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Organisers have cancelled the first race of the Formula One season in Bahrain.
Following anti-government protests in the country, Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa has called off the event, which was scheduled for March 13.
The Bahrain Information Affairs Authority announced the Crown Prince's intention to cancel via its Twitter site, quoting: "Bahrain's priority is on overcoming tragedy, healing divisions and rediscovering the fabric that draws this country together.
"At the present time the country's entire attention is focused on building a new national dialogue for Bahrain."
Bernie Ecclestone said: "It is sad that Bahrain has had to withdraw from the race. We wish the whole nation well as they begin to heal their country.
"The hospitality and warmth of the people of Bahrain is a hallmark of the race there, as anyone who has been at a Bahrain Grand Prix will testify. We look forward to being back in Bahrain soon."
No new date has been set for the Bahrain GP, which has been a fixture on the F1 calendar since 2004. The first race of the F1 season will now be the Australian GP on March 27, held in Melbourne. More as we get it...
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DD_TG_Fan commented on this article
at 05:03 pm on 21 February 2011
Boo - have to wait an extra 2 weeks now.
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horf2 commented on this article
at 05:48 pm on 21 February 2011
Hopefully this can be a wake up call for Bernie and company to be a bit more thoughtful about where they do business. I know F1 wants to be politically neutral, but conspicuous consumption in the face of poverty isn't always politically neutral. And loosing historic tracks...
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ice_1 commented on this article
at 06:23 pm on 21 February 2011
I hope Bernie loses mountains of money on this. It's been years I'm looking at races in Bahrain, Malaysia, and other boring circuits. No overtaking, no challenge (except perhaps for the heat). Meanwhile countries that were at the cradle of this great sport lose their grand prix (at venues much more exciting than this) And it's all about money. At this rate, in ten years, we'll be lucky if we have 1 European grand prix (another circuit every year), 1 american (latin-american) and the rest in the middle- and far east. That would be fine if these new tracks had anything to offer in terms of exitement... I live in Belgium and see the Belgium grand prix lose money every year because of the crazy sums they probably have to pay, just to host the grand prix. The ticket prices are insane! It's probably the same in Britain and other european country's... It's an outrage. I say start a spin off series that brings back the great times of F1!
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qwidgibo commented on this article
at 06:33 pm on 21 February 2011
Shame, I was looking forward to it.
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qwidgibo commented on this article
at 06:33 pm on 21 February 2011
Shame, I was looking forward to it.
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