It's hard to know how to feel about yesterday's announcement from the FIA that the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead, and that the FIA have assured the safety of all participants.
While the FIA is a popular figure of hate among many F1 fans - largely an emotion left over from the Mosley era - I can't help but feel sympathetic towards an organisation that has been backed into a corner over the Bahrain race.
Everyone involved in the Bahrain decision-making process has abdicated responsibility, and the FIA are the ones who have been left standing when the music stopped.
So it could be said that by issuing a press release assuring the safety of all involved in the Bahrain Grand Prix - from members of the public to officials working within the sport - the FIA have done the honourable thing by accepting responsibility when no one else would.
Of course, it could also be argued that the FIA could have - and should have - put a stop to the race months ago.
As this article points out, the use of the UNIF1ED logo violates Article 1 of the FIA statutes, as it in and of itself uses F1 as a political tool.
Had it been spotted by the powers that be in time, this promotional violation could have been a handy way to call off the race with no egg on faces that matter.
But it wasn't, and the race is on.
Yesterday in the paddock there was much chatter about the viability of the race, and many still believed we were in line for a last-minute cancellation. But overnight the mood shifted, and everyone is now steeling themselves for what is likely to be - at best - a tense trip to the desert.
As a journalist, I feel that I have a responsibility to go to Bahrain and see the situation on the ground for myself.
But I worry that the situation I see will not be Bahrain as it is, or as it has been in recent months. Rather, the protesters will almost certainly use the arrival of the F1 circus as a means of generating added publicity for their cause by increasing the scale and frequency of their demonstrations.
Assuming, of course, that the security forces do not keep the small island country on total lock-down, leading to the most peaceful race in F1 history.
While the FIA is a popular figure of hate among many F1 fans - largely an emotion left over from the Mosley era - I can't help but feel sympathetic towards an organisation that has been backed into a corner over the Bahrain race.
Everyone involved in the Bahrain decision-making process has abdicated responsibility, and the FIA are the ones who have been left standing when the music stopped.
So it could be said that by issuing a press release assuring the safety of all involved in the Bahrain Grand Prix - from members of the public to officials working within the sport - the FIA have done the honourable thing by accepting responsibility when no one else would.
Of course, it could also be argued that the FIA could have - and should have - put a stop to the race months ago.
As this article points out, the use of the UNIF1ED logo violates Article 1 of the FIA statutes, as it in and of itself uses F1 as a political tool.
Had it been spotted by the powers that be in time, this promotional violation could have been a handy way to call off the race with no egg on faces that matter.
But it wasn't, and the race is on.
Yesterday in the paddock there was much chatter about the viability of the race, and many still believed we were in line for a last-minute cancellation. But overnight the mood shifted, and everyone is now steeling themselves for what is likely to be - at best - a tense trip to the desert.
As a journalist, I feel that I have a responsibility to go to Bahrain and see the situation on the ground for myself.
But I worry that the situation I see will not be Bahrain as it is, or as it has been in recent months. Rather, the protesters will almost certainly use the arrival of the F1 circus as a means of generating added publicity for their cause by increasing the scale and frequency of their demonstrations.
Assuming, of course, that the security forces do not keep the small island country on total lock-down, leading to the most peaceful race in F1 history.
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