The FIA president Jean Todt has reportedly made a case for Formula One's Bahrain Grand Prix to go ahead later this month amid growing safety concerns expressed by the teams.
Civil unrest in the Middle Eastern nation has put the April 20 race under threat after last year's edition was canceled a mere three days before it was to begin for the same reason.
But the head of the international automobile federation said he had placed his faith in security officials who report prevailing calm in the kingdom.
John Todt received a letter from Bahrain Interior Ministry representative John Yates, a former UK head of counterterrorism, saying reports on violence were misleading, the autosport.com website reported.
'The real picture of life in Bahrain and the very real reforming efforts being made at a number of levels are not reaching the ears of those that matter," Yates wrote, the website said.
"I see real Bahrain every day. ... Along with my family, I feel completely safe. Indeed, safer than I have often felt in London."
According to the manager for Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov, the teams had divided into two camps on whether the Grand Prix should go ahead.
Oskana Kosachenko called for F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to make an unequivocal guarantee on safety.
The website quoted Ecclestone as saying Thursday that the race was still on.
