Just days after the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) declared it was safe to reschedule the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2011 the future of the event now finds itself in total disarray.
First, Mark Webber expressed his disapproval when he said, “It’s obvious that the parties involved have struggled to reach a decision but sadly I feel that they still haven’t made the right one.”
And in the days that have followed the dissent has grown to a stage where it’s virtually untenable to race in Bahrain in 2011.
Former FIA whipping boy President, Max Mosley, pointed out the WMSC broke its own rules by altering the 2011 calendar before gaining approval from all the teams. In an interview with BBC Radio4 Mosely said, “I don’t think there is the slightest chance the grand prix will actually happen. Apart from anything else, you cannot change the calendar in the way that it’s proposed to change without the unanimous agreement of the teams.”
FOTA, the body representing 11 of the 12 current F1 teams, has thrown its hat into the ring by writing to the FIA demanding the plans to return to Bahrain this year are scrapped amid fears of safety and logistical concerns.
Bernie Eccelstone, too, can see the reality facing F1 on the matter, telling the BBC, “Hopefully there’ll be peace and quiet and we can return in the future, but of course it’s not on. The schedule cannot be rescheduled without the agreement of the participants—they’re the facts.”
Meanwhile, Carlos Gracia, FIA Vice-President, and the man driving the reccomendation to reinstate the Bahrain GP is standing by his report. He told Spanish newspaper AS, “I can only speak about what I saw and that was complete quietness. I had official visits and interviews, but I also walked down the street and I was in shopping centres, always with a feeling of complete normality.”
The report has been leaked; you should check it out (this link will automatically download 2.8mb PDF). Under the current circumstances, as a report with any credibility, it makes a great tourist brochure.
So, F1 is living up to its reputation as a bit of circus and it looks like Bahrain will get scrapped, again, and the Indian GP will return to its original 30 October slot.
[Pics: Red Bull/Getty Images]
UPDATE 9 June: There’s been plenty of speculation that the Bahrain GP has been cancelled once again, but so far there’s been no official word.