“We can’t say ‘you’ve got to go’ – although they would be in breach of
their agreement with us if they didn’t go – but it doesn’t help.
“Commercially they have to go, but whether they decide to or not is up
to them.
“I’ve had no one say anything other than ‘we’re going to be racing in
Bahrain’.”
Although he was unaware of the details of the bomb blast which occurred in
Ever, a Shi’ite village outside the capital Manama, he said, at this stage,
the race was still on.
“Yes. If the people in Bahrain are happy that they can run the event,”
he said.
“We’re not involved in any of the politics in Bahrain, over who is right
or wrong.
“When you go to somebody’s country you have to respect exactly how they
run their country and the laws of that country.
“The National Sporting Authority in that country are the people who can
say ‘well, we think we’d prefer not to run the event’.
“The promoter can also say we don’t want it because there is too much
risk.
“We’ve an agreement with the FIA that Bahrain is a round of the world
championship, and we’ve a contract with the promoters, but I want to make
clear it’s nothing to do with finance.”
Before Bahrain there is a race in China this weekend and Ecclestone said he
would be seeking talks with FIA president Jean Todt.
“I’ve spoken to Mr Todt, we keep in close contact, and he’s going out
there, so we’ll have a chat then, and we always meet with the teams,”
he said.