Ron Dennis has called for a change in the regulations after Fernando Alonso was blocked by the FIA from racing in Bahrain following his huge Australian Grand Prix crash a fortnight ago.
Alonso was passed as fit by doctors in Spain, but a further scan showed that he had fractured a rib in the crash. Whilst the Spaniard himself wanted to race, the FIA's medical team barred him from doing so, meaning McLaren reserve Stoffel Vandoorne stepped in to take Alonso's seat this weekend.
Dennis believes it should be the driver and team, not the FIA, that decide whether a driver is fit to compete or not.
"Virtually every team sport in the world, the fitness of the athlete, the football player, the ice-hockey player, the skier, is determined by the team," Dennis is quoted as saying by Reuters after qualifying on Saturday.
"The position of the FIA, I feel, is to ensure the safety of the other drivers. If a driver feels a bit of pain, and wants to drive with a bit of pain, I think that's the driver's decision."
Dennis confirmed that specialists in Spain were happy for Alonso to compete and he was therefore surprised to receive a different verdict from the FIA's medical team.
"Two sets of doctors in Spain had cleared Fernando to drive and fly, so we were very surprised to get a different interpretation here," he explained.
"We got through yesterday [Friday], and Fernando was feeling aggrieved as he felt so good that he felt he wanted to drive.
"So we approached the FIA and said, 'if we had a new scan taken this morning and if this scan supported the position of the doctors five days later', would they permit him to drive?
"They said no. They said it doesn't matter what the scan showed, he wouldn't be permitted to drive."
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