In the round-up: Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has been accused of “arrogance” and a “lack of professionalism” for failing to respond to questions over human rights abuses in Bahrain, scene of this year’s opening round.
In brief
Domenicali criticised over human rights
Domenicali has previously said F1 can bring about positive change in repressive regimes and would be prepared to cancel races in countries “if we see something that is not going to the right direction”.
However Lord Scriven, who is the vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, told the House of Lords yesterday he had repeatedly written to and emailled Domenicali and received no reply.
“It is Mr Domenicali’s arrogance, lack of professionalism and engagement that has left me with no alternative than to seek this debate and to seek further regulation of F1 and such other sporting bodies based in the UK when it comes to their practices,” he told the chamber, according to The Guardian. “His leadership of F1 is damaging the reputation of his sport as he refuses to engage with the issues around F1 and human rights.”
In a recent letter to Domenicali he added: “Your choice not to engage with me makes it clear you do not have robust evidence of F1’s positive impact on human rights and a lack of due diligence on mitigating risks has been carried out if at all.”
F1 has been approached for comment. Lord Scriven made a similar criticism of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem last year.
Aston Martin still fifth-fastest – Krack
Krack believes his team are still the fifth-fastest on the 2024 grid despite Fernando Alonso beating both Mercedes, a Ferrari and a McLaren at the last round in Jeddah.
The team finished fifth in the constructors’ championship last season and has been fifth after both of the opening rounds of the season so far.
“We’re fifth fastest in race trim and a little faster in qualifying,” Krack said. “In Bahrain, we achieved the maximum result given the pace of the car. In Saudi Arabia, we overachieved a little with Fernando’s fantastic drive to secure a top-five finish.
“Our goal is to close the gap to the front. We are making progress, and we have some small updates for Melbourne, which are part of our continuous development plan throughout the season.”
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