When Damon Hill told this newspaper, on Thursday, that Bernie Ecclestone was blind to the biggest political issue to threaten Formula One in recent memory, he had no idea that the 25 other members of the sport’s ruling elite would suffer the same lack of vision.
Blinkered, stupid, money-grabbing — pick a description of a decision that will test the moral fibre of a sport.
For Fifa, read FIA, the governing body of motorsport that takes self-interest to new heights. There was no shortage of advice to the members of the FIA World Motorsport Council gathered in Barcelona.
Hill, as respected and as sensible a voice in Formula One as you could find, was appalled that Bahrain was even up for discussion; Mark Webber, the brightest head among the Formula One drivers, is against a return; and 350,000 signatures on an online petition opposing the move Friday night should have given the FIA a clue.
But a delegation led by Jean Todt, the organisation’s president, visited Bahrain and all was quiet. But they usually are when checkpoints and guns mounted on Saudi tanks are swivelling in your direction.
Max Mosley, admittedly a shamed former FIA president but a wise counsel, nonetheless said that a Bahrain Grand Prix this year would be a public relations disaster.
Too late, Max. It already is. This decision is not the end of the matter, it is just the beginning.
The teams have not yet said that they will go but if they do, what happens when a lone gunman, a random bomb or a violent riot attracts the attention of the television audience that is Formula One’s financial lifeblood?
The story of the unrest in Bahrain is now a narrative about Formula One’s multimillionaires and their willingness to throw themselves at the feet of dictators who want to use glitz, glamour and speed for their political manifesto and the protection of their own egos — for a $40million fee. That is all it costs to buy a sport and to help to forget the pictures of teargas, rubber bullets and terrified doctors and children.
Ecclestone says Formula One “doesn’t do religion or politics”. It does now, Bernie. It does now.
