Bernie Ecclestone won’t cancel F1 over Bahrain protests

In an interview with CNN’s Eunice Yoon, Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone says the decision to not cancel next weekend’s F1 race in Bahrain has nothing to do with the country’s unrest.

“I understand the problems in Bahrain have nothing to do with Formula One,” said Ecclestone. “We have a lot of support. I mean, there are other issues in Bahrain, but nothing to do with us. We don’t go into a country and interfere with the politics of the country anywhere wherever we go,” adding, “I don’t think sport should be involved in politics. When any sport goes into a country, they respect the laws of the country whatever they are.”

While Ecclestone said that sport and politics should not mix he added none of the F1 participants have raised any concerns about safety issues in the country due to the anti-government protests which in some cases have also seen protesting directed towards the Grand Prix.

“We haven’t asked anybody [about safety issues]. We have an event in Bahrain that has been on the calendar since last October and the people that are the National Sporting Authority in that country are the only people that could change anything if they wanted to. They were the ones that applied for the date so if they didn’t want the race to take place they would apply for it to be removed.”