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The 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix returned to Bahrain after the 2011 race was cancelled due to anti-government protests. The decision to hold the race despite ongoing, during the race, protests and violence has been described as "controversial" by ''
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'', CNN, AFP and
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. ''
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'' named it "one of the most controversial in the history of the sport".


Events leading up to the race


2011 cancellation and 2012 reinstatement

The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix was cancelled due to civil unrest on 21 February 2011 at the request of Crown Prince
Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa ( ar, سلمان بن حمد آل خليفة; born 21 October 1969) is the Crown prince and the Prime Minister of Bahrain. He is also the deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain Defence Force. Early life and educa ...
and the Bahrain Motor Federation. One month after an attempt by the FIA World Motor Sport Council to reinstate the race with an October date failed, the FIA released a provisional calendar for the 2012 season, re-instating the Bahrain Grand Prix. The event was originally given a November date so as to allow for stability to return to the country. A second provisional calendar was released in July, with the Bahrain Grand Prix brought forward to 22 April. This was later confirmed with the release of the final season calendar in December 2011. With pre-season testing for the 2012 season starting in February 2012, the future of the Bahrain Grand Prix became the focus of renewed speculation. Several teams expressed concern over the state of the country as early as the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, while the
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ar, مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain,
urged the teams to boycott the race amid renewed political disturbances in the country, claiming that the Bahrain government was attempting to use the race to present the country as being stable.
Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns D ...
maintained his stance on the race going ahead, while
World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
Damon Hill Damon Graham Devereux Hill, (born 17 September 1960) is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formula ...
stated his belief that Formula One could return to Bahrain "with a clear conscience" after visiting the country. However, Hill changed his stance just two weeks later, stating that the race could "create more problems than it solved". He elaborated further, cautioning against "indifference" and urging the sport not to take political sides. Fellow former World Champion
Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...
expressed his support for the race taking place, warning that cancelling the Grand Prix could be even more damaging to the sport than holding it.


Civilian protests against the race

In January 2012,
human rights groups A human rights group, or human rights organization, is a non-governmental organization which advocates for human rights through identification of their violation, collecting incident data, its analysis and publication, promotion of public awarenes ...
in the country urged teams to boycott the 2012 race amid ongoing conflict in the country. In February, a protest organisation calling itself the
February 14 Youth Coalition Coalition Youth of 14 Feb Revolution (), sometimes called The Coalition () is a Bahraini youth group, named after the date of the beginning of Bahrain's uprising, and led by anonymous individuals who organize protests chiefly via new-media si ...
wrote to Bernie Ecclestone, threatening to "do everything in
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offic ...
capacity to ensure the failure of the race" if it went ahead. They further added they could not guarantee the safety of teams, drivers, and spectators if the race went ahead. Ecclestone was unconcerned about the threat, stating he did not feel the protesters needed to resort to violence, and expressing confidence event organisers would not respond to any opposition with force. World Drivers' Champions
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin. Vettel is one of the most successful drivers in Formula One histo ...
and
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
also supported the race going ahead. On 28 March 2012, Ecclestone confirmed the event would go ahead. Four days later, protesters revived their campaign against the race, with police breaking up demonstrations in
Abu Saiba Abu Saiba is a village located in the northern part of Bahrain, west of the capital city Manama. It is surrounded by Shakhoora village to the south and Hajar village to the east. History Abu Saiba is very well known of its farms, though, most ...
and
Tubli Tubli ( ar, توبلي) is a village in Bahrain. Tubli is located in the east of Bahrain island and west of Sitra island. It is also situated next to the capital of Bahrain, Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is ...
. Activists also turned to
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in an effort to see the event cancelled. By the end of the first week of April, it was reported that the focus of the protest movement had shifted to the race, with activists accusing the government of using the race to " ry andcheat the international community, telling them everything is back to normal". The government rejected these claims, with circuit chairman Zayed al-Zayani putting the race forward as being in the interests of all involved, and that it would bring economic benefits to the region that could not be ignored. al-Zayani further claimed that he did not understand why the race was being made into a political issue, and was instead quoted as saying "the race is taking place because Bahrain has been the home of motorsport in the Middle East", and accused "armchair observers" and "scaremongering extremists" of attempting to create a
moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", us ...
over the race. Activists denied these claims, reiterating their belief that the government was attempting to use the race to "tell the outside world that the whole thing is back to normal" and that "they want to come back from isolation and say that everything is back to normal". Following the anti-race protests, Ecclestone admitted he had no power to force the teams into racing in Bahrain if they did not want to. The same day, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' quoted an unnamed team principal as saying he was "uncomfortable" with going to Bahrain, and "the only way they he organiserscan pull this race off without incident is to have a complete military lockdown there. And I think that would be unacceptable, both for F1 and for Bahrain. But I don't see any other way they can do it." He acknowledged that, although there had been no restrictions on travel to Bahrain issued by the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreig ...
as of two weeks prior to the race, and no objections to travelling to the country by the insurance companies that insure the teams, several teams shared similar reservations about the race going ahead. With the race scheduled to take place one week after the , it was further claimed that teams had been issued with two return tickets — one from Shanghai direct to England, and one from Shanghai to England via Bahrain — in the event of the Bahrain Grand Prix's cancellation. Ecclestone downplayed these comments, claiming that none of the twelve teams had expressed any reservations to him about racing, and adding that any team who failed to race would be in breach of the Concorde Agreement and potentially facing a financial penalty.


