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On Thursday night the Bahrain saga staggered to a conclusion when the organisers admitted defeat and said that they were now looking forward to a race in March 2012 – which is the route that the World Motor Sport Council should of course have decided in the first place. One of the key players behind the scenes has been FOTA Chairman Martin Whitmarsh, who had to tread a very fine line as McLaren is part owned by the Bahraini government – and yet he appears to have taken a firm stance on FOTA’s behalf. This writer had an exclusive chat with him about how things have developed.

Q: Are you pleased that this story finally seems to be over?

“I’ll be pleased when I can talk openly about it, and that isn’t now! In fairness we took a decision which was to get the teams together. We formed an opinion. We sent a private letter – I know people leaked it but it didn’t leak from me – and we expressed some views. And there’s a process which I hope will come to the right solution. If other people want to jump in and claim they’ve done it or they sorted it or take the credit for it, then that’s good, I don’t mind.”

Q: What do you think of Jean Todt’s response to FOTA?

“I spoke to Jean quite a bit over the last few days. You can get into the legal interpretation of Concorde and the International Sporting Code – and bear in mind the letter we sent had to satisfy 11 teams – the lawyers can argue it each way. I think we’re missing the point if we get into a discussion about the legality or the interpretation of the regulations. I think there are more fundamental issues that need to be discussed than interpretation of the regulations. I’ve heard what happened in the World Motor Sport Council – I don’t know whether he’s released the transcript of that yet but I have had the transcript – and in fairness to Jean he in an orderly and disciplined manner chaired a meeting, sought views and opinion around the table, and did get a unanimous decision.”

Q: The tone of the letter was that the FIA had done everything correctly…

“In fairness I think he did.”

Q: He also said that Bernie is there representing the teams…

“I don’t think Bernie is there to represent the teams frankly, but there you go.”

Q: So how did FOTA react to the original decision?

“A decision came out. As soon as it came out on the Friday I called for a FOTA Executive conference call to be held. At the time people were travelling and all over the shop. We got one together on Monday, and it was thoroughly debated. And following that, we wrote the latter and expressed our views.”

Q: The question people ask is how could Ferrari express one view in the meeting and then be part of a different view a few days later.

“In fairness I think Ferrari didn’t express a view one way or the other in the meeting, in the transcript I’ve read.”

Q: So it wasn’t as unanimous as has been said?

“It was a show of hands, which doesn’t come across well on a transcript! But a show of hands for and against was requested, and after an apparent verbal silence Jean says ‘So it’s unanimous then?,’ and no one said, ‘No it isn’t.’ I don’t have a video, I only have a transcript. In fairness to Jean on that one he asked and he got a unanimous judgement.”

Q: Do you agree that there are no winners in this, everyone in F1 has lost?

“I think it’s very unfortunate, and there aren’t any winners. Hopefully no one’s looking for winners. It’s a great event, it’s a fantastic paddock. The way it’s panned out this year, I don’t think we should be looking for winners. Ultimately we want F1 to be the winner. One of the problems of this sport is that there are egos who want to be personally winners, and that’s not what we should be about. We should be about sport and the fans winning. And I think that’s what FOTA is trying to do, really just trying to take a view and express a view on what is the right thing for the sport.”

The Bahrain GP organisers have tonight accepted that their race is not going to happen in 2011, and have issued a statement saying that they will not pursue the matter and focus on next year.

In effect as with the original postponement the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone have allowed the Bahrainis to withdraw gracefully by making their own announcement.

The next step will be for the FIA to restore the original calendar, with India back on October 30.

The carefully worded statement reads as follows:

In the light of ongoing difficulties relating to the rescheduling of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed R Alzayani, today made the following statement:

“Whilst Bahrain would have been delighted to see the Grand Prix progress on October 30th in-line with the World Motor Sport Council’s decision, it has been made clear that this fixture cannot progress and we fully respect that decision.

“Bahrain has always sought to play a positive role in the continued development of Formula One, from pioneering F1 racing in the Middle East, to helping other countries in facilitating their own races in new territories, as well as providing our own unique experience and universal welcome to Grand Prix supporters.

“Bahrain has absolutely no desire to see a race which would further extends the calendar season detract from the enjoyment of F1 for either drivers, teams or supporters.  We want our role in Formula One to continue to be as positive and constructive as it has always been, therefore, in the best interest of the sport, we will not pursue the rescheduling of a race this season.

“We look forward to welcoming teams, their drivers and supporters back to Bahrain next year and would like to extend our deepest gratitude to our supporters, including staff, volunteers, sponsors, private businesses and the general public, for whom I know this year’s decision will be a disappointment.  We would also especially like to thank the FIA, FOM, The Bahrain Motor Federation (BMF) and the teams for all support and understanding they have extended to us at this time.

Sebastian Vettel is confident of a good weekend in Montreal despite Red Bull’s inherent weakness in recent years on tracks dominated by long straights.

Vettel finished fourth in last year’s eventful strategy-dominated race, and in Monaco both Christian Horner and Adrian Newey admitted to this blog that Montreal was still not the team’s favourite track.

