Bernie Ecclestone has been saying that Formula 1 should give Bahrain more time to revive its Grand Prix. The country has a deadline of May 1 to ask for a new date for the Grand Prix. There seems to be little enthusiasm in F1 circles for a race in the Gulf kingdom, even if it is possible to run races back-to-back with Abu Dhabi and push Brazil back.
The real question is whether F1 wants the association with Bahrain to continue. Bahrain did serious damage to its international reputation as a result of its repression of protests. The country is under martial law. If Formula 1 associates itself with a regime that has failed to respect basic human rights, is it good for the sport? Do sponsors want to be associated with such activity?
Back in the 1980s the French teams withdrew from the South African Grand Prix because of opposition to the apartheid policies of the government at the time. The same could happen if a race did go ahead in Bahrain.
The fact that the regime says that normal life has returned to Bahrain is to be treated with caution as there are also reports of a number of abuses. There is a clearly a propaganda fight going on and Formula 1 must be careful not to become a pawn in that battle, which would happen if the race returned. Going to Bahrain would make F1 a target for protests as it would provide an opportunity for the opposition to express its unhappiness at what is happening. It is a recipe for disaster – and F1 has nothing to gain from it – apart from money.
The friendly image that Bahrain nurtured has evaporated amid the images of tear gas, tanks of the streets and protesters being shot by the security forces. That friendly image was always something of a veneer, and we knew that at the time, but it is fair to say that no-one in F1 believed that the government would be capable of some of things that we saw happening. Thus restoring Bahrain’s image is going to take a very long time – and will require some clear moves towards a more democratic society, which the current government does not seem to want to consider.
Some would argue that there are other countries where F1 races where there are other human rights abuses: notably China. This is probably true, but that does not make visiting Bahrain the right thing to do. There seems to be little point in trying to hold the race this year.
Agreed Joe, very well put. Bernie seems to refuse to let it go, but its maybe just the way he speaks in candid snapshots to media outlets.
I agree.
I believe Bernie should step aside. Age does seem to be hampering his thoughts. Totally out of touch.
“The real question is whether F1 wants the association with Bahrain to continue.”
McLaren are heavily associated with Bahrain, and toyed with the idea of being associated with Libya too.
It seems good enough for the chairman of FOTA.
Karen,
You must be a Daily Mail reader. Looking for the negative. At the time of the Libyan sponsorship thing, Libya was deemed to be acceptable in western society. Today that has changed… Ditto Bahrain. I suppose that if one day Qatar blows up you will tell that one should not buy Volkswagens and Porsches and one should not shop at Sainsburys…
Apart from the human rights abuse issues, it is a complete yawn of a race.. F1 should forget this venue..
this website says Abu dhabi has offered Bahrain its place in the Formula one calendar and AD will instead be the season finale.
http://www.f1arab.com/2011/04/11/bahrain-to-host-the-last-race/
F1 stat,
Perhaps, but it is not likely to happen, so we do not need to trouble ourselves with that.
As Bahrain is one of the few countries that can afford the huge hosting fees for an F1 race, I can see why Bernie isn’t quick to abandon them.
I feel very strongly that F1 should not go to Bahrain. The interests of “Sport” pail into insignificance when compared to the human rights abuses practiced by this regime. I will be boycotting the race if it happens (by not viewing- it is my only weapon), I hope that hundreds of thousands of people who care about human rights do the same. People have to say enough is enough, otherwise when will it stop? To quote the song… “if you tolerate this, then your children will be next”.
From today’s Christian Science Monitor:
“A military court today sentenced four Shiite demonstrators to death, and handed life sentences to three more, for the deaths of two policemen. Rights activists say the detainees were tortured and denied legal rights.”
Whatever the rights and wrongs of this case, there should not be even the slightest consideration by anyone in F1 of going back to Bahrain in the foreseeable future.
You do raise an interesting point Joe; should F1 only go to places whereby human rights are observed?
Actually what I find more interesting is that in a world of capitalism and making money for the sake of it, the perception of the sport is governed by the rule of the sponsors, who need to impress moral standards due to incrimination by association.
Ironic that the desire to make money may push F1 to take a moral stand.
Also, what does it say about where the power lies? Yes ruler-on-high-Bernie will always have the last word, but if his words are dictated by the corporate bods, does it mean that the egg is telling the chicken that it comes first?
Thanks for the comment Joe. As you know from my remarks on the previous conversation. I personally don’t think F1 should be associated with Bahrain in this or any other year until its politics change.
With Bernie always on the lookout for lucrative contracts, F1 has been pushed into places where, to be frank, they have no reason to be. Up to now, when things have been quiet, that’s passed more or less unnoticed. But now F1 has to grasp this nettle. Quite apart from moral concerns, to which we are all sensitive (including the teams), our sport has become image-led. Going to countries where they put medical workers on trial for assisting wounded demonstrators is not the image F1 needs. If Bernie won’t act, the FIA must.
If it went ahead would you go?
kookiez,
I will make that decision when I have to. No point in speculating beforehand.
