Arab Spring gives way to an Autumn Grand Prix

The regime and business won, the human rights protesters lost. Where did it leave sport? The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead in the autumn after being postponed in March due to the inconvenient matter of an uprising.

Saudi and UAE troops came across the border to help quell the protests, dozens of people were injured or lost their lives and a state of emergency has only just been lifted. But when those cars do go around the circuit in the sun how will we feel about watching it?

The arguments over whether to run the race had crystallised quickly.

Damon Hill, the former British driver, said: “If Formula One agrees to race in Bahrain it will forever have the blight of association with repressive methods to achieve order…The right thing to do, in my view, is to not race in Bahrain until these doubts have been removed.”

He was supported by human rights activists and the Red Bull driver Mark Webber.

In Bahrain the establishment argued that the “difficulties” were being resolved, and calm had been restored. The event, they said, was supported by people across the political divide. The Chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit said: “The Bahrain Grand Prix has always been a source of national pride and it is an event than transcends politics…The Grand Prix attracts 100,000 visitors, supports 3,000 jobs and generates around 500 million dollars of economic benefit.”

Sport has been used to reach across political divides with controversial fixtures and reinforce them with controversial boycotts. But the sheer amounts of money involved in Formula One, concentrated as they are in such a small number of people, have always made it feel different to any other sport.

Some argue it isn’t really a sport at all, but a business. That would be to do injustice to the drivers – but now is their real test. Will they hide behind contracts? Or stand by their principles? If they decide to go will they argue why it is a good idea? Formula One is no stranger to political controversy – but this one is different, and will be telling.

Follow Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Twitter: @krishgm