“We will see where we are,” said the German today. “I’m quite confident. Last year I think we had a good car here, we didn’t win, we were not on the podium, but I think we started the race on a different strategy, which turned out not to work. It was a surprise for us at the time.

“But we learned our lesson, and for this year we’ll see where we are with tyres, how they work, how they last, how long they last. I think in terms of pace, we should be OK. We know that long straight lines and so on are not always in our favour. Our car is very competitive in corners, fast corners. We don’t have many fast corners around here. So we’ll see.”

Not surprisingly, Vettel says this weekend will be about tyres.

“We’re bringing some new bits here, not massive, but again little steps. We’ll see tomorrow where we are, how we are working with the tyres. It can turn out differently maybe if you work better with the tyres, worse with the tyres, compared with other teams.

“I think it’s one of the most difficult weekends here, because the track is different, the asphalt is very smooth, so tyres as I mentioned earlier will be very important. Plus you’ve got the walls very close in some places. I felt it in 2008 where I couldn’t do qualifying, because of hitting the wall in practice. It’s a long weekend.”

Jean Todt says that he is prepared to reconsider the return of Bahrain to the F1 calendar.

The FIA president has replied to the FOTA request for a change by pointing out that the Concorde Agreement has precedence over the International Sporting Code. He also emphasised that the changes were proposed and voted for by Bernie Ecclestone.

He added that the delagete of the F1 Commission – Stefano Domenicali – voted in favour.

In other words he has tried to establish that the FIA has correctly followed procedures.

He says that the FIA “has at its heart the smooth running of the championship and the interests of the teams,” and is thus has asked the “Commercial Rights Holder to re-examine his calendar proposal, and if necessary, to submit a revised proposal to the World Council.”

The FIA has also released a copy of FOTA’s letter to the FIA, Bernie and Bahrain. It reads as follows:

“Following the announcement by the World Motor Sport Council of the revised calendar for the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship, on behalf of all Teams belonging to FOTA we would like to state that the amended 2011 calendar is unrealistic.

“Whilst we support the idea of racing in Bahrain – a country that has always hosted us with enthusiasm and warmth – once the security conditions have been fully reestablished, we feel that there are fundamental issues linked to the logistics of reintroducing such a race as proposed that have to be considered.

“As we have been planning around the 30th October as the date for the Indian Grand Prix, a change of this date would severely undermine our scheduled transport plans. Similarly, our sponsors, international media
and fans have organised travel and accommodation for the Indian Grand Prix and changing it now would cause an unacceptable degree of disruption and cost.

“Most importantly, the addition of the Indian race to the calendar for 2011 was a fantastic development for the sport and it is critical that we do not undermine its success by these changes. With regard to holding a race in Bahrain this year, we also have been warned that insurance coverage could not be necessarily granted and this is an additional cause of concern for us.

“We would also like to highlight that an extension of the 2011 F1 season in December could also prove unbearable for the staff of a vast majority of the Teams and it would conflict with our other internal activities already scheduled for that month.

“Finally, we would like to draw your attention to articles 65, 66 and 198 of the International Sporting Code that define the deadlines for the publication of calendars for FIA Championships (art. 198), as well as the procedures for modifying the dates and venues of the events (art. 65 and 66) where the consent of all competitors is required.

“We are, of course, willing to discuss all other aspects of the calendar with the FIA and the Commercial Rights Holder and look forward to doing so very soon. In the meantime, we trust that you will appreciate the necessity of reconsidering the calendar proposed for the remainder of the 2011 F1 season. We look forward to hearing your considerations and suggestions on these issues.”

A top Bahraini tourism representative has slammed Bernie Ecclestone for his U-turn on the race, an attack that will no doubt not go down well with the F1 boss.

Nabeel Kanoo, a Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry board member and head of its tourism committee, made his feelings clear.

“We were really optimistic after the event had been re-scheduled to take place in October,” he told the Gulf Daily News. “Now that it might not be happening, it’s a real blow. It is a shameful decision and smacks of hypocrisy. There was no reason to consider cancelling it.

“Mr Ecclestone, of course, has the final say but in spite of him, we will move on. Whatever happens, we will not be discouraged with this and reiterate that we are solidly behind our leadership and support its call for a national dialogue.”

Jean Todt has confirmed that he decided not to take any action against Lewis Hamilton regarding the Monaco outburst after an exchange of letters with the McLaren driver.

Hamilton was called to see the stewards after the race, and later wrote directly to Todt.

By bizarre co-incidence the drivers Lewis tangled with in Monaco – Massa and Maldonado – are both managed by Nicolas Todt.

“Lewis wrote to me and I wrote to him,” Todt Sr told British newspaper journalists. “I did not advertise it. It’s between him and the FIA. I could have asked our judicial court to address the problem. We never officially opened the case. He went to the stewards to apologise after. He went with his father.

“Maybe it would have been a better decision to put him to the court. To ban him for six Grands Prix. But he wrote to me and I wrote to him, and the thing is over.”

After taking a hit from Max Mosley earlier today the FIA’s Carlos Gracia has been further criticised in the light of his inspection of Bahrain on behalf of Jean Todt.

