Max Mosley has said that the Bahrain GP won’t happen on October 30 because the teams have to agree to any changes to the 2011 calendar.
He also said that the FIA’s inspection of Bahrain, prior to the WMSC meeting, was ineffectual. Mosley was speaking on BBC Radio 4 this morning.
“I don’t think there’s the slightest chance that the Grand Prix will happen,” said Mosley, “because apart from anything else you cannot change the calendar in the way that is proposed to change without the unanimous agreement of the teams.
“Until the written agreement of the teams is forthcoming, you can’t actually change the date. It can’t be done.”
Mosley cited Article 66 of the FIA Sporting Code, which reads: “No amendments shall be made to the Supplementary Regulations after the beginning of the period for receiving entries, unless unanimous agreement is given by all competitors already entered, or by decision of the stewards of the meeting for reasons of force majeure or safety.”
Mosley made it clear that the Bahrain visit by Jean Todt’s Spanish representative Carlos Gracia was badly compromised.
“The gentleman they sent, a very, very nice man called Gracia, speaks no English and as far as I know speaks no Arabic, and was then taken round by the representatives of the government, and of course has no knowledge of what was really going on, and above all obviously didn’t ask to see the sorts of people that a human rights lawyer or someone of that kind would have asked to see.”
As previously eported, the human rights organisation he did see was not independent: “Apparently they were very close to the government, and I don’t think he would have been allowed to speak to them if they were not.”
Regarding the human rights issue, Mosley reiterated his stance: “The problem in Bahrain is that the Grand Prix would be used by the regime in order to further its aims, so it almost becomes an instrument of the regime in oppressing people who have been badly treated. That’s when it goes beyond what you can accept as a sporting body.
“What one has to remember is that there are human rights problems in every country. It’s not really fir sport to interfere with politics. It’s when the politicians actually use the sport to further their aims. In this particular case it will be the government using the GP to try and give the impression that all is well in the country, when it’s very far from the truth.”
Adam Cooper F1 
For a sport with millions of fans who would gladly watch one race per week for 52 weeks of the year, it says a lot that the majority think this race should not happen. The Ecclestone and the FIA have made an awful mess for themselves here…
Scandalous to even considering going there with the current human rights problems, even that aside it’s a rubbish and boring circuit.
With 21 races on next year’s calendar, just get rid of the thing once and for all.
Well, you have to laugh, or cry…
Whether or not to race in Bahrain an issue. Why anyone is interested in what Max Mosley thinks is wasted brain cells.
The retired master manipulator is now playing the elder statesman. Bernie must be fuming.
If the race goes ahead on Dec 11th, that will really screw up the publishing date for AUTOCOURSE.
And, if that ruins my Christmas reading, I will not be amused.