Sheikh's investment turn up heat as Bahrain drives teams to distraction

TIME is running out for Bahrain as Formula One agonises over whether to stage a grand prix on the troubled island.

Bahrain casts shadow

TIME is running out for Bahrain to exert its influence behind the closed doors of Formula One as the sport agonises over whether to stage a grand prix on the troubled island.

Bahrain is not just a race promoter. It has also invested its considerable wealth in F1 and will expect to pull some significant levers over the next few days, as the 12 teams hurtle towards the final decision on whether to risk travelling next week to a kingdom disrupted by riots and populated by protesters who promise to target the race.

McLaren are in the most difficulty, with Mumtalakat Holdings, the Bahrain Royal family's sovereign wealth fund, on course to own half the business.

Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, has kept a low profile while criticism of Bahrain has resurfaced, but he has also attempted to be scrupulously fair as the teams have mulled over their decision.

However, McLaren will struggle to go against the wishes of their part-owners and the Bahrain authorities seem set on going ahead with this year's grand prix after the island's economy took an estimated $US500m ($483) hit after the cancellation of the 2011 event.

Questions will also be asked of Jean Todt, the president of the FIA, the governing body, who is expected in Shanghai this weekend to talk to the teams before Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, a race totally overshadowed by events in the Gulf.

So far, Todt has been notable for his lack of leadership and some critics worry that he is already too close to Bahrain to be able to make a credible decision.

Todt's son, Nicolas, shares ownership of the Lotus ART GP2 team with Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain and the prime mover in bringing the grand prix to the country. The GP2 teams will be among the support races planned in Bahrain.

If Todt does decide to cancel the race, he will likely have to put it to an immediate vote by fax machine of the 26-man FIA World Motor Sport Council. A leading member of the council, and one of Todt's crucial allies in his election as president, is Sheikh Abdulla bin Isa Al-Khalifa, another of the country's ruling elite.

Todt has always vehemently denied being unduly influenced by his Bahrain connections but the sway of the tiny kingdom and its claims to being the home of motor sport in the Gulf mean that its tentacles reach out to some of the most prominent personalities in motor racing, such as Sir Jackie Stewart, who has been a regular and faithful spokesman on behalf of the regime.

But the decision on whether F1 goes to Bahrain next week ultimately rests on the determination of the teams. They cannot call off the grand prix, as they underlined in a somewhat feisty statement issued late on Wednesday night, but Bernie Ecclestone, the sport's commercial rights-holder, knows he cannot stage a race without them and he might believe, as he did last year, that it is better to side with his teams when the chips are down.

There is already hostility aplenty, with Lotus chiding the Bahrain International Circuit authorities for releasing details of a private report that members of their team made on the state of the nation to the Formula One Teams Association.That, however, is an aside.

After days of toing and froing, the issue will come to its climax here in Shanghai where a grand prix is in grave danger of grabbing the attention away from Bahrain's plight.

Drivers will be diverted from their focus on a race that should provide some significant pointers to the ultimate destination of this year's world championship. But they, like the team principals, will be asked to define their moral stance on a grand prix that, for the second year running, has claimed the headlines when F1 should be focused on sport.

The Times