The FIA's response

During preparations for the Chinese Grand Prix, one week before the race in Bahrain, Zayed al-Zayani drew attention to a report commissioned by
Lotus F1 Lotus F1 Team was a British Formula One racing team. The team competed under the Lotus name from until , following the renaming of the former Renault team based at Enstone in Oxfordshire. The Lotus F1 Team was majority owned by Genii Capit ...
predicting protests over the race would be limited to peaceful demonstrations, and aside from a slight increase in police presence, spectators "would not notice the difference" between the
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
and 2012 events. The report by Lotus was substantiated by a briefing from John Yates, former Assistant Commissioner to the London Metropolitan Police Service and advisor to the Bahrain Ministry of the Interior, stating the protests were unlawful and being misrepresented in the media. Yates later admitted there was no way the Bahraini government could guarantee anybody's safety for the duration of the race meeting, and security forces might be forced to use live ammunition and lethal force in the event of an incident during the Grand Prix. Following this and warnings that the protests could result in casualties, Nabeel Rajab — president of the
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR; ar, مركز البحرين لحقوق الإنسان) was a Bahraini non-profit non-governmental organisation which works to promote human rights in Bahrain,
— offered reassurances that nobody within the Formula One community would be hurt in the protests, and that the protests were not a personal attack on the sport, but rather against the political implications of the race going ahead. Members of the
Formula One Teams Association The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) was a group of Formula One teams that formed at a meeting in Maranello on 29 July 2008. The organisation was formed to give the teams a united voice in negotiations with the FIA and the Formula One Gro ...
responded to media speculation that they would see the race cancelled, stating that they did not have the power to cancel a Grand Prix, while Bernie Ecclestone announced that the race would only be cancelled at the request of Bahraini authorities. When asked about their feelings on the Bahrain Grand Prix,
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...
and
Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
drivers
Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
and Mark Webber both called for unity within the sport on the subject, calling upon the FIA to make the most informed decision possible. On 13 April, the FIA released a statement concluding it was satisfied with the state of affairs in Bahrain, and that the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix would be going ahead as planned. Following a meeting between the teams and Ecclestone in Shanghai, the teams declared themselves to be happy with the decision to hold the race. The decision attracted objection from human rights advocates, with
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
describing the situation as being "no better" than in 2011, while ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...
'' reported teams had relieved staff members who objected to competing in Bahrain of their positions.
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...
and Mercedes declared their support for the race going ahead, with McLaren team principal
Martin Whitmarsh Martin Richard Whitmarsh (born 29 April 1958) is a British businessman and Group CEO of the Aston Martin Performance Technologies team since 21 September 2021. Whitmarsh is best known to motorsport insiders, media and fans for his long and succ ...
quoted as saying McLaren would race in Bahrain so long as the event remained on the calendar.


