[Closed] Bahrain Formula 1

There should be a race as all the publicity is bringing pressure on the Bahrain authorities. The next race should be in Syria.

Sports and politics dont mix, but its bringing more publicity to the bahranian situation which can only be a good thing.

On a seperate note does anyone know a good link to get the race live. Dont do sky sports 🙂 Ta

The next race should be in Syria.

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😯

I don't think it is putting any pressure on the regime: All the media coverage seems to be showing the protesters as nothing more than terrorists, hell-bent on disrupting a good ole', friendly, innocent sporting pastime, with the Crown Prince coming off as the calm, reasonable face of the whole situation.

The best thing they could have done is to have boycotted the race entirely. Now they are there, the only thing they are doing is damaging the cause of the protesters.

Bernie Ecclestone will remain in charge of F1 (unfortunately) until someone shoots him IMO.

I see cars driving around all the time druid, many trying to get somewehre as fast as possible, aren't they racing?

They were racing in China last weekend
The human rights issues there are in another league but there doesn't seem to be as much uproar about that

But we didn't supply China with the tools to do it.

who do you mean by 'we'?

loada bollox anyways zzzzz
talk more about F1 on here than bike mountain bike racing especially downhill

Why bother taking the time to read and post then 🙄

haven't you got a bike to ride?

Can't find many Mountainbike Racing related threads started by pinhead 🙄

Its a triumph of money over morals, shouldnt be happening. Do people think it was wrong to have a rugby ban to SA in retrospect?

Anyone got any internet links to watch the qualifing as I dont have Sky ?

pinhead - Member

loada bollox anyways zzzzz

I'm not surprised you're falling asleep - you haven't stopped posting since you first registered 18 hours ago. Go and have a lie down - it'll do you good.

ernie lynch the lesser spotted on here 😀

ahh its just what ive noiced on here F1-top gear...ohh and road racing!

[url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/ ]from our own correspondent[/url] is an interesting listen (latest should be up on iplayer soon). The difference between China and Bahrain is the UK can/and does have influence over the Bahrain government.

Pinhead seems and appropriately apt name...

Anyone got any internet links to watch the qualifing as I dont have Sky ?

have a poke around the RTL website
they were putting out a live feed last year

Ta jota180.

Anyone got any internet links to watch the qualifing as I dont have Sky ?

have a poke around the RTL website
they were putting out a live feed last year

the difference between China and Bahrain is the UK can/and does have influence over the Bahrain

It's not just UK teams that race in F1 though
there's a couple of Italian based teams and a Swiss team + loads of international staff
so I'm not really sure what a UK link has to do with it

if they don't race in Bahrain, they shouldn't go to China and there should be as much pressure not to

Anyone got any internet links to watch the qualifing as I dont have Sky ?

You could also try Sportlemon or WYSIWYG, both have worked for me in the past

i'll rephrase it...

the difference between China and Bahrain is that F1 can/and does have influence over the Bahrain.

also I don't think f1 should go to China either, but it wouldn't bother China in the slightest.

Fair enough but I can't really buy into just ignoring it and carrying on as if it's all hunky dory simply because we can't influence it

also I don't think f1 should go to China either, but it wouldn't bother China in the slightest.

Interesting. I'm always slightly amused by people moaning about China, on a laptop probably made there, whilst watching a TV probably made there 😈

the mobo in this pc was made in china, the republic of... wacom tablet japan and the monitors south korea and the case & psu the US.

I can't really buy into just ignoring it and carrying on as if it's all hunky dory simply because we can't influence it

But the issue here is Bahrain - not China. If Britain thinks that displeasure should be expressed concerning China's human rights record then that is altogether a different issue.

You can't really argue that no action should be taken in the case of Bahrain because to do so would be hypocritical whilst China is simply ignored.

Hypocrisy goes to the very heart of British foreign policy - [i]especially[/i] with regards to the Middle East, and the Gulf States in particular. So it is really not acceptable to start worrying about that now and use it as an excuse for doing nothing.

Oh poo Finger boy on pole.
I could put up with Michael Schumacher and his slightly smug grin in the days when he was winning everything, but Swettal gets right up my nose with his orgasmic noises when he wins and that finger is going right up his nose (after its been up his arse) if I ever meet him.

