democracies, can you put them all in the same basket?
Tommo
10th April 2012, 11:22
You’ve called other people ignorant, but I think treating this as a problem at the ‘conceptual’ level is ignorant. Deciding to hold the F1 race is not about taking the moral high ground, it’s about not making the situation any worse than it already is.
Has there been widespread protest about holding a grand prix in China? Is holding the grand prix in China likely to greatly exacerbate underlying social tensions?
Probably shouldn’t take the normal PM troll bait, but oh well..
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 11:29
Really? Because I’m reading this, and it clearly demonstrates that you have no idea what is happening:
The protesters in Bahrain are not protesting against the actual race. They’re protesting against the government’s reasons for holding it. They’re protesting agaisnt what the race represents. They claim that the government is trying to use the race to make the world believe that law and order have been restored in the country, ignoring the protesters’ grievances in the process. That’s what they’re protesting against. If it were the football World Cup, or the Olympic Games instead of the Grand Prix, they would be protesting against the same thing. It’s not the race they have an issue with – it’s the motive behind holding it.
Tommo
10th April 2012, 11:39
….
So they ARE protesting against the race, and it is HIGHLY LIKELY to increase social tensions?
Of course they’re against what the F1 represents rather than the F1 itself, where have I ever said otherwise? You do have a habit of making stuff up/putting words in people’s mouth.
mvi
10th April 2012, 12:17
In case you missed it, have a look at Alianora La Canta’s comment a few paragraphs above. Quite interesting about the differences!
matt90 (@matt90)
10th April 2012, 13:11
Yes… that’s pretty obvious, and I have no idea what your point is. So as far as I see, Tommo’s point still stands.
And anyway, people would be uncomfortable with any other major sporting event going forward too. As people were in China for the Olympics- because unlike the Chinese Grand Prix, that was actively being used by the government to make a political message, hence seeing a lot more opposition than the Chinese GP has ever seen.
Nigel
10th April 2012, 20:46
It’s really quite simple.
Like it or not, the race is a political issue in Bahrain; it’s not in China.
In Bahrain there is a serious possibility of the political conflict affecting the race, and risking the safety of the participants; in China there isn’t.
I have no love for either regime, but that is entirely beside the point.
HewisLamilton
10th April 2012, 21:58
The situation ion China has absolutely nothing to do with Bahrain.
Matt (@agentmulder)
10th April 2012, 5:08
Playing politics won’t get anyone anywhere. Once you start saying F1 cannot go to Country X because Y political/moral wrongdoing happened Z units of time ago, it opens the floodgates.
Should Germany be denied a Grand Prix because of Hitler? Should Japan be denied a Grand Prix due to their atrocities during WWII? Should Russia be stripped of their future GP because of Stalin? Should my country (the United States) and most of Europe be denied a Grand Prix because we enslaved Africans? Let’s look more recently.
Should Brazil be denied a race because a tiny minority tried to kidnap a driver? How about China, which had a famous crackdown in 1989, and still continues to repress to this day?
Now most people would read these and say “Of course not, those issues are in the past,” or in the case of China and Brazil, many like to think these are isolated flare ups and nothing more. But how in the past are they really, how small are these flares? We still have neo-Nazis, we still have racists and bigots of all types. China still censors their internet, Brazil still has thousands of poor in slums. And yet F1 remains. The second the FIA tries to justify removal of a race on moral and/or political grounds, a fair argument would open up that few countries should have the right to a race. If you can cancel one event based on a moral issue, why not cancel others for various issues.
The only clean way to do this is to state emphatically that the FIA believes the situation in Bahrain to be an unsafe one. Unsafe for the teams, the drivers, the staff, and all the fans from around the world who would attend the event. Once they start shoehorning in bits about viscous police or hooligan protestors they lose credibility.
Steph (@)
10th April 2012, 10:04
I’m sorry Matt but that is completely different because that is history. If Hitler was still in power of course we wouldn’t hold a sporting event there….oh no, wait…we did do that. Sorry, I forgot that humanity lacks humanity at times.
Racists and bigots are true of every country so therefore it isn’t a geographical issue. As for China, I don’t think we should race there either but that race isn’t in doubt so there’s little to be achieved by starting up about it right now (because like I said we’re a pretty useless species), China isn’t being quite so openly brutal with its bloodshed and Bahrain is using this race as a political statement unlike China.