Comparisons to 2006 Turkish Grand Prix political incident

At the
2006 Turkish Grand Prix The 2006 Turkish Grand Prix (officially the 2006 Formula 1 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race, held on 27 August 2006. The 58-lap race, which was the fourteenth round of the 2006 Formula One season, and the second Turk ...
, race winner
Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one point ...
was presented his trophy by
Mehmet Ali Talat Mehmet Ali Talat (born 6 July 1952) is a Turkish Cypriot politician who served as the president of Northern Cyprus from 2005 to 2010. Talat was the leader of the social democratic Republican Turkish Party ( tr, Cumhuriyetçi Türk Partisi, CTP) ...
, who was referred to as "President of the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Reco ...
", a state that is only recognised by
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
. The FIA investigated after the government of the
Republic of Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
formally complained, fining the organisers of the race $5 million ( TRY2,787,068), with an FIA spokesperson commenting that "political neutrality is fundamental to the FIA's role as the governing body of international motor sport. No compromise or violation of this neutrality is acceptable", which is reflected in Article 1 of the ''FIA Statutes'', which states that "the FIA shall refrain from manifesting racial, political or religious discrimination in the course of its activities and from taking any action in this respect." In the build-up to the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, commentators noted that organisers of the race were promoting the race under the slogan ''UNIF1ED — One Nation In Celebration'', with the 'fi' in 'unified' stylised as an 'F1'. In an opinion piece posted on his website, journalist Keith Collantine described the campaign as being political in nature, and that the FIA's response was " akinga mockery of the FIA’s claim of political neutrality" under their own statutes, while
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz commented that "every single team boss and every single person I’ve spoken to in Formula 1 has said, ‘I tell you what, though: they shouldn’t have done that UniF1ed’ – not least because you're not allowed to use Formula 1 for any political aims". When asked about the "UNIF1ED" campaign, Jean Todt avoided the question. Journalists reporting on the conflict passed the opinion that the "UNIF1ED" campaign had failed to present the country as united, and instead had the opposite effect.


Pressure from the international diplomatic community

As the race drew closer, several British
Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
— including
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...
, Peter Bottomley, Bob Russell, and
Andy Slaughter Andrew Francis Slaughter (born 29 September 1960) is a British Labour Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hammersmith, previously Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush, since 2005. He had previously served as Leader of the L ...
— called for the immediate cancellation of the race, expressing concerns, "the Formula One race will be used by the Bahrain government as an endorsement of its policies of suppression of dissent". The Labour Party also appealed directly to British drivers
Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...
,
Lewis Hamilton Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Mercedes. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Mic ...
and
Paul di Resta Paul di Resta (born 16 April 1986) is a British racing driver from Scotland, competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Peugeot Sport in their LMH entry. He drove in Formula One for Force India from to , and became a reserve driver ...
to boycott the race.
Labour leader The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again. 19th century The origins of th ...
Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliba ...
and
Shadow Home Secretary In British politics, the Shadow Home Secretary (formally known as the Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department) is the person within the shadow cabinet who shadows the Home Secretary; this effectively means scrutinising government poli ...
Yvette Cooper Yvette Cooper (born 20 March 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Home Secretary since 2021, and previously from 2011 to 2015. She served in Gordon Brown's Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2008 to 2009 and Work and Pen ...
openly called for the race to be cancelled. In a letter addressed to
Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwide, inclu ...
and
News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New ...
CEOs
Dietrich Mateschitz Dietrich Mateschitz (; 20 May 1944 – 22 October 2022) was an Austrian billionaire businessman. He was the co-founder and 49% owner of Red Bull GmbH. In April 2022, Mateschitz's net worth was estimated at US$27.4 billion. Mateschitz worked in ...
and
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander urged the teams, media, and sponsors to boycott the event. While not explicitly referencing the Grand Prix, the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
condemned the violence on both sides of the conflict. On 19 April, it emerged that several sponsors, including
Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...
,
Vodafone Vodafone Group plc () is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. , Vod ...
and
UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres as the largest Swi ...
, would not be using the race to entertain clients and partners. Corporate hospitality agencies also withdrew from the event, with some experiencing a downturn in business of up to eighty percent. FIA President Jean Todt maintained his stance that the country was secure, and was quoted as saying "it is clear the Grand Prix can go ahead. There has been some controversy about it but the FIA is a sports organisation. We are only interested in sport, not politics". Bernie Ecclestone continued to describe the country as "quiet and peaceful", despite riot police attacking a crowd of protestors with stun grenades and pro-democracy activists calling for "days of rage" in the days preceding the race.


