Writing in a column for the Daily Telegraph, former FIA president Max Mosley said that the decision to reinstate the Bahrain Grand Prix on the 2011 world championship calendar "will cost Formula 1 dear" unless it is reversed.
Last Friday, the members World Council of Motor Sport voted unanimously that the Grand Prix of Bahrain, which was postponed from March due to the political tension in the state, should be rescheduled to October 30.
Max Mosley indicated in his column that he accepted that global sports had to visit countries whose actions attracted the disapproval of other nations.
However, Mosley argued that in the case of Bahrain, F1 was being actively used to send out a message about the state of the country.
"Surely the line has to be drawn when a sporting event is not mere entertainment in a less-than-perfect country, but is being used by an oppressive regime to camouflage its actions," Mosley wrote.
"If a sport accepts this role, it becomes a tool of government. If Formula 1 allows itself to be used in this way in Bahrain, it will share the regime's guilt as surely as if it went out and helped brutalise unarmed protesters."
After recounting some of the Bahrain government's actions during and following the protests which sparked the crisis in February, Mosley added: "Having carried out these horrific acts, the Bahrain government wants to clean up its image. That's where the Grand Prix comes in. By running the race they hope to show the world the troubles were just a small, temporary difficulty and everything is now back to normal.
He ended his column with a warning: "By agreeing to race there, Formula 1 becomes complicit in what has happened. It becomes one of the Bahrain government's instruments of repression. The decision to hold the race is a mistake which will not be forgotten and, if not reversed, will eventually cost Formula 1 dear."
Last Friday, the members World Council of Motor Sport voted unanimously that the Grand Prix of Bahrain, which was postponed from March due to the political tension in the state, should be rescheduled to October 30.
Max Mosley indicated in his column that he accepted that global sports had to visit countries whose actions attracted the disapproval of other nations.
However, Mosley argued that in the case of Bahrain, F1 was being actively used to send out a message about the state of the country.
"Surely the line has to be drawn when a sporting event is not mere entertainment in a less-than-perfect country, but is being used by an oppressive regime to camouflage its actions," Mosley wrote.
"If a sport accepts this role, it becomes a tool of government. If Formula 1 allows itself to be used in this way in Bahrain, it will share the regime's guilt as surely as if it went out and helped brutalise unarmed protesters."
After recounting some of the Bahrain government's actions during and following the protests which sparked the crisis in February, Mosley added: "Having carried out these horrific acts, the Bahrain government wants to clean up its image. That's where the Grand Prix comes in. By running the race they hope to show the world the troubles were just a small, temporary difficulty and everything is now back to normal.
He ended his column with a warning: "By agreeing to race there, Formula 1 becomes complicit in what has happened. It becomes one of the Bahrain government's instruments of repression. The decision to hold the race is a mistake which will not be forgotten and, if not reversed, will eventually cost Formula 1 dear."