Formula 1 and Freedom Indices

People with more than a casual interest in sports have probably encountered arguments or wondered whether athletes from autocratic governments differ from others in performance across sports disciplines. More recently, I have come to consider whether the Formula 1 franchise has been expanding its races towards in a way that reflects interest in the style of political management or not. In the last decade, Formula 1 has grown in terms of demand for races across the Asian continent and this culminated in bringing in new races in Bahrain, China and India. 

It is noteworthy that the hosting of a Formula 1 race requires investments in top level infrastructure in addition to being able to attract substantial corporate sponsorship. The three new entrants into the Formula 1 races have different political economy indicators even if they share attributes that make then attractive places. To start with, India is a large and growing economy and an unqualified democracy.  China is at this moment in time, the most sought after investment destination and one that would be attractive to the owners of the Formula 1 franchise because of this fact that global corporations are chasing its large market. Bahrain, is a smaller country whose citizens are not politically free at all but is a nation whose rulers have a lot of public money to pour into the construction of a state of the art race track. 

A couple of weeks back, the Grand prix race in Bahrain was held with visible agitation from its population. Whereas all the technical requirements were in place, the demonstrations that occurred during the weekend of the race led to the loss of a life in addition to disturbances that did concern some teams. To my mind, the Formula 1 is a private business and its owner(s) are perfectly entitled to seek partnerships for hosting races wherever they can. That notwithstanding, I think that Formula 1 should begin to carefully survey indices that measure the degree of political and economic freedom as it chases the next set of partners for hosting races. When a business of this stature begins to expand aggressively towards the most repressive regimes in the world, it is time for its owners to take some time and think clearly and ensure that they are sure that this expansion model will remain valid.