15/06/2011
NEWS STORY
The FIA has officially confirmed that Bahrain no longer figures on the 2011 calendar.
A brief statement issued by the sport's governing body this afternoon read:
"Following a fax vote of the FIA World Motor Sport Council and, by unanimous decision, the FIA Formula One World Championship calendar has been ratified as originally proposed.
The inaugural Indian Grand Prix will take place on October 30th, 2011 and the season will conclude in Brazil on November 27th, 2011."
Bahrain was initially due to get the 2011 season underway, however, the original race date was postponed amidst the growing unrest within the country that began in mid-February.
Having missed one deadline at which time the fate of the race was to be decided, at its subsequent meeting the World Motor Sport Council gave the event the green light.
However, amidst widespread condemnation of the FIA's decision, not helped by the fact that it was based on a fact finding mission that appeared to have been compromised, former FIA president Max Mosley revealed that no changes could be made to the calendar without the written agreement of all the teams.
Since the FIA didn't have the relevant authority the future of the race was once again in doubt.
However, as the teams' alliance (FOTA) claimed that the teams were unable to accept the revised calendar for logistical reasons, the organizers in Bahrain issued their own statement accepting the cancellation of the event.