Max Mosley warns of sponsorship problems if Bahrain Grand Prix takes place in 2011 – Formula 1 news
Former International Automobile Federation (FIA) president Max Mosley has said that if the FIA decides to reschedule the Bahrain Grand Prix in the 2011 Formula 1 calendar, many of the sponsors might request a removal of their respective logos.
Max claims that if he was still the president of the FIA, he would not have even thought about holding the Bahrain Grand Prix as the country’s current situation is quite unpredictable.
“If I was president today, Formula One would go to Bahrain over my dead body. It cannot happen,” said Mosley.
The race is going to put a lot of pressure on the sponsors as a result of which, the sport’s management body is going to suffer a lot.
“The grand prix will be used to paint a picture of Bahrain that will be false. They will be attempting to use the grand prix to support what they are doing, almost using Formula One as an instrument of repression,” said the former FIA president.
Max Mosley believes that the race might take place this year despite the problems Bahrain is going through at the moment. He added that the only reason for holding the Bahrain Grand Prix is political which is going to damage the sport’s image as well.
The World Motor Sport Council is expected to announce the decision regarding this matter on Friday, June 3, 2011 and it is believed that this would be the final decision.
The Government of Bahrain lifted the state of emergency on June 1, 2011 but since then, the condition of the country has become even worse according to some media reports. According to details, there were some more violent protests which took place since
the emergency period ended.
According to the FIA, safety is their first and utmost concern and it seems that this is going to be an extremely tough decision for the organisers as they are pushing a bit too much to hold the Bahrain Grand Prix.
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