• Bahrain Grand Prix

Ecclestone made 11th-hour bid to bring back Bahrain

Bernie Ecclestone attempted to get the Bahrain Grand Prix added to the end of the calendar as late as Thursday © Sutton Images

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• Bernie Ecclestone

The FIA has revealed that Bernie Ecclestone made a late attempt to get the Bahrain Grand Prix reinstated, even after he'd said it was "not on" and the teams had objected to extending the calendar.

A blow-by-blow account of the Bahrain Grand Prix saga on the FIA website claims that Ecclestone made a last-ditch attempt to reschedule the race at the end of the season on December 4. The document claims he put forward his request on Thursday, just hours before the Bahrain organisers decided to call off the event - a decision that finally brought the issue to an end.

"The commercial rights holder (FOWCL) proposed to the FIA that the GP of Bahrain be rescheduled for December 4, with the GP of India reinstated on its original date of October 30," it said. "The FIA replied the same day, asking FOWCL to provide guarantees that any new date proposal is acceptable both to the teams and to the organisers in Bahrain."

When Bahrain called off the event the issue was brought to a close and the proposal was never put to a vote within the FIA.

The FIA chronology of events also made clear that it believed Ecclestone and Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali were representing the teams at the original World Motor Sport Council decision last Friday.

"At the World Council, the Formula One teams also have a Delegate from the Formula One Commission [as well as Ecclestone], who is a member by right and votes on all matters relating to Formula One (this Delegate is designated by the Team that has been taking part in the Championship the longest: Stefano Domenicali - Ferrari)."

The FIA said that on June 10 it received a request from Ecclestone to return the calendar to its original format (without the Bahrain Grand Prix tacked on) and was holding a vote by fax that would end on Tuesday.

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