Mosley had said Gracia doesn’t speak English and was not qualified to explore the human rights question.

Now the campaigning organisation Avaaz – which has organised on online petition to stop the race being re-instated – has mocked Gracia’s report with the following release, reproduced here in full:

‘Today, the global campaigning organization Avaaz released a leaked copy of the FIA Bahrain report which informed Formula One’s decision Friday to go ahead with the race despite human rights concerns.

‘Following a government-sponsored PR tour through Bahrain, FIA Commissioner Carlos Gracia concluded in his report that there is an “atmosphere of total calm and stability,” that “life in Bahrain is completely normal again,” and that “no human rights were violated,” contradicting numerous accounts of brutal repression and violence against doctors, nurses, and citizens.

‘Ricken Patel, Executive Director at Avaaz said: “Reading the FIA’s Bahrain report is like stepping into the Twilight Zone. While FIA’s sham report says that no human rights have been violated, at least 31 Bahrain citizens have been killed and hundreds more tortured and imprisoned. Formula One based their decision to race in Bahrain on this dangerously irresponsible report, a decision now universally opposed by the F1 teams. Formula One must pull out of Bahrain immediately or have their reputation forever tarnished.”

‘The report details Gracia’s visit to Bahrain in late May during which he visited only with government bodies, did not confer with credible human rights groups, and did not talk with injured people, torture victims, or families of the people who have died.

‘Maryam Al-Khawaja, from the independent Bahrain Center for Human Rights, on seeing the report today, said: “The report is disastrously unbalanced. The FIA has chosen to turn a blind eye to the ongoing violations in Bahrain. The government should allow independent human rights groups to do their work in Bahrain.”

‘Independent journalists and human rights organizations confirm that at least 31 people have been killed since the protests began on 14th February 2011, and more than 800 arrests have been made, including 108 members of the Grand Prix Circuit’s permanent staff. At a trial yesterday of 47 Bahraini medical staff who were arrested for treating injured people at protests, it was revealed that detainees are being tortured.’

FOTA has written to the FIA to confirm that the teams want to race in India rather than Bahrain on October 30.

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.”

In a bizarre twist Bernie Ecclestone now appears to be urging the teams to come out against Bahrain.

Ecclestone took  part in Friday’s WMSC meeting in Barcelona, along with team principals Stefano Domenicali and Vijay Mallya, and was part of what the FIA says was a unanimous vote.

The Times reports that Bernie has had a change of heart, and is now talking about putting the race at the end of the season on the basis that it will be easier to cancel it – while thus presumably restoring India to October 30.

Bernie apparently wants the teams to demand a new vote, presumably on the basis that he will no longer vote yes and it won’t be unanimous.

“The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen,” Ecclestone told the paper. “Better that we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go.

“If they are not, then we don’t go and there are no problems. We listened to that report from the FIA and that was saying there were no problems at all in Bahrain. But that is not what I am hearing and I think we can see that we need to be careful.

“The money makes no difference. It is there because the Bahrain people asked us to keep it. If there is no race, we will return it, but money is not the issue here. It is whether it is safe and good to have a race that is the issue. We can change this Oct 30 date by having a vote by fax if necessary. It can be done, and fast.”

The BBC’s Ted Kravitz grilled Jean Todt on the Bahrain GP today, and in a fascinating encounter the Frenchman did not present a particularly convincing case as he tried to explain why there was such a big effort to get the race back this year.

He confirmed that team principals Stefano Domenicali and Vijay Mallya voted in favour – something that will clearly weaken any stance FOTA may subsequently take.

“It was a vote to the World Council members, and it was a unanimous agreement,” he said. “Stefano Domenicali is representing the team, and he voted in favour, Vijay Mallya is not representing the team principals, he’s representing India, he’s the Indian representative.”

He also suggested that the things could change in Bahrain, which makes one wonder why it was worth taking the risk and creating the huge inconvenience of shifting India.

“We are talking about October 30. Believe me the situation will be monitored. If we will have clear evidence that it will be risky situation it will be obviously taken into consideration. But the decision was taken with the information and with the situation the way it is now.”

Asked about the safety aspect, Todt diverted into track and road safety before making his point: “It’s part of our DNA, and we will never accept to put any of our people from our community at risk.”

Pressed on whether the Bahrainis had guaranteed the safety of everyone involved in F1, Todt was clear. “Yes of course, of course we have been told about safety. But as I said before, and you rightly mention, things may change. I hope that things improve not only in Bahrain, but in all the region.”

Kravitz also asked the threat from opposition interests that there would be a ‘day of rage’ to mark the race.

“You cannot avoid people threatening. Do we have to leave because people want to move in one situation rather than another one, because people will threaten? We know that it can happen in our countries [France and the UK], so if there is some threatening that there will be a problem in a European country, does it means that you have to decide to stop organising one international event? I don’t think so.

“I can understand we are living in a world where a lot of things have happened, and I have some sympathy for emotion. When we have to get to a decision we must be pragmatic and we must take into consideration the evidence we have.”

Asked about criticism from Max Mosley and Mark Webber, Todt said that other people had alternative views – and said that Webber should visit Bahrain and see for himself.

The full interview can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk.