Bahrain Grand Prix to be cancelled?

losthorizon

Major unrest happening in Bahrain at the moment is putting the staging of the Bahrain Grand Prix in doubt. A few protesters have already been killed by police and the opposition are boycotting parliament.

Kevski

Bernie's already on it! - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/8325676/Formula-One-chief-Bernie-Ecclestone-fears-Bahrain-Grand-Prix-may-be-targeted-by-anti-government-protesters.html

I don't know if the race will be cancelled but there is supposed to be a pre-season test taking place there the week before which may not go ahead due to the unrest.

Grim.

GP2 practice for today has been canceled due to lack of medical personnel

Kevski

Grim. wrote: »

GP2 practice for today has been canceled due to lack of medical personnel

Cancelled altogether now.

Muff_Daddy

If it doesn't go ahead, I hope they never go back there again.

Soulless venue and extremely boring circuit, can't honestly remember anything exciting happening there in the 6 years.

Grim.

aside from it being a boring track it would be wrong for f1 to go there now it would be massively disrespectful to those who have died in the protests

losthorizon

Grim. wrote: »

aside from it being a boring track it would be wrong for f1 to go there now it would be massively disrespectful to those who have died in the protests

I agree but when have those running F1 ever been in touch with the "common man".

Robbo

Grim. wrote: »

aside from it being a boring track it would be wrong for f1 to go there now it would be massively disrespectful to those who have died in the protests

It's not like Bernie has been too concerned with having races in democracies or anywhere that respects human rights. Once the local despot or junta can pony up, Tilke will have the tarmac down in no time.

frostie500

It's definitly not looking good. Will Buxton wrote his account of what is happening(he is in Bahrain for the cancelled GP2 Asia race) and it's quite clear that the F1 race is in grave danger.

Add to this that Bernie said

“We’ll make a decision by Tuesday or Wednesday. If things stay as they are today, the answer is no. If it’s not quietened down by Wednesday, I think we will have to cancel probably. If you are making travel arrangements, I’d say don’t.”

hmmm

There'll be international outrage if it does go ahead so I expect a fudge where it is postponed till later in the year. Bernie has to mind F1's reputation and he also has to be nice to the local regal despot who pays for the circus. I just hope we don't have Eddie J kissing the behind of the King as he walks around the grid.

amacachi

Grim. wrote: »

aside from it being a boring track it would be wrong for f1 to go there now it would be massively disrespectful to those who have died in the protests

COUGH APARTHEID COUGH!

:P

Corsendonk

Grim. wrote: »

aside from it being a boring track it would be wrong for f1 to go there now it would be massively disrespectful to those who have died in the protests

I think it was wrong when they went there in the first place. Human rights record of Bahrain wasn't great but the dollar signs made everyone forget that, now that we have a little more trouble than people can ignore its suddenly disrespectful.

Ghost Train

amacachi wrote: »

COUGH APARTHEID COUGH!

:P

Well 86 to 91 no South Africian GP for that reason

Really hard to know what will happen with Bahrain GP, safe thing to do would be to cancel it. Maybe GP would bring more media attention to the situation though

amacachi

Ghost Train wrote: »

Well 86 to 91 no South Africian GP for that reason

Really hard to know what will happen with Bahrain GP, safe thing to do would be to cancel it. Maybe GP would bring more media attention to the situation though

Thought it lasted a bit longer than that. :P

I've heard they're planning on calming things down over the next few days so we should know soon enough I suppose.

losthorizon

Ive read quite a bit about Bahrain over the last few days -really should F1 be going to places that are in effect run by dictators? The army that opened fire are foreign mercenaries and its quite obvious that the King doesnt trust his own people enough to let them serve in the army.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/0219/1224290287267.html

Autosport

Bring the race to Ireland

It would be wrong if they did have the race in Bahrain but Bernie only sees the €€€€€€ :rolleyes:

Cookie_Monster

So a chance to dump a ****e gp and replace it with a proper, older, non-Tilke designed track?

Happy days

smellslikeshoes

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

So a chance to dump a ****e gp and replace it with a proper, older, non-Tilke designed track?

Happy days

Not a chance, if it's cancelled this year the season will just start in Australia, there isn't even close to enough time to replace it with somewhere else.
And as for next year if it does get cancelled it will just be replaced by another Tilke snoozefest.

antz182

Ficus wrote: »

Reports from Bahrain are saying that the race is going to be postponed and will become the second last race of the year.

This makes sense, as there's too much unrest in the region at the moment, to go race now would just look stupid, that being said, the teams will then have to go from India to Bahrain then onto Abu Dhabi in the space of 3 weeks, while it's logistically possible to have 3 races in 3 weeks, wont that put too much of a strain on the mechanics, etc?

antz182

LIGHTNING wrote: »

The mechanics are always under too much pressure! They will get the job done they always do, they rarely get enough praise for it.

True, which is why I was impressed with Red Bull or whoever it was that put the mechanics names on their cars one weekend. However surely this is going to beef up the team's arguments that to have 20-25 races and start doing NASCAR-lenght seasons, two race teams of mechanics are justified, which will bring costs up

lord lucan

Definitely off. Right decision too imo.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/9402871.stm

smellslikeshoes

Bit disappointed that we end up having to wait an extra two weeks but it's nice to see the Australian GP back to where it should be as the first GP of the year. Hoping for a classic there this year as it could be one of it's last.

antz182

Right call tbh, just wonder if there'll be an extra test now that Bahrain is off. Pity we have to wait an extra 2 weeks, but it just wasn't worth the danger to fans, personnel and drivers, not to mention the highjacking of the event. As for the Oz GP, well I can't see it being moved from Melbourne, as Dorna are putting pressure to hold the MotoGP race at Philip Island the week before or after the F1, thereby creating a "festival of speed" and making both events viable, also isnt the Aussie V8 series the support race? Surely they don't want to see an event dropped.

dsmythy

So we'll return to Bahrain after 100's of people have been murdered by their own powers and the old dictatorship is back on track in a few months. So moral of them

Rattlehead_ie

YAY so the teams have decided to change car chasis and run the race in 2 weeks time

frostie500

The FIA made a brief statement last night in relation to the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Having been curiously quiet throughout recent weeks the sport’s governing body released the following statement:

The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile supports the decision of the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain International Circuit to postpone the scheduled first Grand Prix of the 2011 season due to be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain on March 11-13.

This decision is the outcome of the close co-operation between the FIA, Formula One Management, the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain International Circuit

The FIA is Formula One’s governing body and is responsible for the international calendar as well as all matters of safety relating to the stakeholders involved in Grand Prix racing.

Interestingly Jean Todt is still to make a statement in regards to Bahrain. The FIA President has limited his exposure to just a brief quote while visiting Dublin. Todt will have to walk a political tightrope in the coming weeks. He has long had support from the Bahrain Motor Federation and its President, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Sia Al-Khalifa. The Sheikh is the president of the CIK and is also a member of the World Motorsport Council.

While navigating political minefields is obviously a crucial role of being the President of the FIA one must ask the question as to whether the silence emanating from Palace de Concord was really the best message that the FIA can be sending at these times. Motorsport needed a strong governing body over the last fortnight and the impartiality of the FIA could easily be called into question due to their unwillingness to enter into public discussions on the matter.

The FIA say that they are responsible for the safety of stakeholders involved in Grand Prix racing but their decision to stand idly by and wait for the Crown Prince to announce the postponement of the Bahrain Grand Prix shows that they bow to the commercial realities of the sport before the safety of its members.

dcmraad

Ficus wrote: »

That article is a load of old tosh. My Dolby is talking out of his arse. The majority of the residents love the race, iv never spoken to anyone from melbourne who had a bad thing to say about it, even if they werent racing fans. It brings in a huge amount of cash to the local economy and does wonders for tourism to the area, with many tens of millions being spent by travelers.
As for the "Dwindling Crowds", the race weekend gets well over 300,000 people through the gates, making it one of the best attended f1 events on the calendar, especially impressive considering the cost of the tickets.
Silly reporting like this really grinds my gears.
Frostie500, will you not send them your cv or something so we dont have to read this tripe any more.

I was at the 2000 Melbourne race. It was a fantastic weekend, was a great circuit, no issues anywhere, and a party atmosphere, and I got to run down the main straight after the race for the podium celebration

Lucy Lu

I am a huge F1 fan living in Bahrain and I fully support the race being cancelled. It is right for so many reasons (political, safety...) and one being it would be wrong to bring the F1 glamour circus to town when this country is in mourning.

I had tickets booked for the race and the Bahrain International Circuit rang me today to apologies it was not going ahead and to organise a refund.

losthorizon

Lucy Lu wrote: »

I am a huge F1 fan living in Bahrain and I fully support the race being cancelled. It is right for so many reasons (political, safety...) and one being it would be wrong to bring the F1 glamour circus to town when this country is in mourning.

I agree totally.

Interesting article in the Irish Times. Again its Mark Webber who makes the most sense ( he comes across as a decent human being). One protester even makes a link between the uprising and Formula 1. The end of the article is the most interesting. Shia muslims are the majority population in Bahrain 70% to 30% but are ruled over by a Sunni Royal Family who hold power and are the minority in parliament. Because of this they suffer in all areas of society

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0222/1224290511214.html

ctrl-alt-delete

Just watching BBC News there, didn't catch it all but think you can listen to their interview with Bernie on the website,

He is still trying to fit Bahrain in somewhere, but the temperatures are a hindrance to most dates,

Anyways the bloke on the news bulletin finished by saying you can hear the full interview on the website, and listen to Bernie's plans to make it rain to liven up things in f1 by using sprinklers!

I hope that is a joke! will have to go listen . . .

dor83

You can hear the whole interview in the F1 podcast, Bernie is interviewed early on(about 4 or 5 mins in) but the podcast lasts over an hour as it is a season preview and has a few interviews.