In one of the strangest interviews of recent times, the Beeboid constantly hmmmed (in frustration or delight?), as Bernie Ecclestone plonked his size fives right in it. Again.

The BBC is in between a rock and hard place, whilst cheering on the peoples uprisings of the Middle East and forever force feeding us its message in terms of Manmade Global Warming it is desperate to retain Formula One which, like one of its most popular shows, Top Gear, is starkly at odds with its fiercely political agenda.

Never has Bernie Ecclestone sounded as lacking in conviction or understanding. The interview, which sounds as though it was recorded whilst the F1 supremo was doing the washing up, sees him truly struggling, while his comment that "hopefully it will blow over" was truly cringeworthy.

There have been enough scandals in recent years, enough times when F1 has well and truly shot itself in the foot. Yet here is Ecclestone, with the aid of a Beeboid accomplice, willingly releasing the safety catch and seemingly taking slow careful aim at an appendage which already has more holes than a sieve.

If ever F1 needed a quick thinking PR person this is it, for as the Daily Mail prepares to publish another chapter from Tom Bower's tawdry tome, one wonders what will happen when serious journalists turn their attention on the sport.

By taking action now, by appearing to take a stance and definitively saying that the Bahrain Grand Prix will not go ahead, the sport can still come out of this with some vestige of honour. After the numerous scandals of recent times, what we don't need is for Formula One to make another serious mistake, another major error of judgement.