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FIA at last confirms Bahrain race off
Source: Agencies |
June 17, 2011, Friday
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MOTORSPORT'S world governing body ratified the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix on Wednesday following a vote by the World Motor Sport Council.
The FIA published a revised calendar for the remaining races of the Formula One season, with Bahrain absent.
"Following a fax vote of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and, by unanimous decision, the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar has been ratified as originally proposed," said an FIA statement.
The race was first scheduled as the season-opening race in March but was called off amid anti-government protests which saw at least 31 people killed since February.
The FIA then rescheduled the race for October 30 but organizers decided to pull the plug after growing protests from human rights groups.
According to the new calendar, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix - which had been moved to the final round of the calendar - will take place on October 30 and the season will conclude in Brazil on November 27.
Local organizers in Manama finally announced earlier this month that it would be "in the best interest of the sport" not to stage the Bahrain race.
That prompted FIA President Jean Todt to say that the decision to hold the race in October would be revised, after teams objected.
Late Brazilian
Meanwhile, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has defended Lewis Hamilton from criticism, hailing the McLaren driver as a racer just like the late Brazilian champion Ayrton Senna.
"People have been wrong to rubbish Lewis," Ecclestone told the Independent newspaper yesterday when asked about his fellow-Briton.
"What we want is people racing, and all the people who watch it want that.
"So let him race. That's what people like him do. I was very, very good friends with Senna, and if you look at what he did, he was a racer too, and people had to move over for him," said the 80-year-old.
Hamilton has been involved in numerous scrapes and controversies this season, most recently retiring in Canada at the weekend after his car was damaged in a collision with teammate Button. At the previous race in Monaco, he had collided with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Williams' rookie Pastor Maldonado.
The FIA published a revised calendar for the remaining races of the Formula One season, with Bahrain absent.
"Following a fax vote of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and, by unanimous decision, the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar has been ratified as originally proposed," said an FIA statement.
The race was first scheduled as the season-opening race in March but was called off amid anti-government protests which saw at least 31 people killed since February.
The FIA then rescheduled the race for October 30 but organizers decided to pull the plug after growing protests from human rights groups.
According to the new calendar, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix - which had been moved to the final round of the calendar - will take place on October 30 and the season will conclude in Brazil on November 27.
Local organizers in Manama finally announced earlier this month that it would be "in the best interest of the sport" not to stage the Bahrain race.
That prompted FIA President Jean Todt to say that the decision to hold the race in October would be revised, after teams objected.
Late Brazilian
Meanwhile, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has defended Lewis Hamilton from criticism, hailing the McLaren driver as a racer just like the late Brazilian champion Ayrton Senna.
"People have been wrong to rubbish Lewis," Ecclestone told the Independent newspaper yesterday when asked about his fellow-Briton.
"What we want is people racing, and all the people who watch it want that.
"So let him race. That's what people like him do. I was very, very good friends with Senna, and if you look at what he did, he was a racer too, and people had to move over for him," said the 80-year-old.
Hamilton has been involved in numerous scrapes and controversies this season, most recently retiring in Canada at the weekend after his car was damaged in a collision with teammate Button. At the previous race in Monaco, he had collided with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Williams' rookie Pastor Maldonado.
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