FIA chief Todt to miss GP in Bahrain

Jean Todt, the head of Formula One’s governing body, will not attend this weekend’s controversial Bahrain Grand Prix but officials played down the significance of his absence yesterday.

A spokesman for FIA said the Frenchman had never had Bahrain on his schedule after being at the first two races of the season in Australia and Malaysia.

Todt’s next Formula One appearance would be in Canada in June, he added.

Formula One’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone is due to attend a race that is set to go ahead despite calls for it to be cancelled because of continuing civil unrest in the tiny Gulf kingdom.

Todt was criticised last week by Britain’s 1996 world champion Damon Hill for failing to take a clear stance on the race and to demonstrate that Formula One was sensitive to the situation.

Hill said Todt, who attended last year’s race and told reporters at the time that it would have been a mistake for the sport not to come, was wrong if he believed the best approach was to say nothing.

“He has not said anything that has distanced the sport from things it would find distasteful and upsetting, which I believe everybody in the sport would actually like to do,” he said.

Todt has kept a low profile throughout his presidency, distancing himself from the confrontational style of predecessor Max Mosley who courted the media and rarely shied away from a debate.