Damon Hill has urged formula one to take the moral high ground and resist the urge to take Bahrain’s money and reschedule the 2011 Bahrain grand prix.
The FIA will meet in Barcelona on Friday to discuss reshuffling the inaugural Indian grand prix to December to squeeze the troubled island Kingdom into this year’s F1 calendar.
Martial law in Bahrain ended on Wednesday, but reports of violence continued to emanate and Hill, the 1996 world champion and president of the British grand prix organiser BRDC said F1 should not go there this year.
"You can’t just base your decision to hold a race in a country on that country’s ability to pay," he is quoted by the Daily Mail.
"Formula one cannot put its head in the sand concerning the Bahrain grand prix because it is a very volatile situation out there and F1 is involved," said the Briton.
Hill scolded F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone for taking a flippant approach to Bahrain so far.
"I think sometimes Bernie doesn’t express himself in the way that he really means. You can’t always talk about serious issues in a light hearted way," he concluded.