F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is totally confident that the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead.

"Nobody is saying we're not going or we don't want to go or anything. Everybody is quite positive," he told reporters today. "I've told all the teams it's no problem at all, I'm absolutely 100 percent sure we'll go there and there will be no problem."

"It's a pity I'm not going to be there myself but don't worry," he said with a grin, before quickly adding: "No, I shall be there, don't worry."

Ecclestone's comments come just days after human rights lawyer Cherif Bassiouni, who last year headed the independent commission of inquiry that found security forces had used excessive force to suppress protests and used torture to extract confessions from protestors, gave the race his blessing.

Referring to the 'UniF1ed - One Nation in Celebration' initiative, which claims the race will unite the country and go some way to healing the wounds, he wrote: "This is an important initiative which gives another opportunity for the People of Bahrain to come together again after all that has happened in the last year."

Asked if any additional security measures will be in place for the event, which takes place on April 22, Ecclestone said: "I am sure that the people there will make sure just in case there's a problem. I am sure there will not be a problem."

When asked about media reports of a British man having fingers chopped off around the time of the anniversary of the first protests, Ecclestone replied: "But you don't know why. There are probably people here that had worse things happen to them.

"It happened to me actually," he added, no doubt referring to the time he was 'mugged' outside his Knightsbridge office in 2010. But that's another story.