Stefano Domenicali has been steadfast in the mantra for decades, but you wonder if the F1 CEO has any idea of the forces he is mixing with so recklessly banking the riches of the Middle East. He seems to be calculating that the ghost of the war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen can simply be erased by giving a VIP pass to Gordon Ramsay and the Black Eyed Peas. In his defense, broadcasters appeared to be fully complying with the plan. Watching Sky Sports’s two-hour match coverage had to be forgiven because he believed the local bombing had never happened. It has long been the custom of F1 and its trading partners to dance around controversies, big and small. The years of human rights abuses in Bahrain have come to an end, as all the travel complexes they have ever seen in the area are five-star hotels and courtesy cars. But when a rocket lands not far from the perimeter fence of the Jeddah Corniche circuit, this equation becomes unsustainable. F1 leaders have a responsibility to protect the safety of their drivers and the 1,500 knights who follow them, yet the only thing that always seems to be their priority is their bottom line.