The second F1 forgets about its audience the second F1 ceases to be any sort of entertainment. It’s a sport. There are more important things than F1 getting its money from contracts etc.
Given that there have been threats against safety from protesters and both sides are using the F1 race as a political tool I think the idea that it will be totally safe is either very naive or just a lie.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th April 2012, 11:10
Not to mention the organisers have joined in the “political tool” thing, which is technically an auto-ban offence in and of itself, as far as the FIA Statutes are concerned.
scratt (@scratt)
10th April 2012, 10:09
@prisoner-monkeys : I live and work in China, and will be going to the Chinese Grand Prix, and sitting with my Chinese friends. There simply is no comparison between Bahrain and China. You might as well say that we should cancel the US GP because of US foreign policy…
drmouse (@drmouse)
10th April 2012, 11:19
I have to agree that using political arguments would end up with no country elligible for holding a race. Look at USA’s use of Guantanamo Bay and you can justify cancellation of races there on moral/political grounds. The same could be said of many countries. It all depends on your perspective.
I personally don’t want to see a race in Bahrain. This is for 2 reasons:
1) I don’t think the situation is safe for the teams/drivers/press/spectators.
2) I believe the authorities would lead an even more brutal crackdown to try to ensure the security of the event, leading to further human rights abuses.
The first reason is the one I think the FIA should play. I don’t think F1 should openly use political motivations as it looks like they are supporting one side or the other. However, the second reason is the main one I think the race should be cancelled.
Disclaimer: This is my personal oppinion, made with the limitted information I have about the situation.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 11:38
Thank you, @drmouse – somebody finally understands my point.
Tommo
10th April 2012, 11:47
Half the people here are saying F1 shouldn’t play politics..
JCost (@jcost)
10th April 2012, 15:16
Either way, F1 will be playing politics. (i) Racing will mean partnering with Bahraini authorities on their PR stunt (ii) cancelling will mean, for some, judging Bahraini authorities handling of an internal issue.
But F1 has the option to cancel the event because “evidences found on the ground make it impossible to race in Bahrain”. They don’t have to put their real feelings on paper, there are 10 million ways to say “we’re not racing” and F1’s reputation will be intact.
I do not expect F1 races to be held only in Paradise but what’s going on in Bahrain is too much to bear, there’s no point. As fans, we wants to see as many races as possible but many, if not the bulk, of us are against the race…
Tommo
10th April 2012, 11:24
It’s not just safety of the teams though. Is holding an F1 race likely to increase social tensions? If the F1 race doesn’t leave a positive impact on the local area, there’s no point.
Chris v S (@iamthef1andonly)
10th April 2012, 18:18
You cannot put sport in a bubble and say we should not politicise it or that sport should not have a political impact – the fact is it does, we have to deal with the world as it is, not as we would wish it to be. Sport as much part of life as politics, economics, art or any other facet of human existence. None can exist in a vacuum – they are all inter-related because they are all fundamentally part of life. So sport impacting politics, impacting economics means we should attempt to draw lines about where it is acceptable to go and compete and where not.
But that does not mean the calendar needs to be made up of 21 Swiss Grand Prix. For sure it is hard to draw the lines because there is a spectrum of countries with different attitudes to human rights and there are many points of view. From Syria to Bahrain to China to Russia to the US to the Western Europe and there are those in the world who would put the above spectrum of countries in reverse order and would in their mind be just as right as I am in mine. But that is not to say that the Sport’s governing body should not attempt to draw those lines, even knowing the end result will not be perfect. It is not good enough simply to say “that’s difficult and we’ll never please everyone to hell with ethics – let’s just go racing”.
