British F1 journalists have attacked Jean Todt for not travelling to Bahrain for the sport’s highly controversial grand prix this weekend.
In the days before F1 action kicks off in the island Kingdom, it is reported security forces fired tear gas on protesters late on Tuesday.
"While mechanics and motor home staff will have to wait and wonder whether they will be the target of attacks, Todt will not be in the country," Kevin Eason, referring to the FIA’s French president, wrote in The Times.
Paul Weaver, the correspondent for The Guardian, agreed: "The FIA ... is impotent in its most urgent hour."
Already in Bahrain, however, is Livio Oricchio, the correspondent for Brazil’s O Estado de S.Paulo.
He wrote on Tuesday: "I came in a rental car from the airport to the hotel, I crossed the city, and the capital Manama is quiet.
"There are no political demonstrations."