The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix returned to Bahrain after the 2011 race was cancelled due to anti-government protests . [ 1 ]
The decision to hold the race despite ongoing, during the race, protests and violence [ 2 ] has been described as "controversial" by Al Jazeera English , [ 3 ] CNN , [ 4 ] AFP [ 5 ] and Sky News . [ 6 ] The Independent named it "one of the most controversial in the history of the sport". [ 7 ]
The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix was cancelled due to civil unrest on 21 February 2011 [ 8 ] at the request of Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and the Bahrain Motor Federation. [ 9 ] One month after an attempt by the FIA World Motor Sport Council to reinstate the race with an October date failed, [ 10 ] [ 11 ] the FIA released a provisional calendar for the 2012 season, re-instating the Bahrain Grand Prix. The event was originally given a November date so as to allow for stability to...
With pre-season testing for the 2012 season starting in February 2012, the future of the Bahrain Grand Prix became the focus of renewed speculation. Several teams expressed concern over the state of the country as early as the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix , [ 15 ] while the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights urged the teams to boycott the race amid renewed political disturbances in the country, [ 16 ] claiming that the Bahrain government was attempting to use the race to present the country as being st...
"The FIA, like many in the diplomatic community in the kingdom, the main political opposition [...] believes the staging of a Grand Prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing. The FIA is not in a position to influence political matters in a sovereign country such as Bahrain and we can only wish for a long-term peaceful solution."
"What we must put above all else is what will be the penalty in terms of human cost if the race goes ahead. It would be a bad state of affairs, and bad for Formula One, to be seen to be enforcing martial law in order to hold the race. That is not what this sport should be about."
"You've got to be very careful because if you were to say the Bahrain Grand Prix should not take place, then will there be pressure on Russia, for example, for the Winter Olympics when they come round in 2014? Will there be demonstrations because Russia is still trying to create democracy? [...] You've got to be very careful. If this race is cancelled then I think it is a very backward position to have in sport. We have already got a model in Northern Ireland where football continued to be playe...
In January 2012, human rights groups in the country urged teams to boycott the 2012 race amid ongoing conflict in the country. [ 21 ] In February, a protest organisation calling itself the February 14 Youth Coalition wrote to Bernie Ecclestone, threatening to "do everything in [their] capacity to ensure the failure of the race" if it went ahead. [ 22 ] They further added they could not guarantee the safety of teams, drivers, and spectators if the race went ahead. [ 23 ] Ecclestone was unconcerne...
On 28 March 2012, Ecclestone confirmed the event would go ahead. [ 25 ] Four days later, protesters revived their campaign against the race, with police breaking up demonstrations in Abu Saiba and Tubli . Activists also turned to Twitter in an effort to see the event cancelled. [ 24 ] By the end of the first week of April, it was reported that the focus of the protest movement had shifted to the race, with activists accusing the government of using the race to "[try and] cheat the international ...
Following the anti-race protests, Ecclestone admitted he had no power to force the teams into racing in Bahrain if they did not want to. [ 29 ] The same day, The Guardian quoted an unnamed team principal as saying he was "uncomfortable" with going to Bahrain, and "the only way they [the organisers] can pull this race off without incident is to have a complete military lockdown there. And I think that would be unacceptable, both for F1 and for Bahrain. But I don't see any other way they can do it...
During preparations for the Chinese Grand Prix, one week before the race in Bahrain, Zayed al-Zayani drew attention to a report commissioned by Lotus F1 predicting protests over the race would be limited to peaceful demonstrations, and aside from a slight increase in police presence, spectators "would not notice the difference" between the 2010 and 2012 events. [ 28 ] The report by Lotus was substantiated by a briefing from John Yates , former Assistant Commissioner to the London Metropolitan Po...
