The man with the big pockets Bernie Ecclestone, has vowed to slot the Bahrain Grand Prix in the summer break between between the Hungarian Grand Prix (29th-31st July) and Belgian Grand Prix (26th-28th August). Speaking to the official F1 website he said: With average temperatures a full 10C higher than when the original race is in March, the Highest Temp, could be up on 38C, Ecclestone also added that Re-scheduling the race would only be possible if the political situation improves and the race is safe to go ahead. Ecclestone played down suggestions that F1 should not race there for political reasons: So what do people think, does Bahrain a country which is denying its people a democracy and kills its people for rebeling, deserve a race, when does the pursuit of money cross the line and should this race be left. Thanks for reading and please leave your opinion, this is my own work i can safely say .
Voted No. Even if the situation is sorted, it wont be easy to fit Bahrain into the calendar. The only time is the summer break, and the temperatures would kill the drivers.
I know its not really an answer but: Depends on the outcome of the protests, if they end 'well' then its unfair to punish the innocent.
They shouldn't have the race under the current regime, it's almost like giving a thumbs up to the ruling elite by holding it. Plus it's a **** race anyway of course like Glorious says!
I think F1 has to stay out of politics where possible, because at the end of the day it is just an industry! If the money is there, its not a surprise they are trying to take it. However, regarding the safety issue. Putting it in the summer break means that teams get less of a break, which isn't easy on the engineers, who I imagine already have long hours. Also, in the higher temperatures, are the drivers going to be safe, dehydration can already be a big problem, and nobody wants to lose concentration at 200mph. The other concern is whether the country itself will still be in a state of turmoil, or whether it will be safe enough to host an international sporting event.
Plenty of people over the years have said that Silverstone is crap (not me I hasten to add, though even I as a supporter would have to admit that I have witnessed a few dull races there), but would we have been happy if the British GP had been lost, as it so very nearly was? I'm not sure that just saying "the races there are always crap" is a good enough reason for not wishing to go back to a track, Bahrain or anywhere else. Surely if that were the only reason, they could make changes to the track to try and improve things (as Silverstone did). The only reasons for me to say 'No' would be either if I thought that the people of Bahrain, not just the ruling elite, really didn't want the race there (the truth is, I really don't feel I have enough informaton to know one way or the other) or if I was unsure whether anyone could guarantee that the risk to the team personnel having to go there had subsided. And at the moment I don't see how they can guarantee that, so I would have to say no.
So the objection to the race is purely on the grounds of safety to the racing team employees and nothing to do with human rights?
Yes, for the moment, on the basis that F1 has no direct connection with or effect over human rights. No-one complained about the human rights of the Bahrainis before now. Why was it ok to hold the race last year, or the year before, but is not ok now? If F1 stays away it should do so only on safety grounds, and only until Bahrain have sorted out their governance issues and decided for themselves whether they wish to continue to stage the race. Who am I, as a westerner largely ignorant of their internal politics, to say otherwise? If a significant dissident voice came out of Bahrain itself calling for the race to be scrapped, then I would have a reason to reconsider.
Does Bahrain deserve to be back on calendar? It has been on the calendar since 2004 Does the Bahrain race deserve to be rescheduled ? So we have an article about the inclusion of a race venue and then we have a poll about when it should be included. So are the people that vote “NO” saying that the race should not have been rescheduled and gone ahead as planned? The objections to Bahrain seem to fall into 3 categories 1. it is boring 2. civil liberties 3. local unrest What venues are acceptable?
From a purely viewer/fan perspective Bahrain is clearly unpopular.It's sterile,boring,just another well funded,staged,pointless exercise. From a social/political perspective it raises more questions than answers. (as do many other F1 venues).
If they can sort out there problems, aka go back to the way they was, scraping there government in the process, which is what caused this, I would welcome it back. For driving on it's a pretty good and challenging track. For racing, it's utterly terrible. Bernie reckons they could slot it in in the summer break, but it'll be much too hot for the drivers me thinks. Well, they could go and see what the temperature is like, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's called off again. Then again, they could do a 1 hours quali season to see who wins the race, as quali in the old system allowed drivers to stop
It's one of the dullest tracks in the season but if (and only if) the civil unrest gives the desired results to the people of Bahrain then F1 should look at staging the race at some point this year.
Trouble is the people of Bahrain are against the royal Family and its the Royal Family who set up the GP and fund it
Even though its not one of my favourites, I think it should be rescheduled, as long as the politics of the country are solved.
