07/06/2011
NEWS STORY
In the face of growing opposition to the FIA's decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix, Bernie Ecclestone has called on the teams to express their feelings and if necessary demand a re-vote.
In many ways, there has been precious little else in F1 to discuss in recent days - the perfect opportunity to bury bad news - as the sport once again finds itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The FIA continues to suggest that all is well, a message based on information from parties who need things to be well, and while its 'fact finding mission' is now being widely discredited so too is the actual vote at last week's meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.
In the face of all this, and realising that this would be the perfect time for the teams' alliance (FOTA) to flex its muscles - as suggested by Mike Lawrence - Ecclestone appears to have had a change of heart - a move more surprising that last week's original decision.
"The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen," Ecclestone told the Daily Telegraph. "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," he continued. "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," he added. "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."
If the fax vote were carried out today, Pitpass is confident that Bahrain would be removed from the calendar with immediate effect. Last night, a highly respected source within the industry told us "believe me, the teams don't want to go". Hopefully, they will get to have their say.