Grand Prix Live Blog

London-based  British-Kurdish writer, Ruwadya Mustafah, says opposition activist Ala'a Shehabi was arrested this afternoon for "showing journalists around" in Bahrain.

A Bahraini blogger tweets that there have been shootings in the villages outside the capital, Manama.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Bahrain, who cannot be named for security reasons, says the family of  protester, Salah Abbas Habib, whose body was found on the roof of a building on the eve of the Grand Prix, has not been returned to them.

The Bahrain Human Rights Centre says the body of Habib is not being returned to his family due to today's Formula One race, our correspondent reports.

Mansoor al Jamri, editor of the independent Al Wasat newspaper in Bahrain tells Al Jazeera that the Formula One will be a "milestone in the history of the events that we have been going through since last year".

Jamri goes on to say that the problem in Bahrain is not a matter of security, rather "the problem is about political demands ... stopping the divisive policies, the discrimination".

After being postponed last year, this year's Bahrain Grand Prix passed largely without incident as Germany's Sebastian Vettel secured the twenty-second triumph of his career.

However, attendance at the Formula One event was said to be far below 2010, which contributed over $295mn to the nation's economy.

There were reports of protests in the heavily-guarded village areas surrounding the capital, Manama, as well as 10 female protesters who reportedly made it into the circuit site before being arrested by police.

Beyond the Gulf kingdom, protests were reported outside the offices of Formula Chief, Bernie Ecclestone, in London and the White House in DC.

Several arrests were reported, including those of a Sunday Telegraph reporter and his fixer, as well as prominent opposition activist Ala'a Shehabi.

For more on today's race and the protests surrounding the event, read our full story Bahrain Grand Prix held despite protests.