F1: Uncertainty over Bahrain and India races

According to Max Mosely, quoted in several newspapers today, the FIA has no power to change the calendar mid-season (absent emergency) without the consent of all of the teams.

And, it appears, several teams are chuntering about the FIA's decision.

It's not just that the political situation and unrest in Bahrain is not significantly different (on some accounts, it is arguably worse) than when the race was called off as the teams were packing up to leave Ab Dhabi: all dressed up and nowhere to go. The resulting logistical mess cost teams money and caused huge disruption to the travel plans of the huge numbers of people who rush around the globe with them.

When the idea of restoring the Bahrain round came up, there was nowhere in the calendar to put it. The FIA decided that the best option was to move the Bombay race scheduled for October so as to become the last race of the season.

But this will have a massive impact on fans who have already booked tickets and packages, many of which will be on non-refundable or change-only-with-penalty tickets.

It also means that teams now face a last race in a totally unfamiliar environment and that the traditional end of season winding down will be tempered with an imperative to get the kit out of the country as quickly as possible. It also eats, by two weeks, into the family time that team members, especially mechanics and logistics teams, value greatly because they spend so much time far away from home.

Finally, the teams will need to re-order their logistics for two events which are both complex and expensive exercises.

The teams have not agreed to the FIA's decision although none is publicly stating its position. Some say that they have written to the FIA but have not disclosed what their letters say.

Currently, the best guess is that the FIA will prevail - it usually does by a measure of strong-arm tactics and offers of some kind of benefits.

But it is not yet certain. The FIA has not yet announced what date it proposes for India: that may be part of its negotiating tactic. But the teams are not going to want to turn up in Bombay as the middle of three back to back races. It's an unknown quantity and although reports are positive, everyone is nervous about the prospects of a Commonwealth Games style debacle.

Surprisingly, according to a report in The Times, Bernie Ecclestone is at least partially on the side of the teams. He apparently thinks that the schedule should remain as is with Bahrain provisionally tacked onto the end of the season but formally reinstated only if it is both "safe and good" to go there.