F1 2012 Begins - Australia GP Programme and F1 2012 Promo Video

F1 2012 Season will begin tomorrow with Free Practice.



Circuit Name: Albert Park 
Number of Laps: 58 
Circuit Length: 5.303 km 
Race Distance: 307.574 km 
Lap Record: 1:24.125 - M Schumacher (2004) 

All times are Australia Local Time and GMT+11.

Fri 16 March 2012
Practice 1 12:30 - 14:00 
Practice 2 16:30 - 18:00 
Sat 17 March 2012
Practice 3 14:00 - 15:00 
Qualifying 17:00 
Sun 18 March 2012
Race 17:00 

Australia GP 2012 on F1 Fans Forum
Formula 1 2012 Teams and Drivers
Formula 1 2012 Calendar

Last Year;

Race Results - Sebastian Vettel streets ahead in Melbourne
Australia GP 2011 Start - Video

Formula 1 2012 Promo;

Grosjean fastest on final tests day one in Barcelona

Romain Grosjean made sure Lotus' return to testing was a positive one by going fastest on day one of the final pre-season Formula 1 test in Barcelona.

The Frenchman waited until there was less than 30 minutes remaining for the day before he set the benchmark time of 1m23.252s, using a set of Pirelli's soft tyres to eclipse Jenson Button's fastest time from the morning's session.

Faster times were a rarity in the afternoon sessions, with teams opting to use the stable track conditions to go for longer runs. Grosjean was one of only two drivers to improve after lunch, the other being Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber.

However, Webber was only able to shave a tenth off his best morning time, leaving him behind Button and Perez - both with morning times – in fourth for the day.

Behind Webber it was Nico Rosberg, the Mercedes driver the busiest of the day with 128 laps for the day, mostly completed over long stints. Jean-Eric Vergne was sixth fastest, with Toro Rosso dedicating much of the last hour to pitstop practice.

Felipe Massa had a busy afternoon, eventually completing 105 laps for the day, despite a lengthy stay in the pits after lunch. However, his best time was only good enough for eighth.

Vitaly Petrov, subbing for the ill Heikki Kovalainen, was the second busiest man of the day, putting the new Caterham through 123 laps.

His reward was avoiding the bottom of the time sheets, with Petrov ending the day 0.711s clear of Pastor Maldonado, the Williams driver completing the least number of laps for the day with just 58.

Testing resumes tomorrow at Barcelona.

Today's times

Pos  Driver         Team            Time                Laps
 1.  Grosjean       Lotus           1m23.252s           73
 2.  Button         McLaren         1m23.510s  +0.258   64
 3.  Perez          Sauber          1m23.820s  +0.568   118
 4.  Webber         Red Bull        1m23.830s  +0.578   102
 5.  Rosberg        Mercedes        1m23.992s  +0.740   128
 6.  Vergne         Toro Rosso      1m24.216s  +0.964   113
 7.  Di Resta       Force India     1m24.305s  +1.053   98
 8.  Massa          Ferrari         1m24.318s  +1.066   105
 9.  Petrov         Caterham        1m24.876s  +1.624   123
10.  Maldonado      Williams        1m25.587s  +2.335   58

Autosport



© 2012 AUTOSPORT.COM

Mercedes GP Launched W03

Mercedes has officially launched the new W03 in the pit lane at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The new car was unveiled by Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg ahead of the first day of the second test in Barcelona, and features a prominent step down from the front of the chassis and a thin nose as well as intricate front wing cascades. Mercedes opted to delay the launch of the car in order to give it the maximum possible development time, with ex-Ferrari designer Aldo Costa only starting work with the team in December.

The W03 covered 100km during a filming day at Silverstone last week, and added a further 200km in Barcelona on Sunday as the team had earned a private test day as a result of missing one day of the Jerez test.

Team principal Ross Brawn described the new car as "a clear step forward" over last year's W02.

"The F1 W03 is a car that I believe, and hope, our team can be proud of, and which will deliver the on-track results that everybody has worked so hard to achieve," Brawn said. "Notwithstanding the distinctive nose design, which is certainly an acquired taste, the F1 W03 is an elegant interpretation of the current regulations, and a clear step forward over its predecessor in terms of detail design and sophistication.

"Last year, we produced a very bold car and, although its more radical elements didn't always deliver the results we had hoped for, the experience we gained has been invaluable to the design of the 2012 car. The F1 W03 is also a more integrated package, which reflects the ever-strengthening ties between our technical teams in Brackley and Brixworth, and demonstrates that our Silver Arrows works team is taking the next step forward in terms of on-track performance."

He added that many of the innovations on the new car could not be seen from the outside.

"We took a step back and it's now got a conventional wheelbase, many of the aspects are more conventional, but there's a lot of actual innovation under the skin of the car. It's taken more time perhaps with the extra organisation and extra strength to make sure that innovation is working well and is a genuine step forward."

And Brawn is confident the decision to launch the car one test later than its main rivals has paid off.

