The Bahrain International Circuit chairman Zayed R Alzayani has admitted to taking "a calculated decision" with regard to staging this year's grand prix. The eyes of the world are on Bahrain this week as the countdown continues in earnest to its return on the Formula One calendar this weekend.
Alzayani has long been confident that the race will pass without a hitch, however, there are several demonstrations and protests planned this week ahead of the event. One in particular has been described by a risk assessment group as "a vehicular rally" due to take place along two of the main highways that lead up to the airport on Wednesday, when most F1 personnel are due to arrive.
Monday's arrival into Bahrain was peaceful enough with GP staff on hand at the airport, including a cameraman and photographer to catch the arrival of their first F1 guests. That included the drivers Bruno Senna of Williams and Sergio Pérez from Sauber, along with two reserves in Toro Rosso's Sébastien Buemi and Jérôme D'Ambrosio from Lotus.
Appreciably there are plenty of posters and banners promoting the race, most notably on lamp-posts leading away from the airport, one especially counting down the days to Friday's first practice. But given the potential for disruption, Alzayani does not believe the future of the race is at stake.
"We've been in Formula One for seven years and we will be in it for much longer than that," Alzayani said. "We wouldn't take a decision on a gamble. But it's a calculated decision, we've weighed up our options and we are committed to the grand prix and to its success.
"I don't think anything drastic will happen. It's not Syria or Afghanistan. I don't see why anything should happen this year that hasn't happened in the previous years. I don't see any benefit for anyone personally attacking the media or the teams or anything.
"Even those who are protesting weaken their message if they do so. Why would you go and attack the media? I think they will probably look out for the media to try and get their message abroad, which is fine. Let them express their opinion."
A week ago seven policeman were injured, three seriously, by a petrol bomb. A funeral march on Friday resulted in three teenagers being shot as police attempted to disperse the more volatile demonstrators.
However, Alzayani said: "It could happen in any country in the world. Why is it any different here? Look at what happened in London when we had a guy jump into the Thames and stop the Boat Race. Do you want to tell me there is no threat on the Olympics in London? Should we should stop the Olympics?
"What's the difference? There are idiots everywhere in the world. Does that mean we just sit at home and lock ourselves up? So let's have the event. I'm sure it will be a good event, a safe event. I can assure you most of the people who are hesitant or reluctant about Bahrain will change their perception within the first day of being here. We've seen it, and people who have already been to Bahrain and were worried and everything like that, they left with a different perception."
Alzayani says F1's visit will allay some of the myths that have been perpetrated in the run-up to the race, although he appreciates that problems do exist that cast a shadow over the race and Bahrain. "Will this year be exactly like it was in the past years? No," said Alzayani. "We know that for a fact and I'd be lying if I sat down and told you it would be the same and everything's normal.
"The country has gone through a tough year, we are still wounded in some aspects or another, and we are on the way to regaining our health. But the race will be positive to the country, positive to the economy which has suffered a lot in the last year and a half, and it will put things in perspective.
"A lot of the damage that has happened to Bahrain post the events of last year [has] been driven by perception, by people not necessarily writing what they see or hear. For us, we will be happy for the teams and the journalists and the media to come to Bahrain and see it and then write about it. Things are not 100%, but they are not as bad as people make them out to be."
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