"I am particularly concerned that those intimately involved in F1 – drivers, teams, sponsors, media and supporters wishing to attend – are being presented with a distorted picture. This picture is being shaped by a huge amount of inaccurate and often deliberately false information being spread through social media forums. Some troubles do still exist. The almost nightly skirmishes that take place in certain villages are a potential block on progress and are putting those involved in their polici...
Members of the Formula One Teams Association responded to media speculation that they would see the race cancelled, stating that they did not have the power to cancel a Grand Prix, [ 38 ] while Bernie Ecclestone announced that the race would only be cancelled at the request of Bahraini authorities. [ 39 ] When asked about their feelings on the Bahrain Grand Prix, McLaren and Red Bull Racing drivers Jenson Button and Mark Webber both called for unity within the sport on the subject, calling upon ...
On 13 April, the FIA released a statement concluding it was satisfied with the state of affairs in Bahrain, and that the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix would be going ahead as planned. [ 2 ] Following a meeting between the teams and Ecclestone in Shanghai, the teams declared themselves to be happy with the decision to hold the race. [ 42 ] The decision attracted objection from human rights advocates, with Amnesty International describing the situation as being "no better" than in 2011, [ 43 ] while The...
At the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix , race winner Felipe Massa was presented his trophy by Mehmet Ali Talat , who was referred to as "President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ", [ 46 ] a state that is only recognised by Turkey . [ 47 ] [ 48 ] [ 49 ] The FIA investigated after the government of the Republic of Cyprus formally complained, fining the organisers of the race $5 million ( TRY ₺ 2,787,068), with an FIA spokesperson commenting that "political neutrality is fundamental to the FIA'...
In the build-up to the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, commentators noted [ 51 ] that organisers of the race were promoting the race under the slogan UNIF1ED — One Nation In Celebration , with the 'fi' in 'unified' stylised as an 'F1'. [ 52 ] In an opinion piece posted on his website, journalist Keith Collantine described the campaign as being political in nature, and that the FIA's response was "[making] a mockery of the FIA’s claim of political neutrality" under their own statutes, [ 51 ] while Sky S...
Journalists reporting on the conflict passed the opinion that the "UNIF1ED" campaign had failed to present the country as united, and instead had the opposite effect. [ 55 ]
As the race drew closer, several British Members of Parliament — including Jeremy Corbyn , Peter Bottomley , Bob Russell , and Andy Slaughter [ 56 ] [ 57 ] — called for the immediate cancellation of the race, expressing concerns, "the Formula One race will be used by the Bahrain government as an endorsement of its policies of suppression of dissent". [ 57 ] The Labour Party also appealed directly to British drivers Jenson Button , Lewis Hamilton and Paul di Resta to boycott the race. [ 58 ] Labo...
In a letter addressed to Red Bull and News Corporation CEOs Dietrich Mateschitz and Rupert Murdoch , Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander urged the teams, media, and sponsors to boycott the event. [ 56 ] While not explicitly referencing the Grand Prix, the White House condemned the violence on both sides of the conflict. [ 34 ] On 19 April, it emerged that several sponsors, including Royal Dutch Shell , Vodafone and UBS , would not be using the race to entertain clients and partners. [ 61 ...
FIA President Jean Todt maintained his stance that the country was secure, and was quoted as saying "it is clear the Grand Prix can go ahead. There has been some controversy about it but the FIA is a sports organisation. We are only interested in sport, not politics". [ 57 ] Bernie Ecclestone continued to describe the country as "quiet and peaceful", despite riot police attacking a crowd of protestors with stun grenades and pro-democracy activists calling for "days of rage" in the days preceding...
"I trust in the FIA that they know all the information — I don't, personally — so we have to trust in their decision. I don't think they will ever want to put us at risk. They do a lot on safety for drivers, in terms of the circuits and the cars and what have you, and that's a priority for them. So I believe in the FIA's decision. If everything is straightforward and nothing happens, it's not even going to be in the back of my mind at all."