Joe
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/
Australia’s ABC Foreign Correspondent program recently ran a program on Bahrain called Kingdom Undercover
Watching that convinced me that F1 has no business being in Bahrain until Martial Law is lifted or better that the Kingdom becomes a democracy. I don’t think teams sponsors would want to be associated with the current regime.
Bernie doesn’t seem to care who he associates with most of the time. Although who can blame him, the worlds media has forgotten about anything happening in Bahrain aswell.
May seem cynical but it seems like the media just gives airtime to the highest kill count at any particular moment these days.
Is this the latest bit of sparring between Ecclestone and the FIA?
FIA say the deadline is 1st May, Ecclestone says June!
Martin,
Probably.
Isn’t the government just about to execute two dissidents? I am more than certain they had a fair and just trial.
Bernie’s comments show just how disdainful he is: this could all blow over in a couple of weeks; given another month thongs will be back to normal.
Why doesn’t the FIA do something of integrity and withold the sanction for racing of any sort until legitimate governments are in power in these countries? Like always, International Federations like to take the money and waffle about bringing the sport into disrepute whilst sanctioning promotional events in despotic countries.
Maybe the weather is making me grumpy, but when Bernie makes pronouncements like this it makes me realize just HOW irrelevant motor racing (and sport generally) really is!
Personally speaking, I would like it just to forget Bahrain for at least this year, if not forever. The idea is nice, but the track is not. Last years race was boring, as well as the year before. Not even bringing in the political and human rights or political aspects, it is just better to leave it as a memory. There are so many new tracks on the verge of breaking through, and I believe F1 should look to them. It is the top form of auto racing and it should be at the top tracks. Bahrain was boring, Valencia was boring, Istanbul was boring. Keep the good ones and work from there. Don’t just add circuits for the heck of it. As you have said before Joe, onwards and upwards. And may the people in bahrain be safe
Not just China Joe. Singapore, Turkey and Malaysia all have fairly appalling human rights records, as do Britain and American to tell the truth. It is a hard one, because obviously the sport and the FIA itself are apolitical by definition, but some elements of the media would just use it to attack F1. Can we justify not going to Bahrain because they killed some protesters, when we’re happy for the Chinese to kill Tibetan Monks, the Turks to brutally repress their Kurdish population and Malaysia to still imprison and use corporal punishment on it’s LGBT community? As for brutal crackdown on protesters, wait till anybody tries to protest peacefully anywhere in London today.
Jack,
I am sure that if you look hard enough you can find a reason to exclude every country in the world…
Even on a completely apolitical level, I’m sure the teams would be eager for a decision, because with the engine and gearbox durability rules as they are, the amount of races we have is quite important in their forward planning.
@F1 Stat
I think that was just an opportunistic move by Abu Dhabi to try and get the coveted season-ending spot back.
F1.com announced this week that travel packages are now open for Abu Dhabi 2011, so I guess we can almost definitely rule out a date change for that event.
Thanks for keeping a view on Bahrain here Joe.
I very much agree, that after the way things turned in Bahrain I find it inconceivable to think of having a GP there any time soon and without the government backing down and doing what their Crown Prince said he wanted to do, bring in discussions and do real reforms towards democracy and mutual respect.
Sure China and a whole load of countries are pretty bad, but that is not the issue here (thats like reasoning that being inconsistent in handing penalties makes it impossible to give Ferrari a hefty one for team orders, nonsense). The issue is Bahrain and it just should not happen.
As an afterthought. Even if the F1 community would find itself going to Bahrain, shouldn’t safety concerns block that? In the current state of affairs, I would be afraid some individuals or groups would be all to inclined to try some kind of action around the GP. And with the amount of people involved that would not be all that hard.
Some very bad stuff going on there. But its happening in China, Russia too.
Cobbs,
Given that Bahrain is a US ally and CNN tends to toe the party line in the US, these reports seem unlikely to be propaganda from Iran…
@joesaward
But people are ‘bandwagon’ jumping, for something that hasn’t happened yet, it’s just speculation that the Bahrain GP may take place.
It is however not speculation that McLaren are part owned by the very regime some ‘bandwagon’ jumpers seem to detest so much, yet it seems perfectly OK to attack the Bahrain government for trying to put on a race, but not for them to part own a team … I bet it would be different if that team was Hispania … I could see the chairman of FOTA saying they shouldn’t be allowed on the grid, and the ‘bandwagon’ jumpers right behind him
[...] Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/formula-1-and-bahrain/ [...]
I think you are a bit dismissive of Jack’s comment, which I second. No one can realistically compare the human rights records in China, Turkey, or Singapore to that of GP nations such as France, or Japan. I just question why Bahrain gets singled out when the same logic would apply to, at minimum, China. I can only assume this is because the world of public opinion has decided that China is too big and wealthy to shun whereas Bahrain is less important.
Part of the issue is that so many people will be compelled to go as it is their livelihood and so it makes it look respectable even when most would wish to be elsewhere. This is the issue when money talks
I’ve just read the new statement from the Bahrain circuit issued today (Saturday 30th) and I feel sick.