Our Grand Prix is far bigger than all Britain has to offer, says Bahrain chief

Evening Standard

The chairman of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Zayed Alzayani, left Silverstone on Sunday making all the right noises and saying it was "a very good race, a fair result and the new facilities made a huge difference".

However, even as Silverstone rejoiced in attracting more people than any grand prix this season - 100,000 - Alzayani could not help but compare how much more special his own Bahrain race is and how much he is going to miss it this season.

"At Silverstone you feel the race only on the track," he tells me. "You don't see anything at the airport, maybe a small banner, nothing in London. You come to Oxford Street, nobody knows the grand prix is on. If this was the race weekend in Bahrain, you would see posters and fliers and advertisements in every shopping mall, in every corner of the town. To us, the grand prix is definitely the biggest event of the year.