Ahead of skirmishes last night with police, Bahraini protesters bore placards
with such slogans as, “Don’t race on our blood”. Shia activists have
demanded the cancellation of the grand prix over Bahrain’s poor human rights
record and an alleged culture of police brutality.
But Ecclestone, F1’s commercial rights holder, replied: “During this week the
protesters have a platform to work from. During the whole year they don’t
act – they only ever do something when the race is on.”
The determination of Ecclestone, even in his ninth decade, to confront this
type of challenge to his beloved enterprise is undimmed. As he put it
yesterday, having famously once sold second-hold cars in London’s Warren
Street: “You can’t keep a good used-car salesman down.”
But the unrest gathering on Bahrain’s streets last night represented a test of
even his formidable authority. Many demonstrators, angry at the slow pace of
reform since the violently crushed revolution in 2011, blocked roads with
burning tyres as police responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades.
A spokesperson for the Bahrain Centre of Human Rights claimed that birdshot
had also been used against protesters in the largely Shia town of Sitra.
Trouble was especially acute in Duraz, where the smouldering tyres sent black
smoke into the air, while witnesses said that wood, sticks and bricks had
been piled up to block nearby roads.
British diplomatic sources yesterday described Bahrain as a “mixed-up place,
where in many towns the security situation has grown considerably worse”.
They stressed that main opposition movement Al-Wefaq continued to support the
grand prix, but their analysis of the security dangers was supported by a
travel warning from the US Embassy in Manama, which advised its nationals to
avoid scenes of protest because of the threat of car bombs and Molotov
Cocktails.
The travel of journalists has been closely monitored by the authorities this
week, with police patrol cars installed on every stretch of motorway, and
the ITN team of five led by Omaar were last night ordered to leave Bahrain
after trying to report on the violent clashes.
An ITV spokeswoman confirmed that they had all been issued with media visas,
highly difficult to obtain here outside grand prix week, but had since been
detained and “asked to leave the country”.
After the chaos surrounding the race 12 months ago, which took place against a
backdrop of riot police and petrol bomb attacks, the situation this year is
less febrile but still precarious.
Given the spotlight on the small island kingdom, the crown prince of Bahrain
walked through the paddock for a second consecutive day to stress to foreign
reporters that the country was addressing its human rights issues, while
justice minister Khalid Al Khalifa asked for the race not to be politicised.
Bahrain pays £26 million a year to host this race, with a recent survey by
polling giant Nielsen concluding that 77 per cent of the population were in
favour of Formula One coming here.
That figure was hard to square with the young men who felt strongly enough
yesterday to torch tyres and to daub graffiti on the walls of Manama which
read, “Our blood is our sacrifice to the nation” and “It is my right to
choose my destiny”.
And yet the immediate destiny of F1 in this strife-torn corner of the Gulf is,
under the aegis of the single-minded Ecclestone, already sealed.