Ecclestone: We cannot force teams to go to Bahrain

There is growing concern over the continued unrest in Bahrain which resulted in the 2011 race being cancelled but as yet no decision has been made to postpone the event for the second year in succession.

Teams have left the decision in the hands of the FIA and the Sakhir circuit chiefs and despite reports that some teams have reservations about the April 22 race going ahead, Ecclestone insists the opposite is true.

"None of the teams have expressed any concern to me - quite the opposite," Ecclestone told BBC Sport.

The FIA are reluctant to make a decision whether to cancel or postpone the race until closer to the time but the ongoing debate looks set to overshadow this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

Although the final decision rests with the FIA, the event organisers or the Crown Prince of the kingdom, Ecclestone admits he will not be able to force any team to participate.

"At this time now, there are no indications it won't go ahead," he said.

"It's really not up to me to decide whether it should go ahead or not. It's up to the people in Bahrain to decide. At this time, they are not cancelling the event, so presumably they are happy.

"One of the teams sent a person over there recently - and I've spoken to them today actually - and they said everything's perfect, there's no problem.

"They've been to the circuit, they've been everywhere in Bahrain and they are very happy.

"We can't force teams to take part. They would be in breach of contracts with us [F1] if they didn't, but we would deal with that matter as a separate issue."

Setanta Sports