Such analysis supports a recent comment by Damon Hill, the former world
champion, who said: “The question is whether F1 is actually going to be
furthering brutal repression by being an endorsement of the way it is meted
out. I took the view that the sport and the governing body should be
ensuring that they are not hijacked for the wrong reasons. I am not entirely
sure they have cleared that point, to be honest.”
Citizens for Bahrain, a group supporting the grand prix, released a statement
on Wednesday saying “the race unites people, despite political differences”.
They also claimed that it was a crucial support for the Bahraini economy,
although this was vehemently disputed by activists who argued that since the
race’s inception in 2004 it had been recorded in the state budget as a
financial loss.
Todt, as president of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), is
exposing himself to criticism by not attending the most politically
sensitive event in the calendar. Bernie Ecclestone, F1’s commercial rights
holder, will be travelling to the Gulf in an effort to calm tensions.
Ala’a Shahabi, of activist group Bahrain Watch, explained last night that she
had asked Ecclestone if she could visit the Sakhir paddock for talks but was
told that the royal family did not want members of her organisation within a
one-mile radius of the track.