FIA president Jean Todt has confirmed that all 26 members of the World Motor Sport Council voted in favour of the Bahrain Grand Prix being reinstated, including two team principals.
The council is headed by the Frenchman, with a further 25 members from different backgrounds and countries, including Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali and Force India team principal Vijay Mallya.
Some doubt has been cast over whether or not an actual vote went ahead, but Todt confirmed to the BBC that a proper WMSC vote took place.
“Yes, definitely it was a vote to the World Council members, and it was a unanimous agreement.”
When asked if any of the 26 members abstained from voting, Todt replied: “No, again, to be precise on that, Stefano Domenicali is representing the team and he voted in favour.
“Vijay Mallya is not representing the team principals, he is representing India – he is the Indian representative.”
This would throw some confusion into the matter as it’s thought the Formula One Teams’ Association (FOTA) are against the race taking place.
FOTA represents every team apart from Hispania, meaning both Domenicali and Mallya are representatives. With their ‘yes’ votes being cast in the initial decision process, it could cause some friction within FOTA, which is meeting prior to the Canadian GP to discuss the matter and to make their own feelings clear on the matter.
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