Bahrain Cancels Rescheduled Formula 1 Race Teams Complain About Insurance

Bahrain canceled a rescheduled Formula One race after teams complained, citing travel disruption and problems getting insurance.

The teams said the Oct. 30 event would cause an “unacceptable degree of disruption and cost,” according to a June 7 letter they sent to series ruling body Federation Internationale de l’Automobile. Bahrain also suspended the race in March because of civil unrest in the Gulf state.

“It has been made clear that this fixture cannot progress and we fully respect that decision,” Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed Alzayani said on the racetrack website. “We look forward to welcoming teams, their drivers and supporters back to Bahrain next year.”

The Paris-based FIA had reinstated the race in the slot of the Indian Grand Prix last week after a 36-hour fact-finding mission found protests in Bahrain had subsided.

Human Rights Watch spokesman Joe Stork called the fact- finders’ recommendation to hold the race “highly questionable” because there remains evidence of repression in the country. Avaaz, a New York-based online campaign group, collected more than 450,000 signatures backing the cancellation of the race.

Bahrain is scheduled to host the first race of next season in March at the $150 million circuit.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Duff in Madrid at aduff4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at at celser@bloomberg.net