f1 pause

So this next weekend should have seen the start of the 2011 F1 Grand Prix season with the opener in Bahrain.

That, of course, is not happening, what with all these foreigners demanding stuff like freedom or expression and free and fair elections - I mean, the cheek of it! It's all very well trying to throw off your oppressors and all, but interfering with the F! season is quite beyond the pail.

I'm joking, obviously, but it does somewhat highlight one of the other problems with Bernie's rush to get to different places around the world. Part of the reason is clearly a desire to expand the sport's fan-base and to give manufactures, sponsors and brands access to new and developing markets.

I've no real problem with these ideas, as they make some sense, but it has created a few issues. One of my main one is that most of the new circuits are poor, not least of all because Hermann Tilk designs them all and while I wouldn't want to say he was entirely the reason for them being rubbish, it can't be a good thing that exactly the same person designs them all.

But the problem highlighted by the Bahrain GP is Bernie's apparently eager willingness to go for dodgy regimes. I mean, if you look at a list of the newer circuits, a good chunk of them are happening in countries that lack freedom for their population and/or have appalling records on human rights. What seems to distinguish quite a few of them is the willingness by the person or people in charge to blow huge wodges of what you could argue should be the people's money on having their own GP.

Now don't get me wrong, F1 is an expensive game, especially nowadays when safety has to be so good and their are demands for high-end facilities. In a sense, F1 has become a victim of its own success in this regard. My main point is that it's a real shame that this therefore means that all the dodgiest parts of the world are the only ones who seem to be able (or should that be willing) to spend this sort of money.