Today’s Grand Prix in Bahrain is mired in controversy because of the race going ahead when the political protesters want it cancelled. Those associated with Formula 1 are claiming that the race should go ahead because it is totally separate from the political issues in Bahrain.
That is one point of view. Although it is more in the nature of wishful thinking – perfectly understandable as the Formula 1 organisers who undertook to race in Bahrain are hardly responsible for what is happening there on the political scene.
The protesters claim that the race going ahead legitimises the Bahrain regime by adding international credibility.
That is another point of view with rather more weight to it.
But it could well be wrong – it may well be that having the race go ahead brings more attention to the political instability in Bahrain. Most normal people may well not have been aware of the political trouble in Bahrain; at least not recently. By having the race go ahead, the amount of coverage of the political issues has gone up through the roof. Whilst cancelling the race would have increased the coverage slightly, it is likely that it would have resulted in nowhere near as much coverage as we are seeing.