Bernie Ecclestone: No team can be forced to go to 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
F1 chief executive, Bernie Ecclestone has said that no team can be forced to take part in 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix if they do not feel comfortable due to the turbulent conditions in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
“If the teams don't want to go, then we cannot make them,” said Ecclestone.
Bahrain GP is going to be held at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on April 22, 2012 and there have been a lot discussions about this event as the country is facing the chaotic situation of public demonstrations and civil unrest.
Moreover, as the race weekend is getting closer, the conditions are worsening.
It has been reported by the Guardian that one of the team principal has expressed that FIA should call off the race event in Bahrain in order to ensure the safety of all the F1 teams because of blazing social distress.
“I know we keep saying it but we really are in the hands of the FIA, the commercial rights holder and race organisers here to make the right decision. And of course they must be made for the right reasons; commercial and political factors must not be allowed
to compromise anyone's safety,” one team source told the Daily Telegraph.
John Yates, ex-Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner who has been monitoring the security issues in Bahrain has said that only some of the areas have been hit by protest and violence while 95% of the country is safe.
He also said that every arrangement will be made to ensure the protection of all the teams and the spectators during the race.
“Anyone who invades the circuit is putting themselves in danger, putting the drivers in danger, putting potentially other spectators in danger,” said Yates.
Furthermore, Ecclestone said that every necessary step will be taken for the security of all the contenders and the audience.
He added that media has played quite a negative role about the race in Bahrain while he advised that it should not make up stories of its own and should quote only what is reality.
Meanwhile, FIA have declared that they are persistently monitoring the conditions of Bahrain.
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