Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel won the Grand Prix in Bahrain on Sunday while rage boiled beyond the circuit among protesters who say the island’s rulers should not have hosted the race after crushing Arab Spring demonstrations last year.
High security kept trouble well away from the track, where Red Bull’s Vettel led an uneventful race before half-empty stands. Activists said police fired tear gas to prevent post-race demonstrations in Shi’ite villages around the capital.
The villages have seen nightly clashes over the past week. Pro-democracy protesters said the global spotlight they have attracted due to the Grand Prix showed the Sunni-led authorities’ determination to go ahead with the competition this year was a mistake.
«They miscalculated. They thought cancelling the race would be a defeat for them but they didn’t realise the cost of holding the race,» Shi’ite activist Alaa Shehabi said by telephone.
Later on Sunday, Shehabi tweeted that she was about to be arrested in Budaiya, where tyres were burning after a mass protest on Friday. Calls to her phone were not answered.
The luxury sporting event was the government’s chance to show life was back to normal in the kingdom after security concerns over anti-government demonstrations forced last year’s race to be delayed, then cancelled.
But many of seats in the grandstand and other areas were empty – d espite lavish entertainment at the event to attract punters. Officials put spectator numbers at 28,000 in a circuit that can hold 45,000.
Some teams expressed frustration at the attention on politics. Vettel said shortly after arrival on Thursday that he thought much of what was being reported was hype and wanted to focus on «stuff that really matters – tyre temperatures, cars».
After the race, he appeared relieved. «It was a difficult race, extremely tough,» said the 24-year-old German, who closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he stood on the podium. Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen was second for Lotus with French team mate Romain Grosjean in third place.
Rights activist Sayed Yousif al-Muhafda said police used teargas to stop demonstrations in several Shi’ite villages around Manama after the race. A team working for Britain’s Channel 4 television was arrested and their diver was assaulted by police and separated from them, the station said.
Thousands of people took to the streets in the villages at the weekend and demonstrators hurled petrol bombs at security forces who responded with teargas, rubber bullets and birdshot.
Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, who brought the race to the country in 2004, securing the first Formula One event in the region, smiled and shook hands with other spectators at the finish.
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