Sunday's Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix might be boring or it might be exciting, but it will not be normal.

Even if protests in the Gulf island kingdom remain out of the sight of the teams and drivers in their luxury hotels, with daily life in Manama also seeming very much the same as ever, the talk surrounding the race has been as much about torture and tear-gas as tires and tactics.

Anti-government protesters, determined to show it is not business as normal in the country after a crushed uprising last year, are planning "days of rage" directed at the race while security forces have rounded up dozens of activists.