Lords urge F1 to avoid Bahrain

If there wasn't enough objection to F1 returning to Bahrain for a grand prix this season, leading British peers have now added their voice to the throng.

The race was postponed, reinstated then cancelled for good in an embarrassing saga for f1 in 2011, and then made a surprising return to favour when the 2012 calendar was issued. The reason for the initial confusion, public uprising amid calls for the royal family and government to stand down, continues to be a problem, albeit not one that is as widely reported as a year ago.

Only a month ago, the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights repeated its call for F1 teams to boycott the race, but there has been no such announcement as the entrants look higher up the food chain for guidance. With Bernie Ecclestone seeing no reason to cancel the race, it remains on the schedule.

Now, however, the matter has been raised among members of the House of Lords, with seven peers - along with Green Party MP Caroline Lucas - writing to the UK's Times newspaper to express their concern.

"We note with concern the decision by F1 to go ahead with the race in Bahrain scheduled for April," the letter read, "The continued political crisis in Bahrain is a troubling source of instability in the Gulf region, and the lack of any move towards political reconciliation concerns those who wish to see Bahrain move in the direction of greater democratic accountability.

"It was hoped that the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) would provide a starting point for political reform which both government and opposition forces could agree upon.

"However, two months on, we see an entrenchment of the positions of both sides, which risks letting more extreme voices dictate the progress of the conflict.

"Given the current dire situation, with daily street protests and the deaths of more civilians, we do not believe that the time is right for F1 to return to Bahrain."

The mood of the MPs will no doubt be darkened by reports that a 51-year old British citizen was attacked in the capital Manama, losing two fingers and suffering broken ribs in a targeted assault as he drove through streets thronged with anti-government protesterson the way home from an 'ex-pat' club in the coastal town of Budaiya.

The Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for 22 April, is due to be the fourth round of the 2012 season.