Bahrain GP Cancelled

Tweaker said:
It is a strange situation, the drivers, the teams, the circuit all have contracts, so who has the final say?
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I think the FIA will pretty much dictate what happens.

What the public have to understand is that F1 is one of, if not the most, money oriented sport in the World. Money is pretty much everything in F1. It is an elitist sport if I ever saw one. In fact money is so important in F1, that if you don't have enough of it, you can't enter it. This goes for drivers, teams, sponsors, etc.

In most sports, if you have the talent/ability, you will get accepted into a team/event - football, tennis, athletics, etc. In F1 however, you can be the most talented driver in the World trying to break into the sport. If you are bringing no money into the team, then the team is likely to hire a lesser driver, who is bringing money.

So, when Bahrain is offering a fair whack of money to host a GP, the F1 circus will most definitely go there, UNLESS there are extreme circumstances.

Earlier this year, there was just such an extreme circumstance, where Governments around the World had advised their citizens not to go to Bahrain due to serious unrest. Unless something extreme happens in October, this GP will definitely take place...with or without Mark Webber.

I'm just surprised to hear that Mark Webber still believes that the GP won't take place. I can only think that he knows something that we don't.
 
Psymonkee said:
Are the drivers allowed to go 'on strike' as such? :)
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The drivers through the GPDA could probably decide whether to race or not, but I expect it will be the teams that have the final say. They are paid to do the job at the end of the day.
 
Lets look at it another way: when was the last time that a GP was staged, and a team or a set of teams decided not to race?

I think the last GP was the US GP, when only 6 cars took part. I think that was in 2005. However, that was purely on safety grounds. The teams attended the track, however, Michelin could not guarantee the safety of their tyres on the Indianapolis track.

Other than that, I can't remember a GP being boycotted by a set of teams.
 
The issue is that the people of Bahrain now have a time and place to stage something. It would only take a few to serious mess up the GP, in the days leading up the GP if anything were to happen, people may not want to go.

Also, if the foreign office announce that Brits shouldn't travel to Bahrain, then i dont think any of the crews have to go, or can get fired for not going. So the teams may use the crews as a get out if they dont want to go, or the teams may not be able to go if they haven't got the staff.
 
Tweaker, you are right. Any extreme circumstance, could once again, put a stop to the Bahrain GP - a repeat of what happened earlier this year. Perhaps this is what Webber thinks will happen.
 
saddler said:
Funny how Webber believes F1 should rake a moral stance over human rights in Bahrain, didn't seem to bother him in China....
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No, its only when people kick up a fuss or its currently in the news that the vast majority of people PRETEND to care about a damn thing.

Its a location, not a political statement, get over it. Its a race, you were supposed to race their this year, one year its political unrest, another year its a hurricane, its all outside FIA's hands and the simple fact is that they were happy to race there at the beginning of the year had their not been protests going on. Would they be unhappy to race in the UK if students decided to camp in at silverstone to prevent that race going ahead?

When its not in the news no one gave a crap about the rest of Bahrain, no one gives a crap now, people just don't like being the only one to be honest and say they don't give a crap.

Its a race, they are drivers, theres not much more needs to be said. Extra couple weeks on the road, I'm crying on the inside for your jetset lifestyle you chose and love to do, that you continue to do and frankly the vast majority of those involved will be glad of extra work, probably higher pay, bonus's, a few extra days off thrown in for the offseason.


ANyone else also thinking cynically that the drivers/teams will just make a fuss so they can demand more money if they are "forced" to go through with the race?
 
drunkenmaster said:
No, its only when people kick up a fuss or its currently in the news that the vast majority of people PRETEND to care about a damn thing.
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This is true.

Some of the worst atrocities in the World are happening in some African countries, where kids are being trained to kill people. Women are getting raped. And after the rape, their limbs are being chopped off. The men are being killed in cold blood.

I believe that about 24 people died during the unrest at Bahrain. This pales into insignificance when you compare this with the 1000s dying in Africa due to the political unrest.

How strange that nobody seems to be up in arms about what is going on in Africa, yet when a poultry 24 people die in Bahrain, the whole world is disgusted.

You want more unreported crimes:

One in three of the 4,000 women questioned by the Community of Information, Empowerment and Transparency said they had been raped in the past year.
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http://www.rape.co.za/index.php?opt...-worldwide-2010&catid=65:resources&Itemid=137

Strange how F1 never boycotted South Africa.

I think Drunkenmaster has it spot on in that there is a lot of "be seen to do/say the right thing", going on here...both by followers of sport and the governing bodies.
 
It has to be taken off the calendar, the negative publicity alone might cost them viewers, what if Vettel has won the championship by then, numbers will be terrible. Is it really worth it
 
I think the biggest reason that the F1 community got particularly 'shocked' by the events in Bahrain, is that there were direct threats to the Grand Prix itself, that those involved in the various uprisings, would use a world-media event, to try and make a name for themselves and by doing so, put the safety of drivers/crew at risk. Thus they decided not to go.

It was only after that, that the bleeding hearts started bleating on about taking a moral stance and all that other rubbish. All the atrocities that go on in places like africa, short of genocide on a continental scale, we will never stop that from happening, there are too many people in africa that like that sort of thing. But it really isn't something that is for discussion in a sporting forum.
 
I agree Ceryndrion, but then is it not acceptable for F1 teams and drivers to state they do not wish to go somewhere where there is a direct threat to them?

Regardless of any moral stance or anything, if hosting an event is dangerous, then those in danger have the right to say they don't want to go.
 
Of course, no sportsman should be required to practise his sport in a dangerous arena, however, to say that Bahrain is dangerous is a little over the top.

There were some protests. Yes. They seem to have calmed down. The state is well Policed and unless there are further deaths, I can't see how any F1 driver can complain. I mean, for crying out loud Barrichello comes from Brazil where almost anything goes, when it comes to crime.
 
The FIA effectively has no choice but to accede to the teams' demands - although its World Council voted through the date changes last week, it did so without the full written agreement of the teams, which is constitutionally required
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So, if they don't get consent from all the teams then it can't go ahead.

That makes the council's vote worthless then :o
 
Am I missing something but in moving the date of the Indian Grand Prix haven't they kind of screwed over people that have bought tickets, booked leave from work, booked hotels, booked flights, etc.
 
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