RIOTS IN BAHRAIN PROTESTING F1

This can't be good:

http://msn.foxsports.com/motor/gallery/Formula-One-Bahrain-Grand-Prix-protests-042012#photo-title=Filling+the+streets+&photo=30924440
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Another:
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Far more people in the street than in the grandstands.

Uh-oh.

 

It's a mistake to race there under the circumstances.

Bernie shouldn't have renewed the contract after last year's cancellation.
Bahrain is just too unstable to receive international sporting events.

I believe most teams had to come to respect contract obligations, and that's understandable from a legal and financial point of view.
But the FIA should have abandoned that venue and not kept it on the calendar.

We haven't heard anything from Todt.

 

I read that one team actually decided to return to their hotels and not go for the second practice.

Surprised that Bernie does not have an "acts of civil disobedience or war" clause in the contract.

 

I don't see "a riot" here. If you want to know what a riot looks like, you should have been in LA about 20 years ago.

Now that was a riot.

 

Please, please, please make it HRT!

 

lol, bernie and all of f1 are getting what they deserve. Sorry, but it was stupid to go. 100% predictable. Apparently the sole person with any brains was the Williams' caterer.

 

TV here showed a group of protesters in full Ferrari gear. A funny episode, but the protests themselves as well as the overall political situation there are serious. This could turn into a major PR disaster for all the manufacturers involved, as racing there will inevitably seen as voicing support of the rulers.

 

That lady does not look like she is from the typical oppressed Shiite minority! The drawing s pretty creative though.

 

Force India.

Two of their team members have returned to the UK after being caught up in a firebomb attack and subsequent teargassing. The entire team bagged FP2 and spent the rest of Friday putting the cars into Saturday spec, so they could leave the circuit and be back to their hotel before dark.

 

ROFL

Call me a cynic, but shouldn't the protesters actually be happy that the FIA didn't pull the plug?

After all this way they get all the media coverage and the full exposure. Maybe Todt's secret plan is to overturn the regime by getting the world's attention focused this weekend on Bahrain?

In a way I compare this to the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago: It gives the demonstrators a time and a place to concentrate their protests with a guaranteed press coverage on a global scale. The F1 race gives them the podium (pun intended) to raise their voice.

 

Looks more like an organized political protest than a riot. I agree with Bernie on this one. You can't allow a few malcontents bring an international sport to a halt just because they march around with a signs. To do so gives them power that they do not deserve. If you sympathize with their plight, the F1 race gives them much more exposure than they would have ever received if the race were cancelled.

 

Great point. Free press.

As long as the situation does not get worse on their Sunday.

 

OMG...that's what I was just thinking too.

 

Ignoring the politics you have to ask if this is good for F1.
Judging by the tenor of the international coverage I'd have to say that it isn't.
For those of us who know and love the sport this was predictable and avoidable. But given the state of F1 these days, it's not surprising that Bernie & Co went for the bucks.

 

Honestly, totally right here. If that were they case, there would never be another Olympics.

These protesters may be well intended or may be just pawns in a political game. But, all they are doing is using the sport for their PR stunt.

If they really wanted to make a change in their government, it shouldn't just be for 4 days when the press is around.

The Syrians sure aren't.

 

Is it good to have Olympic games in the Soviet Union or the United States? You can make an argument that both of these have something to be protested about.

I never liked mixing International sports and politics. Hitler did it first and it should have stopped there.

 

Started long before that. In fact sports, politics and national pride have been linked since at least Roman days.

All countries have internal issues. Few have active insurrections.

 

No, I realize that. But you get my point. Sport should be sport. Politics should be politics.

Some guys driving some expensive cars around a track don't matter a hill of beans.

 

That doesn't look like a proper riot to me, but rather about 20k upset protestors. I don't see any proper Rodney King rioting going down......yet?

 

To misquote an old movie line, you're maintaining a way of life that was dead before you were born.

What is is what is. What should be is either a lie or a shame

As long as Bernie sells F1 dates to governments who use them for political purposes he is in bed with them.
A lot of us have bemoaned the trend for years. It looks like the chickens are coming home to roost.

 

They were saying that friday's practice was like a practice session and not like a public televised event. The grandstands were empty. I'm not sure what the appeal of it was. With all the unrest and everything going on, why go through the extra trouble?
I understand the points that politics shouldn't get in the way of sports(the olympics) but this is F1. There's a race every other weekend and if one place is less than ideal then show them the door and have an extra week off.
Force India didn't every participate. I'm sure they would love some extra data to develop the car but they can't due to the unrest. I didn't fully get what FI's deal was so I hope that's valid info.

 

Not quite accurate on Force India........they participated in Practice 1, but not 2. Contractually the teams chose to participate,

 

Does Bernie really care? Fox news even publicized Formula One tonight. A little shoulder shrug and off to Spain.