GP 2 cancellation may hint at Formula One future in Bahrain
As people flooded the streets of Manama, they continued protests and riots for the third day in Bahrain. Every day life in Bahrain has come to a standstill and the fate of Formula One races in Bahrain seems to be on the line. The GP 2 series organizers have
already confirmed on Thursday, that the Asia series rounds for this weekend have been cancelled because of the political riots continuing to take place in the country.
With some GP 2 race teams already in the country in such grave circumstance, the announcement came early Thursday morning. GP2 Asia Series organizers officially cancelled the 3rd and 4th rounds of the GP2 Asia series in Bahrain. The statement was issued
at 2:55pm local time on Thursday:
‘Following the current events in Bahrain, at the request of the Bahrain Motorsport Federation, it has been decided that the remainder of the meeting which was supposed to take place this week at Bahrain International Circuit is cancelled due to force majeure.’
The statement was followed by well wishes for the GP2 teams present in Bahrain. Mike Gascoyne, the Lotus technical chief, also tweeted, “GP2 race has been cancelled in Bahrain. Big uncertainty about testing there next week. Hope our GP2 guys get home safely."
The masses in Bahrain are asking for jobs, better housing and release political prisoners. "We're not afraid of anyone, and we're not leaving until they meet our demands," said the 20-year-old Ali al Ameer while participating in the protests. However, the
Foreign minister, Khaled bin Ahmed al Khalifa, noted in a statement issued by the ministry "that the protests could happen in any free, democratic country". With the protestors and government coming to blows, numerous causalities have been reported since the
start of these riots. The violence has put teams preparing to land in Bahrain in a precarious position.
The situation does not seem very encouraging with only a fortnight left in the Formula 1 testing rounds. Adding to the situation is the fact that the opening round of the F1 World Championship is also to be held in Bahrain from 11th to 13th of March. This
has left organizers with no track to kick-off the season. A meeting of the sporting rules committee of FOTA was already scheduled in Barcelona along with the pre-test runs. Sources suggest that the subject of the pre-tests and opening of the championship have
been added to the agenda.
Despite the assurances of the Bahraini government for the safety of “everyone associated with this event”, the Formula One chiefs may decide to cancel and relocate. This in itself would be a monumental task. The season opening of the grand prix requires
months of preparations and with only a few weeks left before race time it would be close to impossible to do so in a new place. Compounding the situation further is the fact that race freight for most of the teams is now on its way to Bahrain. It seems likely
that organizers will probably not schedule a replacement race elsewhere. It is highly likely that the season will start in Melbourne, Australia.
John Booth, the team principle of the Virgin Racing, has similar views, "Our sea freight, like every other team's, left for Bahrain a month ago, and a lot of the equipment in the sea freight is vital of the running of the cars," he said. "So to run it somewhere
else would be very difficult."
The chances of the opening event getting cancelled have increased manifold after the cancellation of the GP2. For now everyone is looking to Barcelona to see decisions will be made about the opening of the 2011 season, unsure if Bahrain can host the event
in March.
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