Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has made a U—turn and wants the holding of the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix to be rethought again in the wake of ongoing political unrest in the country, the Daily Telegraph reported on Tuesday.
The British paper said that Ecclestone, 80, has written to the 12 teams to call for a re—vote at the governing body FIA which last week rescheduled the original season—opener for October 30.
Ecclestone’s change of heart reportedly comes after a human rights group condemned a FIA report which said it was safe to race in October.
The web—based Avaaz group dismissed the report from FIA vice—president Carlos Garcia as a “whitewash,” saying he had only talked to persons sympathetic to the ruling family and that human rights violations were continuing in the country.
The FIA has come under fire from many sides including drivers such as Mark Webber, and Ecclestone has now suggested to play things safe and move the race to the end of the season — with an option to scrap it.
“The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen. 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,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Ecclestone as saying.
“If they are not, then we don’t go and there are no problems. 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.” “We can change this Oct 30 date by having a vote by fax if necessary. It can be done, and fast.”
