A group of British MPs has written to the organisers of Formula One (F1) to express their “grave concerns” over motorsport’s role in “sportswashing the appalling human rights records of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia”. 

Ahead of the new F1 season, which begins this Sunday, in Bahrain, 20 parliamentarians including Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell, and Layla Moran, called for an independent inquiry into F1 and the governing body Federation Internationale de l’Automobile’s (FIA) activities in countries with questionable human rights records.

McDonnell, Labour's former shadow chancellor, told Middle East Eye: "The presence of F1 gives the impression that Bahrain is somehow a normal state. Its abuse of human rights means it certainly isn't. No sport should be providing this regime with any credibility." ...

The British politicians condemned F1’s “refusal to engage with key stakeholders including human rights groups” before it awarded Bahrain the “longest contract in F1 history, breaching F1's own policy”....

MEE has written to the FIA asking for comment. 

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), heralded the MPs letter, adding that F1's leadership “cannot simply claim that their presence in these countries has a positive impact when evidence demonstrates otherwise”