The FIA has granted the Bahrain Motor Federation an extra month to decide whether the Bahrain Grand Prix can go ahead.
A statement issued by the FIA said: “The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile, has granted the Bahrain Motor Federation and the Bahrain International Circuit an extension until June 3rd, date of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Barcelona.
“This decision was taken after consultation with the relevant Bahraini authorities and Formula One Management, the international promoter.”
Bernie Ecclestone said last week he wanted the deadline to be extended.
The original deadline expired yesterday. Bahrain has been under a state of emergency since March 15th following protests against the government, which were met with a violent response.
The season is currently set to end in Brazil on November 27th.
Do you think the Bahrain Grand Prix should go ahead? Vote here: Should the Bahrain Grand Prix be held in 2011?
2011 Bahrain Grand Prix
Icthyes (@icthyes)
2nd May 2011, 20:24
Ridiculous. Bahrain is clearly not in any position to guarantee a race this year. It’s almost 2 months already since it was supposed to happen.
Say what you like about if we should go there or not because of the protests; they clearly don’t have the means to do so anyway.
Bernie strikes again. Todt is definitely getting a disapproval from me this time.
Fixy (@)
2nd May 2011, 20:38
It is clear they are trying everything they can to have the race and they are just waiting for the situation to improve even slightly to announce it officially.
BasCB (@bascb)
2nd May 2011, 20:55
Yeah, now they wait so Bahrain can call of the state of emergency and try to get some of those negative travel advices put down.
I just hope they won’t be able to find a spot for it on the calender.
I find it outrageous for F1 to go there after disconsent was not solved but protestors mugged and whole villages oppressed by foreign troops.
And how can it ever be considered safe, if anything just more would be terrorists will feel inclined disrupt the event, kidnap or bomb something or all of that.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
2nd May 2011, 20:56
Why they think it’ll all die down and not re-emerge at the time of the Grand Prix is also beyond me. Unless we’re going to go there with checkpoints, armed guards, etc. which would be a great advert for F1.
HounslowBusGarage
2nd May 2011, 21:58
Agreed.
Supposing they re-plan the race for later in the year and the disruption flares up again so badly that they have to cancel the race for a second time.
It wouldn’t be on the calendar for next year, would it?
Better from Bahrain’s point of view to accept that the race isn’t going to happen this year, sort the situation out to the greater satisfaction of the populace and definitely come back next year.
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
2nd May 2011, 20:50
You can imagine him desperately yanking the puppet strings in the background can’t you…
timi
2nd May 2011, 22:12
why even give them a deadline?
The FIA will just extend it if they haven’t come to a decision again. Bernie seems to be willing to do anything to have this stupid GP
kowalsky
2nd May 2011, 22:19
in order to win this time the gp must happen. He is the good guy in front of the royal families, but he wants to cash in as well. Otherwise he’ll be the moneyless good guy. And we all know, that it doesn’t make bernie happy.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
2nd May 2011, 22:35
Unless this is a crude way of Todt setting Bernie up for a fall…
Calum (@calum)
2nd May 2011, 20:24
F1 can seem so unprofesional sometimes, why does it seem like deadlines don’t matter, they can always be changed. It bugs me. :P
infy (@infy)
2nd May 2011, 22:35
The best businesses are the ones that have the ability to adapt on the fly.
Maciek
3rd May 2011, 0:26
I infinitely curious to know how this qualifies as adapting and when the FIA became a business.
James
2nd May 2011, 20:26
A disgrace. If this was a European venue, it would not be on the calender this year, and would be at risk of dropping off the following year.
Given that the Middle East is extremely unstable at the moment, which will now most likely only be exaccibated following the capture and killing of Bin Laden, the FIA should have said see you next year. Jean Todt has missed a sitter with this one.
Calum (@calum)
2nd May 2011, 20:34
Crazy year so far, and we’re only through the 1st quarter!
Calum (@calum)
2nd May 2011, 20:34
1/3*
butterdori (@butterdori)
2nd May 2011, 20:27
Bernie doesn’t take no for an answer
Scribe
2nd May 2011, 20:34
Completley cowardly in the extreme. Guess this shows Todt’s got no bottle and we can expect Ecclestone to tighten his grip come the concorde negotiations. I’ve already commented many times on why we shouldn’t be in Bahrain but things like this really make you understand how little the arguments matter.
