There are bigger things than F1 at stake in the Middle East, says David Coulthard in his latest column.
It was, as my new BBC co-commentator Martin Brundle pointed out, “absolutely the right decision for F1”. To go ahead with next month’s Bahrain Grand Prix would have been totally inappropriate given the events we all watched unfold last week.
This was not the Green Party turning up with placards at Melbourne Park to protest at the noise, as they do every year. This is a country fighting for its future and its entire identity. No sporting event should come before a nation’s stability.
It would certainly have not have felt right going there and calling my first race, getting caught up in the minutiae of events, knowing what had happened out on the streets.
'I sincerely hope that the race returns to Bahrain in the near future'
And then there was the whole issue of security, which would have been difficult to guarantee given the renewed threats from protesters on Sunday that they would target the race.
I do not think, however, that in making this decision, Formula One has made a rod for its own back. Some people are saying that any political dissident with access to the internet and an axe to grind will now be able to cause mayhem by targeting a race.
Bahrain is a country of just over one million inhabitants. It is a welterweight in terms of its size and therefore vulnerable to civil unrest, particularly when that unrest is spread across a region and forms part of a larger problem.
I sincerely hope that Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, who has been charged with reaching out to disaffected parties, is able to build a new political consensus and that the race returns to Bahrain in the near future, because I have nothing but good things to say for it.
'I have always found the Bahrainis to be extremely welcoming'
When it was first announced that Bahrain was to host a race I confess I had to look it up on the map. Now it has global projection. Its reputation as a place of business will be severely dented, I fear, which is a shame.
Speaking purely from personal experience, I have always found the Bahrainis to be extremely welcoming, right from the first moment I arrived at the airport in 2004.
In fact, it was even before that. I remember that the race organisers organised a ‘Taste of Bahrain’ event at Monza that year, to promote the event, and there was a guy there playing the bagpipes, which made me feel right at home.
But, unquestionably, it was the right decision to cancel next month’s race.
As for whether we will see it rescheduled, I don’t see it as a huge issue, like others do. Where there is a will – or rather, money – there is a way. I can see it working as a double-header with Abu Dhabi without a problem, if that is what Bernie Ecclestone wants.
'Yes, McLaren will have an extra two weeks of factory time, but so will Ferrari'
As for the sporting implications, this is one area where I don’t necessarily agree with Martin Brundle. He suggested yesterday that it may play into the hands of teams which are struggling. From the feedback I am getting, it seems Ferrari and Red Bull are currently at the head of the queue so, by implication, he is suggesting it could help Mercedes and McLaren. In other words, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
I don’t want to put a downer on the British guys, but it will be the same situation for everyone. Yes, McLaren will have an extra two weeks of factory time, but so will Ferrari. And with just one test to go – in Barcelona from March 8-11 – they won’t have any more track time to test parts or work on reliability. The original test schedule still applies.
David Coulthard writes for the Daily Telegraph in the UK, and is co-commentator for the BBC’s Formula One coverage as well as an ambassador for Red Bull Racing.
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