As Michael Schumacher set the pace in the Chinese Grand Prix practice session, it was announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead next weekend despite concerns over security but the race organisers' decision has split opinion in the Gulf state, which has been shaken by a year of anti-government protests.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) gave the green light earlier on Friday after some doubt that the Formula One race, cancelled last year due to a crackdown on the pro-democracy protestors, was on.
"All the teams are happy to be there," Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone said in Shanghai, which hosts the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend. "There's nothing happening. I know people who live there and it's all very quiet and peaceful." However, on Friday several thousand people joined a funeral procession for a man shot during an anti-government protest two weeks ago, in Salmabad just outside the capital Manama.