The Bahrain Grand Prix: the modern day equivalent of touring apartheid South Africa?

A huge amount of speculation has surrounded this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix and whether it should go ahead. Every possible person has given their opinion, all with their separate agendas.

Damon Hill famously stated before last years cancelled GP that allowing the race to go ahead was “on par with sport tours that chose to play in apartheid South Africa in the 1980s”. Conversely, this year the event goes ahead, much to the dismay of humanitarian groups.

This year, the autocratic ruler, King Hamad has done little to pacify and placate the downtrodden protesters, (shown by the largest protest march in the country's history on 9 March 2012), who still feel aggrieved as they did just a year ago.

The official Hamad channels claim that an open dialogue is being initiated with the protesters and Hamad is willing to make compromises.

One has to ask the question whether the Bahraini government has really made any improvements to its human rights credentials in the meagre time frame of a year. Many journalists in the know doubt it.

It is no secret that the Grand Prix is the Bahraini ruling family's way to advertise the opulence and magnificence of the kingdom. Staging the glamorous sport of Formula 1, which is watch by millions around the world, implies credibility and, ironically, sophistication.

Coincidently, the Bahrain GP is one of the more lucrative circuits for Bernie Ecclestone (CEO of F1 franchise), so naturally, he is keen for the event to go ahead.

I heard one journalist state that for the race to be 100 per cent safe there would have to be armed forces securing the circuit from protesters. This paints a nasty picture of the state of affairs that Bahrain is in. However, my issue goes beyond the safety of the drivers and the teams.

The very action of Ecclestone sanctioning the race allies the sport of F1 with a very questionable regime. It makes Ecclestone come across as greedy and uncompassionate and in my opinion throws the noble sport of motor racing into disrepute.

I wonder why all those sponsors plastering the side of the cars have kept so quiet about the whole issue. In allowing their brand to be displayed at the Bahrain GP they financially endorse the problematic regime. Much has been made of whether or not coverage should be broadcast.

I am all for coverage, I would love to see an uncensored, no holds barred account of the event. Sadly, I doubt this will be the case. It will be interesting to see as to whether F1 as a sport suffers for permitting the race to go ahead, only time will tell.