The first team members arrived in Bahrain on 17 April amid reports that sixty Shi'ite protest leaders had been arrested ahead of the race. [ 64 ] [ 65 ] In preparing for their arrival in Bahrain, teams took additional security precautions including hiring local security experts and planning specialist routes from the capital Manama to the circuit, [ 66 ] some 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) away. News agency Agence France-Presse reported that their journalists and photographers had been blocked from ent...
Xevi Pujolar, race engineer to Williams driver Pastor Maldonado , [ 71 ] uploaded a photo to Twitter reporting that "all [is] normal outside", [ 65 ] while HRT driver and chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association Pedro de la Rosa remarked that he was not concerned about the safety of the event. [ 72 ] Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel added that he felt Bahrain was no more dangerous than Brazil ; [ 73 ] at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo , 2009 World Champion Jenson Butto...
Porsche Supercup team MRS Racing, which was due to compete in the opening round of the 2012 Porsche Supercup season as part of the Grand Prix support bill, withdrew from the event on 18 April, citing concerns over security in the country as the reason for their withdrawal. [ 77 ]
"We are looking at it from the point of view of ensuring the well being of everybody and the comfort of everybody is in place. And that is the key objective for us. We have had issues as you all know with things, and we have to make sure that the crew are comfortable in the environment and that is what we are working on. But the crew are totally committed to delivering qualifying and the race – and if it means a limited or no FP2 in order to achieve that, that is the decision we will have to tak...
On 18 April, former McLaren mechanic turned journalist Marc Priestley took to Twitter to report that a hire car used by Force India mechanics had been involved in a petrol bombing, [ 80 ] though there were no injuries or damage. [ 81 ] The team members had been travelling in an unmarked car [ 82 ] and were held up by an impromptu roadblock which they were unable to clear before a petrol bomb exploded nearby. [ 83 ] Further reports of the incident indicated that the mechanics were briefly exposed...
Shortly after the first practice session ended on Friday morning, speculation in the media suggested that Force India would skip the second ninety-minute session due to take place later that day as they were not comfortable travelling back to Manama after dark. [ 89 ] [ 90 ] [ 91 ] Although the second session was due to finish at 1530 local time, the time taken to pack up pit garages would see teams travelling from the circuit to the capital during Friday afternoon prayers, which have seen some ...
Members of the Sauber team also confirmed that they had experienced a similar encounter; a minibus full of team personnel came across a fire in the middle of a road and were approached by a group of masked men before the driver was able to pull away. [ 68 ] [ 69 ] A Brazilian journalist also reported witnessing police firing tear gas on demonstrators. [ 98 ]
Shortly after the second practice session ended on 20 April, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa made a statement before the media gathered at the event, in which he refused to cancel the race and described it as being vital to the future of Bahrain. [ 99 ]
"I think cancelling just empowers extremists. I think for those of us who are trying to navigate a way out of this political problem, having the race allows us to build bridges across communities, and get people working together. It allows us to celebrate our nation as an idea that is positive, not one that is divisive. So I actually think that having the race has prevented extremists from doing what they think they need to do out of the world's attention.
I absolutely can guarantee that any problems that may or may not happen are not directed at F1. It goes to show that there are people who are out to cause chaos. You [in Britain] had these problems last year in your country and there is a very big different between protesting for political rights and rioting, and the attack that happened around Force India was aimed at the police. It was unprovoked, and it was quite dangerous. But at no time was anyone from F1 in danger.
I hope by coming here you understand that unlike what has been reported we are not trying to say we are perfect. We are a real country with real issues and we hope that you get a chance for all our complexities and all our shades, I genuinely believe that this race is a force for good."
At the time of Al Khalifa's address, tensions between protesters and the government were described as being at their highest since "Bloody Thursday" , [ 100 ] a series of night raids carried out by police against protesters at the Pearl Roundabout in Manama in March 2011 that resulted in the deaths of four protesters. [ 101 ] His comments were criticised on several fronts, with media freedom groups pointing out that by limiting the access given to journalists, the government "wants the internati...