Jose
10th April 2012, 1:44
Call off the race, Bernie.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th April 2012, 1:45
It’s also worth noting that a cancellation of the race within 3 months of its due date leads to its automatic removal from the following year’s calendar unless force majuere is deemed by the FIA to have occurred. This is due to Article 5.6 of the F1 Sporting Regulations. The organisers can’t prove force majuere, only suggest it (if they feel that’s appropriate). Bernie, thanks to the separation of commerce and sporting powers enforced by the EU rulings of 2001, can only stop the event if he isn’t paid or some other financial element of the contract is breached (something which nobody has accused the Bahrain organisers of doing). The FIA appears to be attempting to establish Bahrain as a model country in terms of what good things a country can get if it does what the FIA wishes of it, as a means of encouraging other Middle Eastern countries to follow suit. So even if Bahrain itself contributed little to the FIA, the knock-on effects of a strong presence in Bahrain could lead to the FIA getting a lot of money from other countries. The latter may not be proven but its actions imply that, given that there were better choices than Bahrain for the WEC race and that, unlike F1, doesn’t have a Bernie-style commercial director participating in the selection process.
In short: the organisers won’t cancel because they want a race in 2013 even if 2012 proves impossible.
Bernie won’t cancel because he can’t (whether he would is a moot point).
The FIA won’t cancel until the last minute because it has psuedopolitical and financial reasons to avoid weakening its strongest point in the Middle East.
I believe there will be an increase in violence in the week leading up to the Bahrain Grand Prix due to the GP being used as a political tool by both sides (and the organiser race advertising), enforcing cancellation if nobody has done so beforehand. Still, I reckon the freight will arrive before the cancellation note does.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
10th April 2012, 1:53
They did it last year. The race was scheduled to take place on 13 March. It was cancelled at the request of the Bahrain motorsport foundation on 21 February. The same thing can happen here, and I suspect that is the FIA’s end-game. They don’t want to cancel it themselves, because that would mean taking a political stance. They will do it if they absolutely have to, but I think they’d rather the Bahraini authorities admit that the country is not safe and that the race should not take place. This way, the sport and the FIA remain apolitical. And with widespread protests across the country, force majuere still applies.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
10th April 2012, 11:23
As you said, the Bahrain motorsport foundation cancelled. That’s the regional branch of the FIA. It doesn’t say in the F1 regulations which bit of the FIA needs to determine that force majuere applies, only that some element of it must do so for the relevant exemption to apply.
In any case, cancelling due to the race being turned into a political tool isn’t “taking a political stance” because the organisers got involved in it, which makes the whole thing an automatic deal-breaker (without the cancellation exemption being applicable – the organisers could have chosen not to go on the “UniF1ed” campaign that breaches FIA Statute Article 1, so by definition cannot be force majuere).
As previously stated, the organisers can’t declare force majuere by themselves; only the FIA can decide that. All the organisers can do is advise that it might be applicable, and they know they’ll lose their 2013 race if they do so due to the regulations, so why would they declare?
TED BELL
10th April 2012, 17:54
JUST DROP BAHRAIN FOREVER….
Time to give up on Grand Prixs being run in middle east countries. They are such a mess, who in their right mind would want o travel there? F1 is just a toy for the wealthy and is just out of place there.
There is enough interest globaly for Formula One to set its roots in another place, another country and create another fan base where F1 itself doesn’t become the tool of madness that it presently is in Bahrain. Got to Hell Bahrain fans don’t want F1 in your country anymore.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
11th April 2012, 16:48
Abu Dhabi manages to run a race trouble-free. It might not be terribly exciting but that’s an artifact of circuit design – the Middle East hardly has a monopoly on circuit designs unsuited to F1.
TheJudge (@thejudge)
10th April 2012, 2:34
It’s all about the MONEY! MOnaco,Spa,Malaysia,China,Korea -all of them.
Once it was more or less natural sport,then came bernie and now ,if you have enough billions,you can have a race in your back yard. Just e-mail Eclestone.
Jorge Lardone (@jorgelardone)
10th April 2012, 3:27
I think Ecclestone is a CANCER for formula 1 sport.
Nick.UK (@)
10th April 2012, 2:56
Can somebody fill me in on the money situation of Bahrain circuit owners. I’m sure I read something a while back that those in Bahrain are significant shareholders in CVC or some other company who has shares in F1. This race would have been dropped permenatly I think if there weren’t so many money connections to the sport. Bernie Ecclestone just seems to hump the legs of Bahrain simply for the money.
Personally I find it disgusting.
Guilherme (@guilherme)
10th April 2012, 3:11
@nick-uk
I know that the Bahrain ruling family owns 40% of McLaren. I’m not sure