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Allow me to be first to comment on this piece.

No comment.

Formula 1 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hi Jennie, saw you in the Bahrain paddock when you came to interview Pedro and Narain in the HRT hospitality on Thursday.

Just wanted to point out a small typo - Force India Deputy Principal is Bob Fernley.

Best.

opting-out and not defending the indefensible is not easy to stomach from a Ö÷²¥´óÐã public servant. Still, enjoy the pool, the food, your conscious

Well done Jennie for doing a professional job in what must have been difficult circumstances. We all have our own opinions on whether or not F1 should have been in Bahrain. I'm old enough to remember the boycott of F1 in South Africa in the 80's & Soviet Union & USA's tit for tat refusals to compete in the Olympic Games of 1980 & 84. Sports place in politics has long been debated going way back to the England football team competing in Berlin in the 1930's and being made to give the Nazi salute.

Most sportsman naturally just want to compete and entertain their fans. The onus should not be put on them to make any decision about whether it is right or wrong to be part of any event. I'm pleased taht apart from one isolated incident which thankfully didn't result in any injury of team personnel that everyone has returned safe. Whether Bernie should have put people at risk is another matter. I hope the people of Bahrain come to a peaceful and satisfactory solution without further death or injury.

Any reason why this blog was 'inaccessible' until this evening?

Taking legal advice?

No comment

Will posted elsewhere about the disappearance. I must say, this has been heavily changed/edited. I reckon my point was proved, but still.

Irrespective of whether F1 went to Bahrain or not it was the highest profile sport by far that has been there in a while. Therefore all sides are going to use it as a political tool to try and furthur their respective causes.

Since the F1 circus left what has been seen in the media? Not very much.

I think all the people from all the countries would rather not have been there but they had a job to do and a contract to fulfil. They all did very well in difficult circumstances.

@9 "Since the F1 circus left what has been seen in the media? Not very much."

You don't have to look all that far, there are other news outlets than the Ö÷²¥´óÐã. Hunger striker dying, bomb attacks on police, riot at the funeral of the person killed on the day of the GP.

To be honest, I would want Jennie passing comment on the political stuff it not her job and she (I'm assuming) doesn't know enough about it to pass any kind of helpful comment.
For the same reasons, I wouldn't want a news reporter commenting on who they thought would win the race, not their job and don't know enough to pass any kind of helpful comment.
Honest enough to admit trepidation and so hasn't ignored the issue. Surely we don't expect everyone who draws a Ö÷²¥´óÐã salary to be an expert on every area they pass?
Does the Test Match Special team comment on forced marriages when in certain parts of the world?
Does the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Bristol correspondant on Bristol City comment on the Bristol mayoral election?
What about golf correspondants commenting on the US elections?
Nope, and I'm glad
(I wander if Bahraini F1 reporters will comment on the MI6 suitcase death during the British gand prix!)

Jennie,

I can respect you consider yourself to be a sports journalist and only want to deal with matters relating to your job. Nobody expects you to be a politician.

However, the situation in Bahrain goes far beyond politics and the F1 circus should never have visited the country.

The Shia majority in the country have been marginalised for years. They have demonstrated only for what we enjoy each day of our lives in the UK and I don't condemn them for that.

The Bahrain state has systematically murdered, tortured and threatened rape on anybody seen to protest against the state, whilst very little reform has been achieved since last year.

Sometimes you simply cannot compartmentalise politics from sport and the ruling family of Bahrain clearly used F1 as a propaganda tool over the weekend, where all participants were used to provide legitimacy to the state and it's actions.

Imagine if the F1 world championship had existed in the 1930's when Hitler was in power in Germany. Imagine the picture of the Nazi's persecuting the Jews openly and Hitler using the F1 world championship to portray the best of Germany for his propaganda machine. Would this have been acceptable? Is there any difference between that context and the situation in Bahrain?

Human rights are simply more important than sport, regardless of the money at stake and F1 may come to regret the decision. I'm sure history will look very unkindly on the event and it will forever be a stain on the sports image.

Put very simply I think the sport defiled itself in pursuit of the wealth of tyrants.

'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'. Clearly F1 made its choice.

@13 So well put.
@12 Presumably you meant wouldn't want in your first line. So all those lines the sports journalists have written about Hillsborough, or Heysel, or Munich, or Bradford, they should have just stuck to the sport should they? As far as Bahrain is concerned, the fact the sports journos were there is enough to been compelled to write about what they see and feel about the fact.