16 Feb 2011

F1 keeping close watch on Bahrain unrest

3:25 pm on 16 February 2011

Formula One bosses are keeping a close eye on the unrest in Bahrain with less than a month to go before the season-opening race there.

Thousands of Shi'ite protesters marched into the capital Manama yesterday after a man was killed in clashes between police and mourners at a funeral for a demonstrator shot dead at an earlier anti-government rally.

They're demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa who has governed the country since its independence in 1971.

Formula One's kingpin Bernie Ecclestone says they'll be relying on advice from local authorities between now and the first race of the season on March 13.