Track boss says 2012 return for Bahrain ‘not our call’
Chairman Zayed Alzayani visited the British grand prix last weekend and had little positive to say about the teams, outspoken driver Mark Webber and widespread criticisms about Bahrain's human rights record being tarnished.
The FIA came close to reinstating the grand prix this year but Alzayani admitted it was the teams' stance that was the most problematic.
"They have been very temperamental," he told the Evening Standard.
"I feel disappointed because it cannot go within three months from one end of the spectrum 'Oh, you are my favorite destination' … to the other 'We don't want to go to Bahrain'.
"There were a lot of complaints from the teams and sponsors and, at the end of the day, we withdrew," he said.
The Sakhir track boss also criticized Australian Webber, who was a lone voice in the F1 paddock daring to speak about the drivers' concerns about racing in Bahrain amid the political turmoil.
"Doesn't Australia have issues with the Aborigines? I don't see Mark Webber talking about that. Why Mark Webber went against Bahrain I don't know," said Alzayani.
"They're going to the US next year," he added. "What about Guantanamo? Isn't that human rights violation? As Bernie told me, 'If human rights was the criterion for F1 races, we would only have them in Belgium and Switzerland in the future'."
Bahrain is provisionally scheduled to return to the very top of the 2012 calendar, but Alzayani admitted: "I don't know when the race will be held next year. It's not our call."