Can't stand sports or sportsmen(persons?)...
....but this Mark Webber guy actually sounds like he has a brain in his head!
The Bahrain Grand Prix is likely to be postponed until the end of the season following continuing protests against the government in the state. Testing was due to start there in early next month ahead of the race 13 March. But with a backdrop of dead protesters and threats of disruption to the race, a delay looks inevitable. …
Get these pesky protests out of the way and back to making millions touring your roadshow. End of the season should do it, the protesters will have learned to pipe down by then.
After all, it's so much more pleasant putting on an F1 event when there's a dictator in charge who's willing to build you a brand new track in the middle of the desert.
F1 had the chance to make a small stand here and say "shooting your own people is unacceptable, we're not coming." Yeah, right. Let's stage the season finale there instead when the protesters are dead or too scared to protest any more.
Yeah, not happening, considering they were the last of the last to stop going to South Africa in the apartheid days. I am a fan of F1, but I am appalled by their unconditional love of money over *anything* else. A bit of human decency might hurt the bottom line here and there sometimes, but wouldn't it be nice?
(icon is Bernie's recent driver's license ID; isn't the mummy ever gonna retire? what is it gonna take, a Mosley-like party?)
Seeing as you asked, it's (somewhat) accepted that the protests traversing North Aftica & the Middle East have been incited* by those in Tunisia.
The Tunisian protests kicked off because of unemployment, corruption, etc. However details from the Wikileaks cables detailing the first lady (possibly) making large profits *may* have helped stir things.
Oh yes, in several of the countries, social networking has been cut off in an attempt to stop the protesters from communicating.
And that's today's tenuous link.
* Yes, I know incited isn't the right word, but my mind is drawing a blank at the moment.
Apparently Bernie wants to leave the decision to the very Prince who ordered the shooting of protesters. Trust the judgement of another billionaire, eh?
The protesters have stated that the race would become the focus of their action. A pitch invasion followed by another massacre would really enhance F1's reputation wouldn't it?
Webber is right here.
Honestly, how Bernie or anyone in F1 could be thinking of going to Bahrain now is beyond me! F1 should be a showcase for fun and excitement, and it seems to me to be a complete insult to hold such an event when people have been murdered during peaceful protests.
I think Mark Webber was exactly spot on when he said the people have more important things to worry about.
And Bernie is washng his hands of the decision making - hes already said it will be completely the Crown Prince's decision. Hmmm, thats going to be a really unbiased decision - loss of face for having to cancel the event versus acting on the peoples legitimate complaints... i really wonder which way that decisions going to go... *rolleyes*
Bernie has said he will speak to the crown prince, the crown prince is in denail.. only one outcome...
BUT - FCO advice is not to travel to bahrain, Teams Insurers are advising NOT to travel. Insurance is invalid when against FCO advice. There is already a seriously Twitchy underwriter near me with 5million quids worth of GP2 Kit sitting at the docks...
Daft ol'Bernie already said it would make a large statement if the GP were interuppted.. so he's already been giving the protestors ideas... which would only lead to trouble.
I can't believe there are people around Naive enough to still refer to F1 as a sport or to believe that this circus would for one moment consider dropping an event as a form of protest about events in a "host" country. Its a business pure and simple.. and like a high class whore F1 will give it to anyone who is willing to meet the asking price.
Like most high profile sports, F1 is a business. As is football, cricket, rugby etc.
Ask staff at Ferrari, McLaren or Red Bull Racing whether they are in it for the business, and the sport is just a by-product, and I think you'll find hugely competitive groups of people who want to beat each other at the sport of Formula 1.
Pedalling the myth that a sport is not really a sport because there's money involved might well play well to the gallery, but it entirely misses the point that F1 is one of the most competitive sporting environments around. Yes, Enzo and Ronzo and Frank Williams(o) have made a lot of money, but do you *really* think that was their motivation for running F1 teams?
All the coverage of Bahrain has been one-sided. I am not suggesting it is wrong, or that the deaths caused by the police/security forces are right, but I suggest this for a read:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/forum/topic.php?id=1243
This has been written by someone living in Bahrain, and represents an alternative viewpoint. It is always best to hear all sides of any disagreement.
I do not make any judgements here, I am just pointing out a source of information which may be of interest to those with an open mind.
Whilst that post does show the emotion and dispair of a Bahrainian, it does confirm that there IS a lot of violence, maybe there is more towards the authorities and police than harm to the civilians but the situation there IS bad! What that post tells me is that there are some happy folks in a country who are completely unaware of 'the other half'.... Sorry if you don't like that view, but I can't read that post any other way... There IS a social divide and some will fall on either side...
I am not making judgements by posting that, I am just passing on another piece of information.
But for what it's worth, I'll play devil's advocate. How do you know it is not the other way around? The majority content with the status quo, a minority who want change and are going to extreme lengths to get it? From what I have seen, not everyone is out protesting. While it is possible that many do not want to protest out of fear for their safety, it is equally plausible that they support the King but are too afraid of the violence to come out in his support.
Once again, I am not expressing my opinion here, only playing devil's advocate.
I think F1 would be quite entertaining if the crowd were armed with automatic weapons... It would certainly ensure the rules that Ferrari love to bend so much far more efficiently than the FIA do.
In fact if this had been introduced a few years back we would have been spared several years of watching the follow Schumacher precession which made viewers tune out faster than Bernie appearing in a mankini.
Just been announced that it's cancelled.
Bernie was walking a tight line - for him to announce that it was off would have been a bit of a slap (however deserved) to the Bahrain rulers, he had to let them announce it - he wants the circus to return to this town. His language this weekend, whilst inelegant, indicated that this would be the outcome.