Much like their drivers the bosses of the leading F1 teams have been loath to get into any debate about Bahrain, even though members of the Force India and Sauber teams have both been close to incidents while traveling into the city.
At an FIA press conference today team bosses were clearly uncomfortable with ongoing questioning on the subject, although most did at least offer some responses.
“There have undoubtedly been difficult times here but from a pure team perspective, we’ve been comfortable with the situation,” said McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh. “Clearly we race as an international sport all over the world and we have security concerns and issues at a number or races and we take
that very seriously, and we’re cautious, and we try to take the right precautions. But ultimately we’re a race team. We’re here to go motor racing and that’s our number one priority.
“I think there is a lot of support for the race from all parts of society here, so I think that’s positive. Clearly often the majority aren’t heard on these occasions but I think there’s a fair amount of support, you can feel it here. I understand they’ve sold out the grandstand so presumably that’s a tangible sign of support.”
Red Bull’s Christian Horner said: “Formula One is a sport at the end of the day and it’s wrong for it to be used politically. We’re here to race, we trust in the FIA, in the decisions that they made, and we’re comfortable with the decisions that they have made. For us, it’s about trying to extract the maximum from this weekend as a sporting team in a sporting championship. The calendar is obviously set by the FIA.
“I think the guys here have been very welcoming. They look after the teams very well and hopefully we can put on a good show on Sunday. I think at the end of the day it’s a sport, we’re a sporting team competing in a sport that competes at 20 venues around the world. We’ll do our best as we do in all of those other events to do the best job we can on Sunday.”
Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali said: “You are speaking about security and I would say that we have received all the guarantees from the organizers, the federation, the embassy, and it is pretty clear at the moment that it is like that. We don’t seem to be the target of anyone that is protesting.
“We are here for the event that is racing, the race of the F1 World Championship and we are here to make the best of it. From a political point of view, the only thing I can is that there are a lot of things going on and we really hope that all the dialogue that has started within the different parts will do the best thing in the shortest time possible for everyone. This is really the hope that we have, as sportsmen and as a man of the world.”
Frustrated as the questioning went on, Whitmarsh said: “Listen, I tell you, we’re at the start of a fantastic World Championship. There have been three outstanding races, and there’s a great championship ahead of us.
“We’ve had three different winners, it’s been a fantastic start to the championship and I think we can have a fantastic race here on Sunday. I don’t think that going into what’s happened over the last millennia or the politics around the world is something that most of us here are equipped to comment on.”
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