Eccelstone will stop at nothing to protect and increase revenue, the FIA is seemingly powerless to stop him selling our sport to Murdoch, despots, murderes and criminals. I hope FOTA has more back bone.
This should hopefully come to nothing.
BasCB (@bascb)
2nd May 2011, 20:57
Well to be honest, Todt was chosen with big support of his Bahraini vice president and other bigwigs in the region.
So not just bowing to Bernie there.
Hard to say weather FOTA, headed by 60% Bahraini owned McLarens chairman will oppose. Then again, It seems the teams are generally against resceduling this year.
S.J.M (@sjm)
2nd May 2011, 22:01
Theres nothing to be said that hasnt already done so, we’re all just repeating ourselves. Just end the madness and cancel the race, pay the compensation and get on with the season. Stupid.
slr
2nd May 2011, 20:38
The Bahraini government have more important things to worry about than deciding whether to put a race on. Just leave Bahrain alone and wait next year.
RIISE (@riise)
2nd May 2011, 20:38
Can we just forget about Bahrain and not disrupt the rest of the calendar? If they are in doubt then they should hold the race, the must be confident of it.
Mouse_Nightshirt
2nd May 2011, 20:39
Why oh why oh why?
Bahrain has laid its cards on the table as a crackpot dictatorship that will fill its own citizens with bullets at the first sign of dissent. Why are we entertaining these charlatans?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
2nd May 2011, 20:58
More than that, it has shown it can’t even keep its own country in order and needs foreign troops to come in to resolve the situation.
Basingstoke is more ready to hold a Grand Prix than Bahrain.
Ned Flanders (@ned-flanders)
2nd May 2011, 20:51
Money: 1 – Morality: 0
VXR
2nd May 2011, 20:55
We just had a race in China where human rights are practically non-existent. Because it’s not in the news at present does that make all the difference? In China, when you’re asked to go watch F1 you go and watch F1, whether you want to or not.
BasCB (@bascb)
2nd May 2011, 20:58
I think that one race is quite enough, no reason to add to that, is there?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
2nd May 2011, 21:00
Then, if we want a “moral” F1, why don’t we start here? I’m not hugely bothered by going to China, Abu Dhabi, etc. but your argument doesn’t hold water.
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk)
3rd May 2011, 1:05
Well… in a year or so that the largest market for Mercedes Benz will be in China and that China will be the 2nd behind the US in Ferrari sales.
I can agree with you about human rights but I don’t think a Chinese GP will be off the calendar for many years to come; if ever.
VXR
2nd May 2011, 21:02
Shortly we’ll be off to India, where they have a space programme and half the country don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
Todfod (@todfod)
2nd May 2011, 21:36
Easy there buddy. I dont know which part of the world you reside in, but to say that a country cannot hold an f1 race because of socio-economic disparity, is just ridiculous.
I hope you realise that the circuit built in India, was over a 400 million dollar project and its employed thousands of people ‘who didn’t know where there next meal was coming from’. It created employment.. which is exactly what a country with a population of 1.3 billion people needs.
There is nothing wrong with F1 coming to India. It will increase our tourist influx, will employ people involved during the staging of that event, and will be a regular source of income to the labour involved in maintaining it.
I hope you realise that there is a huge difference between staging an event in Bahrain currently, and staging one in India. And please refrain from making such ridiculously daft statements.
VXR
2nd May 2011, 23:34
The £280 million in aid per year that India still receives from the UK government (and hence its tax payers) should help the GP get off to a reasonable start.
India is a country that has 3 times as many billionaires than the UK has and is currently running its own space programme and nuclear armament programme.
Perhaps that is the difference between a GP in India and one in Bahrain?
Rant over by one ******* off UK tax payer.
Alex Bkk (@alex-bkk)
3rd May 2011, 1:23
Ahhh… but think of all that delicious curry you get in return. :)
Todfod (@todfod)
3rd May 2011, 7:22
That still doesn’t answer the question of why a GP shouldn’t be held in India. Does a formula 1 race oppress the poor? Does it worsen an existing situation?
Obviously, you have no idea how badly the 200 year British regime in India shunted our economic growth. Maybe you should educate yourself on the matter. The amount of Indian tax payer money spent on the Battle of Plassey over they years, would currently be worth a few trillion dollars. But dont get me wrong.. we still appreciate the ten quid that comes out of the ‘****** off UK tax payers wallet.’ And by the way, Britain’s criteria for allocating those funds only towards the betterment of national security in areas of strategic military interest. Since, last year India has declined to receive that funding anyway.
