UniF1ed

As teams and drivers land in Manama, demonstrators gathered at the Shiite-populated village of Al-Deir, near the airport. "Peaceful, peaceful, our revolt is peaceful," they chanted, as others held up banners that read "Down Hamad" in reference to Bahrain's king. 

On the Wednesday of the teams arrivals, there has been described by a risk assessment group as "a vehicular rally". It is said to be set to take place along two of the main highways that lead up to the airport when most F1 personnel are due to arrive. There are many suspicions that the protesters will now take their cause closer to F1 as the race weekend looms, starting with first practice on Friday morning.

The violence in Bahrain started as an anti-government protest (as part of the revolutionary wave of protests in the Middle East and North Africa ) where it was initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and equality for the majority Shia population, and expanded to a call to end the monarchy of King Hamad following a deadly night raid on 17 February 2011 (known as Bloody Thursday).

When asked by a reporter if he thought Bahrain was politically stable enough to hold the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix on April 22, Bernie Eccelstone was unequivocal in his response. “There’s nothing happening (in Bahrain), I know people that live there and it’s all very quiet and peaceful.” Hours later, clashes broke out between protesters and security forces after the funeral for Ahmed Ismail (who was shot during a demonstration in March). Some of those in attendance threw firebombs at police and the authorities responded by firing tear gas and birdshot to clear the crowds.

Amnesty International paints a much different picture to Eccelstone. In a report released recently, the London-based human rights group said not much has changed in Bahrain since authorities violently cracked down on the tens of thousands of protesters who took to the streets early 2011. The report notes that the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), which was set up by the government to investigate, found that Bahraini authorities committed “gross human rights violations,” including excessive use of force against protesters and widespread torture. But the government’s attempts at reform since then have been unsystematic. Amnesty International was quoted; “The Bahraini authorities have become more concerned with rebuilding their image and investing in public relations than with actually introducing real human rights and political reforms in the country,” the report reads.

Now whether Formula One should be returning to Bahrain on moral grounds, the sport’s top officials and drivers are staying silent. Last year though, former world champion Damon Hill said F1 “must align itself with progression, not repression,” and current Red Bull driver Mark Webber stated “it’s probably not the best time to go.” Former FIA President Max Mosley also criticized the decision to hold the race (writing in the Daily Telegraph) “By running the race, they [the Bahrain authorities] hope to show the world the troubles were just a small, temporary difficulty and everything is now back to normal. By agreeing to race there, Formula One becomes complicit in what has happened.” 

It was later that Jean Todt was quoted on saying: "It [the Bahrain Grand Prix] has a date on the calendar and was always planned. There has been some controversy about it, but the FIA is a sports organisation. We are only interested in sport -- not politics." 

I guess no one has advised Bernie and Jean that by having the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix run, they are essentially playing right into the political game. When a country is on the possible brink of a civil war, it is not Bernie Eccelstone's (or the FIA / FOM's) right to step in and essentially give assistance to one side. Yes, a city and country may pay millions to host a Grand Prix weekend but stand to gain much, much more by having it. Agreed, the violence will be ever present to the teams, drivers and paddock (which I give my full and absolute to every single man and woman there) but what many people do not see or think about is the human rights movement which this is all about.

So many fans are concerned for their teams and drivers welfare that I can see a remarkable rise in Twitter activity. Fan watching for any updates on the status of the situation, to make sure that all is well. But as many fans are concerned with the teams and drivers, there seems to be less and less concerned with the welfare of the Bahraini people. 

2011 we saw the people of Bahrain take a peaceful approach with a peaceful protest. In wake of the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, the people are again planning a peaceful protest  but will history repeat its self? Will the Bahraini authorities be so concerned with the personal good of the paddock that it will erupt in violence against it's on people? The way that I see it is that the fans should not just be concerned with the few thousand people that travel with the F1 paddock but also for the 1,261,835 people that live in Bahrain. 

If you what to know the best perspective on what is going on in the minds of the drivers and teams, is was said recently by Red Bull's Mark Webber; 

“Ultimately, we are all human. We have morals, we have ways we see things. We like to think that people and situations are fair and everything is, as I suppose, correct as we would like it to be. … As a Grand Prix driver, I’m contracted to the team, they’re contracted to the FIA. They hold a 20-round world championship. We go to those venues and race. And that’s where it is.”