The teams arrive in Bahrain

The first team members arrived in Bahrain on 17 April amid reports that sixty Shi'ite protest leaders had been arrested ahead of the race. In preparing for their arrival in Bahrain, teams took additional security precautions including hiring local security experts and planning specialist routes from the capital
Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...
to the circuit, some away. News agency
Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, ...
reported that their journalists and photographers had been blocked from entering Bahrain, and that several foreign journalists had had their visas delayed to prevent them from entering the country. AFP further reported that all personnel handling cameras were required to carry high-visibility markings at all times so as to make them easily identifiable and prevent them from covering events away from the circuit. Those journalists with approval to enter Bahrain turned to
social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...
sites to circumvent press censorship. A heavy police presence was reported along the road from Manama to the circuit, including
armoured vehicles Military vehicles are commonly armoured (or armored; see spelling differences) to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets, shells, rockets, and missiles, protecting the personnel inside from enemy fire. Such vehicles include armoured fight ...
and
riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organize ...
. Xevi Pujolar,
race engineer A race engineer is a motorsport team member who analyses data to achieve the best performance from the vehicle and driver. The race engineer communicates with the team's data analyst, mechanics, and driver, both between and during races. Off the ...
to Williams driver
Pastor Maldonado Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan professional racing driver, who competed in Formula One for the Williams (2011–2013) and Lotus (2014–2015) teams and as a Pirelli test driver until 2017. Before entering ...
, uploaded a photo to
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
reporting that "all snormal outside", while HRT driver and chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association
Pedro de la Rosa Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...
remarked that he was not concerned about the safety of the event. Reigning World Champion
Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel (; born 3 July 1987) is a German racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2007 to 2022 for BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin. Vettel is one of the most successful drivers in Formula One histo ...
added that he felt Bahrain was no more dangerous than
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
; at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix in
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...
, 2009 World Champion Jenson Button was involved in an incident in which armed gunmen attempted to hold up his road car after he left the circuit. Vettel's comments attracted criticism from former driver
Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 T ...
, who said that there was no comparison between Brazil and Bahrain. Several drivers, including Button,
Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...
and
Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a Swiss-French professional racing driver, competing under the French flag in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Autosport. Grosjean had previously spent nine ...
refused to comment either way on the political situation in Bahrain, reiterating their belief that the sport and local politics should be kept separate. In an opinion piece for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', journalist
Robert Fisk Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stan ...
launched a scathing attack on the drivers for their neutral stance, calling Sebastian Vettel "clueless" and accusing Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton of double standards, concluding that sports people in the 21st Century could no longer afford to distance themselves from moral values.
Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...
team MRS Racing, which was due to compete in the opening round of the 2012 Porsche Supercup season as part of the Grand Prix support bill, withdrew from the event on 18 April, citing concerns over security in the country as the reason for their withdrawal.


