It was a tortuous balance between engineering, driving skill, courage and luck. Drivers such as Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Nikki Lauda and Ayrton Senna were suitably celebrrated as great sporting heroes.
But eventually the cars became computerised and the televsion money increased inexorably and sport, for many, simply died. Througout this entire era F1 has ben run by the redoubtable and ruthless Bernie Ecclestone. It is hard to fathom the motivation for an 81 year old who seeks to make even more millions on top of his collosal fortune.
But his bottom line seems to be 'nothing should be allowed to get in the way of commercial gain'. Last year the civil uprising against King Hamad's regime caused the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix but this year it is going ahead. Quite how a sporting event can be staged in the midst of such turmoil and oppression is bizarre. But Bernie who has, on more than one occassion, expressed his admiration for Hitler's organisational skills, has no qualms.
We should remember there have been dozens killed by the security forces, thousand injured and arrested. Medical staff who helped the injured have been imprisoned. Naturally the protestors are channelling their energies to a huge protest aiming to disrupt the race. Meanwhile our Bern says Bahrain is "quiet and peaceful."
All he proves is financial astuteness does not mean he understands the first thing about politics and the value of human rights.
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