Considering that we have a population that is 20 times larger than yours, its understandable to have 3 times more billionaires. What do you think?
This is an f1 site, and I really wouldn’t want to discuss political and economic issues here. Your argument for not having a GP in India still doesn’t make sense, and when I said that you need to avoid making any more daft statements, I meant it.
bobo
3rd May 2011, 8:55
@ todfod: I think what they are getting at is that the political and social elites are responsible for the situation of inequality and that giving India an F1 race means to reward it. I presume they think that India should have to deal with its inequality issue before it is ´rewarded´ in this way. I think they also think that taking F1 to a country legitimises its stablishment. Presumably they have a ptoblem with that.
In a way thy have a point. The Valencia GP has legitimised the leader of the Region, although he was already very popular. It is an area of Spain well known for backhanders and under the table deals and the regional goverment in that part of Spain as been rocked by corruption cases. The President of the region is also being court over a corruption scandal. This was worsened by the fact that Bernie implied that the GP would be conditioned by election rsults.
Beyond the sociopolitical issues, this sort of behaviour also affects what F1 is. I seem to recall that the selection of the company that runs the Valencia GP was a shady deal, and if it was it would explain why they have dfone so little to make improve the race.
Anyway, I speak only (and very loosely)about Spain. I don´t really have an opinion on India, but then the commonwealth games do come to mind…
Todfod (@todfod)
3rd May 2011, 9:29
Actually, they aren’t. It was the population explosion amongst the lower economic strata of society that is responsible for the situation. We just didn’t have enough sustainable economic growth to employ families of 12 people in rural areas. Its a sad situation to be in, but you cannot blame the social elite for the mess.
To be honest, I dont see how hosting a sporting event legitimizes the establishment in any way. F1 is just a sport, and in India, it is a sport of little importance. None of the people here regard it as a ‘reward’, or consider it a barometer of socio-economic equality and progress. At the end of the day it is just a race and nothing more.
The point I was trying to make – Since when did economic progress of a country become so important in deciding its sporting presence? According to this theory, none of the African countries should have hosted the football world cup, and Brazil and South Africa should never have been considered for an F1 GP. Heck .. half the world shouldn’t host or compete in any sporting events by this theory.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
3rd May 2011, 10:44
Fair enough, but don’t expect that those “trillions” would be much more widely distributed than the money is now.
Todfod (@todfod)
3rd May 2011, 11:04
@ichtyes. Agree. Just saying he shouldn’t be ranting on about the generosity of the British government, wihich apparently provided 280 million pounds to ‘kick start’ the GP her in India.
davey (@djdaveyp87)
2nd May 2011, 21:12
[INSERT VARIOUS EXPLETIVES HERE]
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
2nd May 2011, 21:17
To be honest, this is really clutching at straws. I have no issues with the political side of things, I want the race. But this is just embarrassing in itself. I’m not that desperate to see the race.
f1fanboy
2nd May 2011, 22:34
I can just see this changing the outcome of the WDC at some point. Sooner or later a majority of fanboys will beg Bahrain to go ahead so their guy can still be in with a shout of the world title.
VXR
2nd May 2011, 23:44
Oh! You just know that’s going to happen!
Some driver has a bad run in the next few races and maybe that extra one will give them a fighting chance to pull it all back.
Or we’ll have the: “If the Bahrain GP hadn’t been cancelled so-and-so would have easily won it (inserts stats to show why) and so-and-so wouldn’t now be WDC” type moanings.
securityrisk
2nd May 2011, 23:15
Surely any Bahrainy citizen disenchanted by their governance is going to see a Formula 1 race as the epitomy of their rulers’ disdain and it will be a magnet for protest?
Uncle Bob
2nd May 2011, 23:39
why?
VXR
3rd May 2011, 0:13
Because unlike the people of India (apparently), they see it as a symbol of wealth and power for the ruling classes and so it’s an easy target to pour your pent up anger on. Only in Bahrain could this ever happen.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
3rd May 2011, 2:31
I do wonder whether it will improve anything.It’s pointless to force a GP in a place where things isn’t stable enough.