Force India petrol bomb incident

On 18 April, former
McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formu ...
mechanic turned journalist Marc Priestley took to Twitter to report that a hire car used by
Force India Force India Formula One Team Limited, commonly known as Force India and later Sahara Force India, was a Formula One racing team and constructor based in Silverstone, United Kingdom, with an Indian licence. The team was formed in October 20 ...
mechanics had been involved in a petrol bombing, though there were no injuries or damage. The team members had been travelling in an unmarked car and were held up by an impromptu roadblock which they were unable to clear before a petrol bomb exploded nearby. Further reports of the incident indicated that the mechanics were briefly exposed to
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
fired by security forces on the protesters. One of the team members involved in the incident flew out of the country the next day. The mechanic — who was not named — chose to leave as he no longer felt comfortable in the country. A second mechanic left several hours later. Force India driver
Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...
was disturbed by the chain of events, quoted as saying that it was "not right" that team members should have to fear for their personal safety. Shortly after the first practice session ended on Friday morning, speculation in the media suggested that Force India would skip the second ninety-minute session due to take place later that day as they were not comfortable travelling back to Manama after dark. Although the second session was due to finish at 1530 local time, the time taken to pack up pit garages would see teams travelling from the circuit to the capital during Friday afternoon prayers, which have seen some or the largest organised demonstrations — or "days of rage" — both in Bahrain and throughout the
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
. Darren Heath, a long-time photographer of the sport, described a similar feeling of unease up and down the pit lane. The team later confirmed that they were "considering" pulling out of the second session and were evaluating the possibility of taking part in a limited programme before retiring early, before electing not to take part in the second session at all. The team maintained their support of the decision to hold the race.
Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns D ...
was bemused by the team's decision to withdraw from the second practice session, stating that none of the other teams had expressed concern over their safety, and that he had offered to accompany Force India personnel back to Manama as reassurance, an offer they declined. Members of the
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...
team also confirmed that they had experienced a similar encounter; a minibus full of team personnel came across a fire in the middle of a road and were approached by a group of masked men before the driver was able to pull away. A Brazilian journalist also reported witnessing police firing tear gas on demonstrators.


Al Khalifa addresses race critics

Shortly after the second practice session ended on 20 April, Bahrain's Crown Prince
Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa ( ar, سلمان بن حمد آل خليفة; born 21 October 1969) is the Crown prince and the Prime Minister of Bahrain. He is also the deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain Defence Force. Early life and educa ...
made a statement before the media gathered at the event, in which he refused to cancel the race and described it as being vital to the future of Bahrain. At the time of Al Khalifa's address, tensions between protesters and the government were described as being at their highest since "Bloody Thursday", a series of night raids carried out by police against protesters at the
Pearl Roundabout The GCC Roundabout, known as Pearl Roundabout or Lulu Roundabout (Arabic: ', "Roundabout of the pearl(s)" was a roundabout located near the financial district of Manama, Bahrain. The roundabout was named after the pearl monument that previously ...
in Manama in March 2011 that resulted in the deaths of four protesters. His comments were criticised on several fronts, with media freedom groups pointing out that by limiting the access given to journalists, the government "wants the international attention brought by hosting a Grand Prix but doesn't want foreign journalists to wander from the race track where they might see political protests", thereby turning the race into a "propaganda exercise". A protester was killed in clashes with police on the Friday before the race. Hacktivist community
Anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anony ...
expressed outrage at the race and launched "Operation Bahrain", threatening to turn the Formula One website into "a smoking crater in cyber space" for the duration of the race weekend. The site was briefly taken down following a distributed denial-of-service attack, but was restored several hours later. A representative of Anonymous claimed further credit for launching similar attacks against the websites of several Bahrainian government ministries.


Race report


See also

* Politics and sports * 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix, which was cancelled due to the Bahraini uprising. * 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix, which was also protested as part of the ongoing unrest. *
1985 South African Grand Prix The 1985 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 19 October 1985 at the Kyalami Circuit in South Africa. It was the fifteenth and penultimate round of the 1985 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was marked w ...
, which saw several teams boycott the event due to
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
.


References

{{Bahraini uprising (2011–present) Protests in Bahrain
Bahrain Grand Prix The Bahrain Grand Prix ( ar, جائزة البحرين الكبرى), officially known as the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is a Formula One motor racing event in Bahrain. The first race took place at the Bahrain Interna ...
Bahrain Grand Prix The Bahrain Grand Prix ( ar, جائزة البحرين الكبرى), officially known as the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is a Formula One motor racing event in Bahrain. The first race took place at the Bahrain Interna ...
Bahrain Grand Prix Formula One controversies Politics and sports Grand Prix, 2012