So, the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Should F1 have gone this weekend? No, in
my opinion.
This kind of subject is a dicey
one if you don’t wish to become embroiled in a political and moral debate,
which I don’t. Commenting merely from a
safety and not moral perspective, I keep seeing people mentioning the gun
incident with Jenson Button in Brazil and the situation currently in Bahrain as
if they are comparable.
There is no comparison. Although (we hope and pray) that nothing will
happen to any of the teams, drivers and reporters this weekend, there is a
possibility that it could happen.
Protests, rioting, petrol bombs and tear gas on the streets does not
scream “safe” to me. What happened with
Jenson could have happened at any number of the places on the race calendar.
Safety cannot be
guaranteed. Bernie may well have offered
to escort Force India back from the track “without an escort” but anyone can
see that this is a merely for publicity.
He has to save face now.
The FIA have made the decision
and now the teams have to live with it.
The drivers have been asked to comment with their opinion and the
answers vary depending it seems on how well versed at PR they are.
Sebastian Vettel however, just
gave me another reason to hate him.
"I heard about the Force
India issue," "I think generally being in the paddock it seems to be
no problem. Surely outside the paddock there is a risk, but there is a risk
everywhere we go.
"You
imagine when we go to Brazil it is not the place you want to be, depending on
the area you are in. It is not a big problem and I am happy once we start
testing tomorrow because then we worry about stuff that really matters - tyre
temperatures, and cars."
After two years of having the
best car on the track and having the adoration of Red Bull, it seems Mr Vettel
truly believes that the world revolves around him. Yes Sebastian, don’t worry about the people
getting hurt outside the track, you just concentrate what really matters……… You.
