Formula One has been urged to carry out an independent inquiry into allegations of human rights abuses associated with the Bahrain Grand Prix. A letter calling for the inquiry, backed by a coalition of 22 human rights groups and unions and 57 British MPs, was sent to F1’s new chief executive, Stefano Domenicali, teams, the FIA and the reigning world champion, Lewis Hamilton, on Wednesday...

The letter requests the establishment of a “commission of independent experts to investigate the human rights impact of F1’s activities in Bahrain” and cites among others the case of an 11-year-old boy who was arrested for joining protests against the November 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix.

The letter demands F1 live up to its public commitment to a human rights policy it adopted in 2015 and notes that since 2011, when the race was cancelled amid protests at the suppression of Bahrain’s Arab spring democracy movement, the situation in the country has deteriorated and that F1’s presence is sportswashing to legitimise the actions of the regime.