Quintin Jardine's blog

Sebastian Vettel, the F1 World Champion, has been expressing his views on the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is in doubt because the Bahraini royal regime has been wielding the big stick, literally, over pro-democracy demonstrations. He has been quoted as saying: “The latest comment was that we are going to Bahrain to race there I think.” He added that, if that remained the case, “then I think it is safe enough to go and we should go there and race and not worry about something that is not our own business.”

For all his excellence as a driver the young German still has a lot of growing up to do. For those of us who live in democracies, it is our business when aspirations are beng oppressed, fairly brutally; we must worry, and if all we can do to express solidarity is boycott those countries, then we should. Hopefully Seb will come to realise that one day. Or is it simply the case that he will always fit very well behind the wheel of a Panzer tank? In his defence, though, he is simply following the lead of the Formula One autocrat, the octogenarian, Bernie Ecclestone. I reckon Bernie would stage a Grand Prix in Guantanamo Bay if he thought it would make money.