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Ecclestone urges rethink on Bahrain
Source: Agencies |
June 8, 2011, Wednesday
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FORMULA One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has called for a rethink, and a fresh vote, on last week's controversial decision to hold the postponed Bahrain Grand Prix in October.
Max Mosley, former head of the governing International Automobile Federation and a long-time Ecclestone ally, also weighed in yesterday by saying the calendar could not be changed without the agreement of all the teams and the race had no chance of going ahead.
The FIA announced on Friday that Bahrain, first scheduled as the season-opener in March but postponed due to civil unrest, would be held on October 30 in place of the Indian Grand Prix. The inaugural New Delhi event was moved to a date yet to be agreed as the last race of the season in December.
Ecclestone told The Times newspaper that it would be better to move Bahrain to the end of the season, and suggested a fax vote could be organized at short notice to overturn the FIA decision.
"The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen," Ecclestone said of the situation in Bahrain, where police continue to arrest Shi'ite protesters. "Better that we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go. If they are not, then we don't go and there are no problems."
The decision to race in Bahrain has triggered widespread opposition, with human rights campaigners outraged by the move after anti-government protests prompted a bloody crackdown in the Gulf kingdom.
Lose money
F1 teams are also against extending the championship into December, while fans who had booked non-refundable flights and holidays to India stand to lose money.
Ecclestone said money, with the Bahrainis paying an estimated US$40 million to host the race this year, was not the issue.
"It is whether it is safe and good to have a race, that is the issue," said the 80-year-old. "We can change this by the October 30 date by having a vote by fax if necessary. It can be done, and fast."
Mosley, who left office in 2009 but remains influential within the FIA, agreed. "He (Ecclestone) is right. I don't think there is the slightest chance the grand prix will actually happen," he told BBC radio.
Meanwhile, FIA President Jean Todt has said that Formula One will have 20 races next year and not the record 21 listed on a calendar published last week.
The Frenchman, straying into an area normally controlled by Ecclestone, could not say which race might be axed although Turkey already has an asterisk against it.
"Absolutely not," Todt told Spain's Diario Sport in an interview carried out at the MotoGP race in Barcelona at the weekend when asked whether there would be 21 races.
"There are 21 dates, but the championship will be with 20 grands prix. We don't know which one will go, but the world championship will be 20 races," he emphasized.
Max Mosley, former head of the governing International Automobile Federation and a long-time Ecclestone ally, also weighed in yesterday by saying the calendar could not be changed without the agreement of all the teams and the race had no chance of going ahead.
The FIA announced on Friday that Bahrain, first scheduled as the season-opener in March but postponed due to civil unrest, would be held on October 30 in place of the Indian Grand Prix. The inaugural New Delhi event was moved to a date yet to be agreed as the last race of the season in December.
Ecclestone told The Times newspaper that it would be better to move Bahrain to the end of the season, and suggested a fax vote could be organized at short notice to overturn the FIA decision.
"The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen," Ecclestone said of the situation in Bahrain, where police continue to arrest Shi'ite protesters. "Better that we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go. If they are not, then we don't go and there are no problems."
The decision to race in Bahrain has triggered widespread opposition, with human rights campaigners outraged by the move after anti-government protests prompted a bloody crackdown in the Gulf kingdom.
Lose money
F1 teams are also against extending the championship into December, while fans who had booked non-refundable flights and holidays to India stand to lose money.
Ecclestone said money, with the Bahrainis paying an estimated US$40 million to host the race this year, was not the issue.
"It is whether it is safe and good to have a race, that is the issue," said the 80-year-old. "We can change this by the October 30 date by having a vote by fax if necessary. It can be done, and fast."
Mosley, who left office in 2009 but remains influential within the FIA, agreed. "He (Ecclestone) is right. I don't think there is the slightest chance the grand prix will actually happen," he told BBC radio.
Meanwhile, FIA President Jean Todt has said that Formula One will have 20 races next year and not the record 21 listed on a calendar published last week.
The Frenchman, straying into an area normally controlled by Ecclestone, could not say which race might be axed although Turkey already has an asterisk against it.
"Absolutely not," Todt told Spain's Diario Sport in an interview carried out at the MotoGP race in Barcelona at the weekend when asked whether there would be 21 races.
"There are 21 dates, but the championship will be with 20 grands prix. We don't know which one will go, but the world championship will be 20 races," he emphasized.
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