FIA: Bahrain decision due on Sunday, no delay confirmed to Bernie Ecclestone – Formula 1
FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) officials have confirmed that the final decision on Bahrain Grand Prix will be announced on Sunday and no delay is officially decided with Formula 1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone.
The statement from the FIA officials read as, “As far as we are concerned, a decision is still due on Sunday. Because it's a weekend, it may be Monday morning that we announce the decision, but we haven't spoken to Mr. Ecclestone about any delay. The decision
will be a joint one between the FIA, Formula One Management and the Bahrain authorities”.
With the uprising talks from Bernie and a message from the Bahraini activists suggesting that the race decision should be postponed, the above statement clearly suggests that FIA is inflexible on their current decision.
Initially Bahrain was scheduled to be held in early February as a season opener, but due to rising disturbance in the country, the race was postponed. Bernie was first to voice that the struggling nation will be visited by the Formula 1 world if the conditions
are normal.
Initially Bernie decided that the race should be held in November which would have made this season the longest. Another idea was to reinstate the desert race in the middle of the summer breaks in August, but the idea was dropped due to high temperatures.
Later, Bernie and FIA’s chief, Jean Todt, decided that the decision on Bahrain Grand prix being held or not will be made on the 1st of May. But as the decision date came close, a message from the Bahraini Activist and the current condition forced
Bernie to say that the decision date should be relaxed and the nation should be given until June to settle down.
For now the decision on Bahrain will be made in France by Bernie, Todt and Bahraini officials. From the current situation of Bahrain and the fact that Bernie and Todt are not always on the same page, Bahrain could be axed from the 2011 Formula 1 season.
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