''We are very concerned for our safety. The FIA have got security companies and bullet-proof cars for their drivers and F1 teams,'' Dr Ala'a Shehabi, a British-born Bahraini academic and activist, said. ''Who's going to be protecting the Bahrainis who are going to be locked up in their villages, and prevented from protesting, given that they are going to be extremely angry and provoked by the F1?
''There's going to be popping champagne corks, live concerts and parties … which is a huge provocation to the families of victims who have been killed, and those of hundreds of political prisoners.
''And I'm even more surprised at Ecclestone's remark because I've spoken to him. He knows about my own personal case, and how my husband was tortured, ambushed, kidnapped, subjected to a military trial and in jail for 10 months.''