Formula One media rights-holders in Germany and Finland will not travel to this weekend’s Bahrain grand prix due to concerns over security in the country, although they are still expected to show coverage from the race.
The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, motorsport’s world governing body, has been under pressure to call off the race due to civil unrest in Bahrain. However, the governing body confirmed on Friday that the grand prix would go ahead as scheduled.
German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland and Finnish pay-television and commercial broadcaster MTV3 will not send staff to Bahrain, according to German newspapers Blick and Bild, and UK newspaper The Times. The broadcasters will not have staff on the ground to report directly from the race, but there has been no suggestion that they will not show coverage from the grand prix.
“Grands prix attract so much attention internationally that the possibility of problems is too high,” a spokesman for Finland’s MTV3 said. “It is too bad because [Finnish Lotus driver] Kimi Raikkonen’s return has dramatically increased the interest in Formula One. But we don’t want to go at the expense of safety.”