Ecclestone admits December finale ’difficult’

The possible rescheduling of the 2011 Bahrain grand prix was still uncertain after a meeting of the F1 teams on Thursday evening.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, however, emerged with a positive message about the ability of the island Kingdom to host a safe race this season.

"They are all nice people there and I don’t think we’d have any problem," said the 80-year-old.

He admitted there might be some opportunistic protests if the race goes ahead "But I don’t think from a safety point of view there is anything to worry about."

June 3 is the final deadline for Ecclestone to propose the rescheduling of the race during the Barcelona meeting of the World Motor Sport Council.

It is believed the proposed solution of reshuffling India to December 4 has been ruled out by teams on the grounds of logistics, while bosses are also concerned about pushing out the calendar beyond its current late November finale.

"It’s difficult with all the working people," Ecclestone acknowledged. "The problem is the date."

FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh, whose McLaren team is part-owned by the Bahrain government, admitted that December "makes it a very long season".