Category: Formula 1

Sadly we bring news of more trouble in Bahrain, less than three weeks from its scheduled return to the Formula One calendar. UK newspaper The Telegraph reports of a youth being killed by Bahraini police after being shot in the leg while protesting in the Shia village of Salmabad.

While ESPN F1 says the fatal shot was fired from a civilian vehicle following closely behind police.

The victim’s family are refusing to sign the 22-year-old’s death certificate as they dispute the official cause of death, which does not list the shooting.

“We will receive his body when they change the report. The police have pressured us to take him, but we said no,” the victim’s sister claimed.

A video statement posted online says: “We (object to) holding a sports race that belittles the sacrifices of our children and ignores our suffering and wounds.

“Do not tarnish the reputation of the respected auto sport with the blood of Bahrain victims.”

Protestors continue to communicate their views to the world via twitter using #BloodyF1 and #NoF1 hashtags.

It’s understood an increased security campaign is being mounted by race officials to protect the Bahrain International Circuit and hotels accommodating F1 teams free from protesters.

Protesters are promising to disrupt the race any way they can and will target the circuit and central Manama to voice their concerns.

[Source: The Telegraph & ESPN F1 | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

Yesterday, Bernie Ecclestone and Team Principals from leading F1 teams attended the media launch for the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for 22 April. It was a strong show of support for the troubled event.

This morning, the above image was sent to AUSmotive via twitter. Clearly some people don’t want F1 in Bahrain. In January we reported on calls to boycott the 2012 race and civil unrest continues in the Gulf state. It’s reported that 33 deaths have occurred since June last year.

However, Ecclestone has dismissed concerns over the race’s future. “People say to me ‘Oh there’s not going to be a race’. I say ‘How do you know?’ ‘Ah, we know because we saw, we read or we heard’ or something like that. It’s all nonsense,” he exclaimed.

The F1 supremo also denied there are any worries regarding security, “I’m absolutely sure that whatever is necessary to do will be done,” he said. “Probably not necessary. We’ve never been concerned about security in the past. I don’t understand why we should be now.”

Chris Hemsworth, former Australian soapie star and Thor leading man, will play James Hunt in Ron Howard’s F1 movie Rush. From a physical likeness point of view it’s not a bad match. Let’s hope he does the loveable rogue character of James Hunt well. It’d be a great role to play, that’s for sure!

German actor Daniel Brühl will play Niki Lauda. The movie is due out in 2013 and we’re getting sucked into the build up and can’t wait to see what Howard delivers.

The official word on the movie reads: “Following their personal lives on and off the track, Rush follows the two drivers as they push themselves to the breaking point of physical and psychological endurance, where there is no shortcut to victory and no margin for error. If you make one mistake, you die.”

[Source: Mail Online]

Noted movie director Ron Howard recently spoke to Car magazine about the filming of his latest Hollywood project Rush, which focuses on the 1976 Formula One World Championship battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

It’s sure to be an epic movie, not in the least because it will bring Lauda’s horrific accident at the Nürburgring to the silver screen.

Here’s a little of what Howard had to say (follow the source link for more):

“We’ve got guys like Alastair Cauldwell [James Hunt’s chief engineer] helping out and we’re asking them to flag up inaccuracies. But it’s not a literal story, we’re not making a documentary. It takes inspiration from the rivalry. It gives a broad overview of racing in the ’70s, but it’s more than a racing movie.

“It’s a challenge to shoot race scenes but that’s the ying and yang—the attraction and the headache. We’ll be using every contemporary cinematic tool at our disposal to make the audience think they’re actually there. But we’re doing more in the camera—even the SFX people want as much analogue source material to work with as possible.”

We hold high hopes for this movie and hope it will deliver on the promise shown to date. It’s not due for release until next year, though, as filming will continue through the European summer. So we’ll have a while to wait.

[Source: Car]