The mighty midget that is Bernie Ecclestone is to be applauded. Reluctantly.
He is the man that has unquestionably created the success that is Formula 1. A genuinely worldwide sport.
The only question is at what cost does he continue to drive the sport forward? The need to move the sport across the world has bought it into questionable locations. This weekend the worst of them. As people die on the streets of Bahrain, the multi-million entourage of F1 rides into town. The financial monster and environmental disaster all in one.
Last week China got the obvious benefit of the doubt with its own annual Grand Prix, after all they have held an Olympics, so there can't be any ethical reasons not to go there can there?
Bahrain is somewhat different, the battles are very apparent on the streets and if you work for Force India, you have already had to do a handbrake turn or two to escape those terribly inconvenient petrol bomb attacks. At least for two foot three Bernie, he is never going to be troubled by such things, as they are always surely going to pass over the head of someone so small.
The real question has to be why they chose to have the race this year, following the non-starter of 2011. Nothing has really changed from last year, after all battles overnight in villages and capital, Manama have taken place.
When confirming the other week that the race was to go ahead, Bernie kindly stated that the teams did not have to attend if they were concerned at all about safety. Adding that if they didn't they would however be susceptible to penalties and sanctions. Very nice.
It is very much a mess, and wasn't really necessary for this race to take place and endanger people in the name of sport and the need for money.
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