Hacker group ‘Anonymous’ takes down F1.com
20 April 2012
Anonymous, the online group made up of several worldwide hackers, successfully took down the official Formula 1 website on Friday night. The move came as a large protest took place on a motorway heading into the Bahraini capital city.
Although the official site is back up and running at the time of writing, F1.com was offline for a period this evening and replaced with the text ‘Formula None’, along with several paragraphs explaining why this weekend’s F1 event should not go ahead.
Also on Friday night, no team has reported any issues in returning to their hotels from the race track, although a demonstration is being staged on a motorway between Budaiya – to the west of Manama – and the capital itself. Many involved are fighting against the F1 event, which is organised and promoted by the leaders of Bahrain. At the same time, a survey claims that 77 percent of locals hope the race does happen.
Earlier today, Force India skipped the entire second practice session in a bid to return all team members to the city before nightfall; four of mechanics had been fortunate to avoid injury when a petrol bomb exploded close to their van on Wednesday. Last night, a group of 12 Sauber mechanics also encountered disruption.
“I think cancelling the race just empowers extremists,” Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa said at the circuit on Friday. “For those of us trying to navigate a way out of this political problem, having this race allows us to build bridges across communities and get people working together. It allows us to celebrate our nation as an idea that is positive, not one that is divisive.”
Bernie Ecclestone, CEO of the Formula One Group, said the following:
“If people have got a complaint about something else, it’s nothing to do with F1.”
The next scheduled track action is Free Practice 3, which is set to begin at 11am local time (BST +2) on Saturday. This will be followed by F1 qualifying and a GP2 race.
Force India mechanics affected by protest
A number of Force India employees were briefly caught up in an incident after leaving the Sakhir circuit on Wednesday night. As the team vehicle passed a protest along a motorway, it was soon able to continue on its journey without problems.
The story began to circulate on the internet on Thursday morning, although a GPUpdate.net investigation into the incident has revealed that several British media outlets appear to be dramatising the events.
Although the Force India vehicle was slowed on its trip towards the hotel, it was not a direct target of protestors who were throwing home-made petrol bombs – leaving a trail of smoke across the road – while demonstrating against the leaders of the country. A spokesperson for the opposition has already said that, while protestors are frustrated that the Formula 1 race is going ahead, they are complaining about those at the helm of Bahrain and who promote the event, rather than the sport itself.
“One of our vehicles was momentarily caught up in some disruption on the way back from the circuit last night,” Force India press officer Will Hings explained to GPUpdate.net. “Our van was not the target but arrived on the scene on one of the main highways. Within a few minutes the traffic continued moving and the van returned to the hotel. Everyone in the van is okay.”
Home-made petrol bombs such as this briefly halted a Force India van last night
It is believed up to three Force India employees may be now be heading home to the United Kingdom. While some reporters have been tweeting directly from demonstrations this week, personnel at the circuit are continuing with preparations.
“That was a minor incident that is being blown up to make it sound a lot more than it was – that is what I was told by Force India,” a member of another team told GPUpdate.net. “People are on edge, but no more than in Brazil.”
While being driven back to his hotel on the Friday evening of the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, Jenson Button and fellow McLaren employees were the direct target of a carjack attempt in which specially-trained drivers managed to escape the scene.
Sauber also affected by Bahrain incident
Sauber have revealed that they too were witness to a potentially dangerous Bahrain protest as they travelled back to their hotel in Manama from the Sakhir circuit. After four Force India mechanics avoided a situation on Wednesday night, the Sauber occurrence happened around 24 hours later.
Although the race track and its immediate surrounding area have not been affected by protests so far, team members continue to brace themselves for their journeys back and forth between the Formula 1 venue and their hotels in the capital city; the two destinations are separated by a number of villages where demonstrations are taking place.
On Friday, Force India withdrew from the second practice session in order to transport all personnel back to the city before night fell at 6pm local time (BST +2).
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A statement from Sauber described the happenings of Thursday night:
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‘Yesterday night at 20:30hrs a minibus of the Sauber team left the circuit to go back to the Novotel in Manama.
At 20:50hrs the 12 mechanics on that bus noticed fire on the medial strip of the highway.
The traffic was slow, cars had their hazard flashers on. On the opposite lane there was no traffic.
The team members saw a few masked people running from there over to their lane where a bottle was burning as well.
The minibus moved to the very right side of the highway and went past the situation. No-one from the Sauber team was hurt.’
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Following the opening practice sessions, the F1 community is now gradually leaving Sakhir to head back to its hotels. Tonight is expected to be the most hazardous so far as, in recent weeks, a string of protests have tended to follow Friday prayers.
Kimi.
Lotus
no me quedó claro si Massa se quedó parado a mitad de la pista, lo mostraron bajándose del auto pero no se dijo nada. Me huele a q se vienen varias sanciones
, bueno, eeeeh... así con la carrera suspendida de la F1 
