AUGUST 2, 2006

Meanwhile in the desert

The Bahrain Grand Prix is estimated to have made an economic impact on Bahrain of $394m last year, according to figures issued by the organizers and based on "an independent study". This is about three times the figure that other F1 races claim.

Given that the crowd in Bahrain was around 40,000 (translated into 77,000 over three days as people are counted three times if they attend the event on all three days), this means that each visitor generated around $9850 of economic impact on Bahrain - an astonishing sum even with Bahrain's famously high hotel prices.

No wonder teams are always talking about the need for cost-cutting.