Yes I know its silly but I thought he was OK at first, I was made up when he got worked over @ China

What are governments of any nation meant to do here? No teams are representing countries (note the level of respect shown to anthems at the end of each race), they are companies based in various juristictions and are under no formal sanctions etc

Of course, moral suasion could be used in the case of events taking place in regimes that we deem (!?!) to have unsatisfactory human rights records but in that case a government would be need to clarify:

1. Which nations are deemed as OK/not OK and why?
2. What sorts of companies should be involved - just F1 or any company that trades with states defined in (1) as being not OK?
3. Which teams would come under UK rulings - McClaren (presumably yes) Red Bull (presumably no, despite MK HQ)?
4. What would be the sanctions for non-compliance etc.?

If they do go down any such route, at least Theresa April and the Home Office would not be involved.

I find it difficult to see how any government is going to be able to deal with this. But sadly unlikely that F1 would make the correct moral decision on its own 🙁

Presumably no-one who objects to the regime in non-OK countries will be watching tomorrow.

I think there is an opportunity for a team or individual to play a blinder here.

Imagine if Red Bull changed its livery for the race, to a message something like "democracy for all" or the race winner opened up the race suit to show a t-shirt underneath with a message written on it "democracy not tyranny".

If that happened then they could really claim to be highlighting the issues.

What are governments of any nation meant to do here?

How about not publicly announcing that the British governments fully supports the Bahrain regime ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17789082

Cameron : [i]"there is a process of reform under way"[/i]. So the British PM is apparently fully satisfied with how things are in Bahrain. Despite the fact that many people in Bahrain apparently aren't.

zokes - Member

Pinhead seems and appropriately apt name...

wot wot tally ho old bean... 😆

You can't really argue that no action should be taken in the case of Bahrain because to do so would be hypocritical whilst China is simply ignored.

I wasn't - I was commenting that that we did nothing about China and we should have

TBH - the protests in Bahrain have been out of the mainstream news for months now they're the top story [from what I've seen]
Maybe F1 being there has helped the protesters with a lot of publicity they weren't getting rather than helping the regime?

TBH - the protests in Bahrain have been out of the mainstream news for months now they're the top story [from what I've seen]

+1

E-L agree with that (hence comments about moral suasion) but with regards the specifics of whether a F1 can/should go ahead, I think this is beyond the limits of governments. One could argue against other countries sanctioning UK-events if you (ie one not E-L) want to be 100% consistent

I agree that there was an opportunity for team/individuals and FI but that is probably expecting too much !!!

But the treatment of Bahrain's Shia majority is not an issue that began with the Arab Spring. If charges of hypocricy are going to be banded around (and with some justification) at least lets be honest about them especially as we are probably all guilty.

Oh poo Finger boy on pole

😆 Dont expect him to win, he managed only one fastest lap. Hammy looks good for this one 😀

Race day today, i wonder if anyone is going to do a 'Boat Race' and run on the track or something.....

Anonymous have taken out their website already....

http://f1-racers.net/

Interesting...

Looks like Lewis is about to lose his head 😯

Great race, edge of seat stuff at times, great to see Lotus doing well, some "different" race craft moves by Rosser

But we didn't supply China with the tools to do it.

We do business with them. It may not be a pointy shooty tool, but it's a tool all the same.

xiphon - Member
Anonymous have taken out their website already....

http://f1-racers.net/

Those guys and girls are good! 😀

I saw a clip of what Martin Brundle said before the race about the situation and for once he didn't come across as a knob and I said the right thing.

I am also of 2 minds - by F1 not just pulling out they have prolonged and intensified the plight of the Bahrain people. But as they Bahrain people didn't want the race they have kind of stuck 2 fingers up to them.

It would have been nice if F1 had played along with the government there until today and then did a U-turn and performed a long procession on the track in support of the Bahrain people. Yes they would never be invited back (until things make a turn for the better) but who cares about that?

bah are we really seeing cars developing performance or just tyre usage issues, seems

track is cool : mercedes team & mclaren good (and alonso)
track is medium : mclaren good
track is hot : RBR & Lotus
track is wet : alonso

not dissing it, as it makes for interesting races,

its kinda reminding me of the time we had the new rule regs and the new tyre compounds a few years back and 1 race we would have Ferrari on pole and the next Force India!!!!!!!!

DiResta did good work on a 2 stop - fortunate though with Button dropping out.

Anonymous have taken out their website already..

who's website? F1 racers is just a fan site

They took the 'official' website offline for a few hours yesterday, and seem to have acquired a data dump of personal details for all the ticket sales...

I feel Kimi's pain - you can almost hear him thinking "who is this muppet?"! He too cool for Vettel's cockery.
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Interesting comment from the BBC head of sports news in that without the presence of F1 the troubles might not have had as high a profile as they have had.
Excellent highlights too. Kimi's not cool, he's a miserable twunt.

Interview with Kimi earlier: