The latest skirmish took place in Salmabad, a village six miles from the
centre of Manama and 11 miles north of the Bahrain International Circuit in
Sakhir where F1 is scheduled to return after a year’s absence.
The FIA, motorsport’s world governing body, confirmed last Friday that the
race would go ahead despite pressure from human rights groups and
politicians.
But further sporadic violence in outlying villages over the weekend has left
many in the sport uneasy.
The grand prix has thrust Bahrain into the international limelight and the
suspicion is the protesters will now take their cause closer to F1 as the
race weekend looms, with one protest planned for Tuesday at a village near
the international airport called Al Dair.
Alzayani said such protests could happen “in any country in the world”.
“Why is it any different here?” he asked. “Look at what happened in London
when we had a guy jump into the Thames and stop the Boat Race.
“Do you want to tell me there is no threat on the Olympics in London?
Should we stop the Olympics?
“What’s the difference? There are idiots everywhere in the world. Does that
mean we just sit at home and lock ourselves up?
“We’ve been in Formula One for seven years and we will be in it for much
longer than that,” Alzayani said.
“We wouldn’t take a decision on a gamble. It’s a calculated decision, we’ve
weighed up our options and we are committed to the grand prix and to its
success.
“I don’t think anything drastic will happen. It’s not Syria or Afghanistan. I
don’t see why anything should happen this year that hasn’t happened in the
previous years.
“The race will be positive to the country, positive to the economy which has
suffered a lot in the last year and a half, and it will put things in
perspective.
“A lot of the damage that has happened to Bahrain post the events of last year
have been driven by perception, by people not necessarily writing what they
see or hear.
“For us, we will be happy for the teams and the journalists and the media to
come to Bahrain and see it and then write about it.
“Things are not 100 per cent, but they are not as bad as people make them out
to be.”