Another television broadcaster has pulled out of this weekend’s Bahrain grand prix.
It had already emerged that Sky Deutschland, MTV3 Finland and Japan’s Fuji TV would not be reporting from the scene of the race in the troubled island Kingdom.
Now, it emerges that the travelling regulars for France’s TF1 are not in Bahrain either.
The French-language RMC Sport reported that, like the other broadcasters, the decision was taken "because of the unstable situation" in Bahrain.
It has also emerged that Stefano Mancini, the regular F1 correspondent for Italy’s La Stampa newspaper, had trouble entering Bahrain this week.
He reported that he encountered the trouble, which ended when the FIA intervened directly, due to an interview he conducted last week with a Bahraini activist.
"You work for a newspaper?" Mancini said, recalling what he was asked by the polite uniformed official. "Write the name," the official said.
"My name?" enquired Mancini. "No, the newspaper," the official clarified.