F1: Strange bedfellows in Bahrain
Posted: February 17, 2011 Filed under: Formula One | Tags: 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship, Bahrain, Bahrain Grand Prix, Egypt, F1, F1 cancellation Bahrain, F1 countries, F1 in the third world, F1 markets, Formula One, instability, Middle East, politics Leave a comment »
Placid exterior; roiling underneath? Photo: Force India
Politics and sport make strange bedfellows. US Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren used to read the sports section before reading the news, because he wanted to read about man’s accomplishments before his failures. We agree, except we skip the news section entirely.
But sometimes the news creeps up on us. After watching Egypt topple a leader, unrest spread throughout the Arab world and reached Yemen and Bahrain. F1 has scheduled a test in Bahrain for March 3, and a grand prix race on March 13. A GP2 event in Bahrain was canceled due to unrest.
Now, political instability is nothing new to sports. We remember Olympic boycotts and the Los Angeles riots of 1992 (we were there; it sucked). India and Pakistan used cricket as as proxy battle in their nuclear testing dispute. This, however, is different. Yesterday Bahraini police stormed a protest camp and three deaths were reported. Sports, it seems, is on the back burner in Bahrain. F1 is a triviality by comparison.
We can’t say that Bernie Ecclestone should have thought twice before scheduling races in nations with limited (or, in the case of China, non-existent) democracy. We can say this: in 2011, there is no US Grand Prix, no French Grand Prix, and no Austrian Grand Prix. However, we do have Dubai, Bahrain, China, South Korea, and Singapore. All bastions of freedom.
Where are those sports pages….
UPDATED (2/18/11): Tensions worsened in Bahrain early on February 18, after army units fired on protesters in Pearl Square. Scores were injured as bullets rained down from all directions. If F1 has a conscience (and we don’t know if it does), it is time to reconsider the March 13th race in Bahrain. To race in Bahrain is to embrace a monarchy that looks rather unsavory at the moment, given that its soldiers see fit to shoot unarmed civilians. We’ve posted before about our concerns over F1 embracing China, given its human rights record. We hate to see our sport continue picking the wrong horse…
