Bahrain’s 2012 F1 Grand Prix was a step towards national reconciliation at the civil society level. Shiite and Sunni, secular and foreign, people met each other in public spaces as equals. These meetings were not accidental and they were not filled with awkward silence or cold stares; they were engaging conversations, telling a different story than that of a country divided, they spoke of resolution, of moving beyond the violence of 2011.