Mosley says Bahrain Grand Prix won’t happen
Agreement ‘not unanimous’
Former FIA president Max Mosley does not believe there is “the slightest chance” the re-arranged Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead this year.
Embarrassingly for current FIA president Jean Todt, the Frenchman has been reminded by Mosley that he needs the unanimous agreement of the teams for changes voted in on Friday to take effect.
The 26-man World Motor Sport Council voted for the race in Bahrain to be reinstated on October 30, with the inaugural Indian Grand Prix moved to early December.
However, article 66 of the FIA’s Sporting Code states no amendments shall be made “unless unanimous agreement is given by all competitors already entered”.
Mosley said: “I don’t think there’s the slightest chance the grand prix will actually happen.
“Apart from anything else you cannot change the calendar, in the way it has been proposed, without the unanimous agreement of the teams.
“The council organises the event, but if there is going to be a change, for example moving the Indian event, there has to be unanimous agreement. It’s absolutely part of the rules.
“So, until written agreement of the teams is forthcoming, you can’t actually change the date.”
The teams are known to be furious with the proposals, in particular as they made it abundantly clear to F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone that the season ending in December was “totally unacceptable”.
In the wake of the furore that has unfolded in recent days, Ecclestone is now considering a re-think and a new vote.
“The way things are at the moment, we have no idea what is going to happen,” Ecclestone said.
“Better we move Bahrain to the end of the season and, if things are safe and well, then that is fine, we can go. If they are not, then we don’t go and there are no problems.”
The WMSC acted on the basis of a report received by one of Todt’s vice-presidents, Carlos Gracia, who was received by a number of prominent Bahrainis at a time when a curfew was still in force.
“The problem there was that they sent someone to look at Bahrain who speaks no English, and as far as I know speaks no Arabic,” added Mosley.
“He was taken around by representatives of the government, of course had no knowledge of what was really going on, and, above all, obviously didn’t ask to see the sort of people a human rights lawyer, or somebody of that kind, would have asked to see.”