Bernie Ecclestone appears to have moved into damage limitation mode after his controversial downplaying of the Bahrain situation in a BBC interview at lunchtime.
His comments became public just before a second wave of violence erupted in Bahrain as police moved in on marchers. This afternoon in a second conversation with the BBC he was more cautious.
“I don’t know what has happened this afternoon because I’ve been travelling but from what I’ve been told it’s a bit different to this morning because of this funeral that’s gone on which is what you would expect I suppose.”
He was then asked if he feared that the race would be cancelled.
“I don’t fear anything, I just think things have changed and that we should wait and see over the weekend exactly what changes there have been.”
Speaking to the Press Association, Bernie also said his earlier source was his GP2 TV crew.
“Two of my guys were there and they said they were looking out of their hotel window and that they saw a group of people supporting the king, with nobody causing any trouble. They said that all was quiet, that one of the main roads that was closed was now open again, and that was more or less it.
“They did say they would have to wait until later on today because of the funerals taking place, and that they did not know what the position would be until after that. So when I made my earlier statement it was based on the information I had at that time, as opposed to what is happening.”
Ecclestone told PA that we now have to wait: “From a realistic point of view it appears that things are changing hourly. I feel the most important thing now is to wait until after the weekend, to see what happens over the next few days, and then make a decision next Tuesday or Wednesday.”
Adam Cooper F1 
Back pedal, Bernie, back pedal.
When will events on planet Earth impinge on Bernie? To host a race in Bahrain now would be not only insensitive and confirming of the worst criticisms of Formula 1 as a sport run by selfish millionaires but also morally wrong. The fact that pre-pubescent fanboys can only see as far as the race should not sway older and wiser heads.
Bernie said in the original interview that you linked to that there’d be no decision until next week, so no change there.
What a joke, what a joke. I mean, thats what it has to be: a crued, ridiculously surreal joke. Right? I mean what planet is this man on? What enclave does he sit in? We all know where in the world he’s shoved his head in the sand… If F1 goes to Bahrain as scheduled, thats it, surely, for the sport.
Adam, do you think we can expect a strong, robust and honourable message from either FOTA or the FIA? Do you think that Bernie is likely to switch tracks and try to drive the hell away from Bahrain?
It’s easy for folks sitting at home making careless comments about cancelling the race at Bahrain in the same manner as trowing away their old underwear.
As Bernie has stated, there are TV contracts that need to be upheld, otherwise FOM is likely to loose a big chunk of money. Maybe they will also loose the promotion fee for the event as well. That is 40m USD plus 20m USD for being the first race on the calendar. The fees from the TV companies for this race will probably be around 40m USD. That’s 100 million dollars (!) which F1 stands to loose if it doesn’t go to Bahrain.
It’s easy to make flippant demands based on moral feelings, but this is a serious business, and any decision about the race should be treated as such.
Money is definitely part of the story, but I think your TV numbers are out. That would mean the broadcasters are paying $800m for the year, even for Bernie that would be a mega deal! And I believe the race fee is $30m.
“It’s easy to make flippant demands based on moral feelings, but this is a serious business, and any decision about the race should be treated as such.”
Sure, because business, prestige and money are much more important than people’s lives.
Okay, say the race goes as scheduled and just one person attending/working the race is killed. How much money will be lost due to that? What repercussions would follow? You’re right, this is big business and people also die at races. But maybe you would be so “business as usual” if the life lost was a loved one of yours.
What’s so disturbing about what Ecclestone says is language like, “they saw a group of people supporting the king, with nobody causing any trouble”. It shows that in his view, the citizens who expressed their opinions were “causing trouble”.
To be fair he could have meant there was no trouble in the demo they saw. But who knows…
A little silly for Bernie to be giving interviews when his people on the ground (peering through their hotel room windows) have no clue what’s going on. If he found it absolutely necessary to give that interview to the BBC, sticking to some prepared talking points would have saved him some grief.
Preparing is not his style!
Unbelievable! Bernie’s commercial accumen has never been in doubt, but would you want him as the spokesperson for your company? Can someone please give the man a new ‘moral compass’. Don’t think his old one is working. A sort of related question. I’ve read that McLaren Group is anywhere from 30% to 42% owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain and/or King/Crown Prince via a holding company. Depends which press reports you read. Should the situation in Bahrain follow that in Egypt, with the removal of the King and a change in Government, how do they stand? Think I am right in saying that Hosni Mubarak’s assets outside Egypt have been frozen.
I checked with Martin Whitmarsh at the Brazilian GP and it was 42%. Ron has 21%, TAG 21%, and Mercedes still had 16%. They were supposed to getting rid of that some time soon – in which case the Bahrain share could have gone up very recently if they acquired some Merc shares – but I have not heard any news on that. For more on the Bahrain holding company check http://www.bmhc.bh.
Thanks Adam. Very much a side issue in the grand scheme of things – unless you are looking at things unfold from a window in the McLaren Technology Centre…
I’d say Bernie’s moral compass is pretty much as it has always been. He is above all a pragmatist, and seldom over reacts to anything. No doubt he’s being re-assured by the powers that be in Bahrain, and any real time information about what is actually going is going to be mostly second hand and/or opinions. I do think this even ought to be cancelled, but I also understand how much of a decision this is, it figures in the tens if not hundreds of millions of euros of a loss, to the promoters, to CVC, to the teams, the BBC, other TV media outlets, so it is not to be done lightly. It could be that if they do not have the race and there is no more demonstrations or violence then it will seem as if they cancelled for nothing, though the cancellation may actually help keep the circmstances from spinning out of control. I don’t envy the position he’s in but that is why he as they say is ‘getting paid the big bucks.’
Fair point Stone the crows. I too think the GP should be cancelled, and nor would I want to be in Bernie’s shoes. Easy for us to pass comment/judgement. On the financial side of things – and from the perspective of the ‘F1 micro-world, there is also the question of the cost in $ terms to F1 of the wrong call being made. If it is decided that the Bahrain race should go ahead, and the world judges F1 poorly for this, its reputation will be severely damaged, with a likely hefty financial impact, perhaps equal to or greater than that of cancellation. The mainstream media would also go for Bernie personally & F1 in the biggest way possible. I’m sure more than a few sponsors, and their shareholders, would at the very least seriously question their involvement, if they are not doing so already.
Very good point, exactly what I’ve been saying. There’s a bigger picture.
I appreciate that there would be huge monetary losses if the event is canceled, but there is something bigger and more important than F1 going on here. Bernie’s remarks are an invitation to a regime more concerned about money and prestige than its own citizens to react violently to the protests that have been happening.
The commercial imperatives here are clear BUT the elites in F1 have to make a moral statement. It doesn’t have to be explicit, let them make whatever press statements they like, but they can’t go. Can you imagine Martin Brundle having his normal ‘thanks for hosting this wonderful event’ chat with the Prince on his grid walk, the man whose army shot unarmed civilians? Sorry, this complicated situation is very simple. F1, at this point, simply can’t shake hands with a regime that’s just shot it’s unarmed public.
Though I think there’s zero chance of this happening, if they do cancel the race – would it even be possible to move it to Abu Dhabi? It would seem that it’s not a huge detour and would enable them to preserve (mostly) their planned shipping routes for the first few races.