(Adds Ecclestone reaction, Di Resta quote)
By Alan Baldwin
MANAMA, April 21 (Reuters) – The Force India Formula One
team vanished from television screens for the second day in a
row at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, triggering
speculation that they had been punished for pulling out of
Friday practice.
The team, some of whose members were caught up in a petrol
bomb incident on the highway as they headed back to their Manama
hotel in a rented car on Wednesday evening, were absent from
Friday’s afternoon session to ensure mechanics got safely back
to their accommodation before nightfall.
The team, run by deputy principal Bob Fernley in the absence
of flamboyant Indian aviation and drinks entrepreneur Vijay
Mallya, took part in Saturday’s final practice and qualifying
but their cars were strangely absent from any of the global
television feed.
One team source suggested that the reasons were clear
enough, and there was plenty of chatter on social network
Twitter, but Ecclestone denied Force India had been targeted for
treatment.
“Not at all,” the billionaire Briton told Reuters after
qualifying. “I asked them (the television people) to go and have
a look. They missed two other people. It was simple.
“They are interested in who is going to be on pole. Nobody
cares if someone is ninth or 11th, only the people that are
watching a particular team.”
Ecclestone had made his irritation with Force India’s
actions evident on Friday as the violent clashes between police
and pro-democracy protesters elsewhere on the island dominated
the news agenda.
“Maybe people are targeting them (the team) for some reason.
I don’t know,” Ecclestone had said after meeting Fernley.
“None of the other teams seem to have a problem. So maybe
they’ve had a message that they are being targeted for
something. Maybe nothing to do with being in this country, maybe
it’s something else.”
The economically significant race has attracted worldwide
condemnation and calls from human rights campaigners and
anti-government activists for it to be cancelled, while many
other Bahrainis have been supportive of it.
Twitter was abuzz with jokes and comments about Force
India’s new-found cloak of invisibility, with one post
suggesting they might have hired a new engineer by the name of
Harry Potter.
“For those asking, we have no control over who is being
shown on the world feed, sorry you didn’t get to see any of
(Paul) Di Resta’s lap,” Sky Sports F1 channel (@skysportsf1)
said on their Twitter feed after the second phase of qualifying
where Di Resta was fifth fastest.
Di Resta will start 10th on the grid, with German team mate
Nico Hulkenberg 13th.
“I’ve seen some stuff on Twitter, but I was sat in the
garage or sat in my car driving so I saw my car,” commented Di
Resta.
Most of Force India’s sponsors are companies within Mallya’s
business empire.
(Editing by Clare Fallon)
