WHEN compared with Melbourne, Monaco or Magny-Cours, the tiny Middle Eastern island of Bahrain doesn’t seem like the most obvious place for a Formula One race: local mores mean no camping at the track or alcohol in the grandstand; and the occasional bomb inspection when your taxi approaches a hotel in Manama, the capital city, reminds you that more dangerous places — like Iraq — are just a herculean stone’s throw away.
But as anyone who’s been to Bahrain knows — and as a fourth successful running of the Bahrain Grand Prix last April attests — a better fit for the kinds of international crowds drawn by Formula One would be hard to find in the Persian Gulf.
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