"We had a car that was mechanically complete some time ago and we've done a lot of work on rigs and fixtures to understand how the car behaves and how it performs," Brawn said. "For us, at least in that respect, this is probably the best prepared programme we've had going into the first race.

"The car's spent weeks on rigs and fixtures to characterise it and understand how it works and the aerodynamic group have been able to focus on just one specification - one package - for the first race rather than last year when we did a launch spec and an update. I think with the size of the team and the resources we had that was the best approach.

"We're still building the team and perhaps in the future we'll reconsider the approach we want to take, but for us, in the position we were in and the team we have that was definitely the best approach. I'm very comfortable with what's happened. If we were sat here with two inches of snow I'd be a bit worried, but I'm happy with the approach we've taken."

ESPNF1

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Photos: © Sutton Images, Mercedes and ESPNF1

Mercedes confirms launch date

Mercedes will take the wraps off its new car next Tuesday © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Mercedes has confirmed it will launch its new 2012 car in the Circuit de Catalunya's pit lane on the opening morning of the second pre-season test next week.

The team turned up at last week's Jerez test in an interim version of last year's W02 in order to extend the gestation period of the new car in its Brackley factory. The W03 will break cover at 08:20 on Tuesday, February 21 before hitting the track at 09:00 at the start of the four day test at Barcelona.

Michael Schumacher will drive the car on Tuesday and Thursday while team-mate Nico Rosberg will drive on Wednesday and Friday.

ESPNF1

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Williams launched the FW34

Williams became the latest team to launch its 2012 Formula 1 car when it unveiled the FW34 in the Jerez pitlane just before the start of the opening pre-season test on Tuesday.

The FW34 is the first Williams to be produced since the major change of technical line-up at the team, which saw erstwhile technical director Sam Michael head for McLaren and co-founder Patrick Head step away from the F1 side of the operation. Mike Coughlan now leads the technical side of the operation.

The new car also sees the reunion of the multiple championship winning Williams-Renault partnership, as the Grove team switches from its previous Cosworth V8s to the engine that powered Red Bull to the last two titles.

On the driver side, Rubens Barrichello has been replaced by Bruno Senna, while Pastor Maldonado stays on and test driver Valtteri Bottas gets an enhanced role that will include some Friday practice mileage.

Williams is hoping that the FW34 will revive its fortunes after an awful 2011 campaign that saw it score just five points and finish ninth in the constructors' standings - the worst ever result for the team's current incarnation.

Autosport

© 2012 AUTOSPORT.COM

Toro Rosso Launched STR7

Toro Rosso has become the eighth team to launch its 2012 car after unveiling the STR7 in the pit lane at Jerez.

Following the Sauber and Red Bull launches earlier today, new driver line-up Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne revealed the STR7 to the media. The car follows the trend of having a step between the nose and the front of the chassis, but retains the innovative double floor concept from last year's car.

Toro Rosso is aiming to improve on last season's eighth place in the constructors' championship, achieved with Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi.

ESPNF1

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Photo: © Getty Images

Red Bull's RB8 launched online

Red Bull has launched the car that will defend both the drivers' and constructors' titles - the RB8 - online.

Adrian Newey's latest design incorporates the stepped nose seen on many other 2012 cars, meaning McLaren is currently the only team not to go down that route. Newey confirmed that despite the visually different nose, the RB8 is still an evolution of the previous car but he was unaware how much the exhaust-blown diffuser ban would impact on its relative performance.

"It's the fourth evolution of the RB5 this year, so obviously the pressure is to try and stay there if we possibly can," Newey said. "It's a difficult task, we have lost the exhaust technology with the restriction exhaust outlet position that we were able to develop and perhaps be ahead of the pack on in the last couple of years, that led to a big re think over the winter. Whether that will affect us more than other people is difficult to know of course.

"We designed the RB7, last year's car, around that exhaust position and were probably the only people to do so, so it may be that we've lost more than other people through that. Only time will tell, it will be good to get out to do some testing and to see where we get to."

Team principal Christian Horner added that the car build had gone "fantastically well" and that the team was fully prepared for the start of testing.

"This year's car build has gone fantastically well, and I think it's the epitome of continuity, continuity across all areas. I think we've designed and built this car in a record amount of time, in a ridiculously short amount of time. Adrian's never famous for his drawings being early, but the design team, the production teams, all the associated departments that go into producing these cars, have delivered, and delivered in a fantastic way. We've hit our target of being at the first test so, despite the snow over the latter part of this week, I think we're in great shape for the first test."

ESPNF1

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Sauber launched C31

Sauber has become the latest team to launch its 2012 car after revealing the C31 at the Circuito de Jerez.

Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez unveiled the car to the media, with the C31 featuring another 'stepped' nose. The other most noticeable departures from the C30 are at the rear, with a redesigned gearbox allowing for more tightly packaged bodywork and a reconfigured floor. Team principal Peter Sauber said that the aim was to keep the car competitive throughout the season and improve on last year's seventh place in the constructors' championship.

"We're aiming to start the new season as strongly as we did in 2011, but then also to maintain this level of performance throughout the year," Sauber said. "Our goal is to finish regularly in the points so as to put ourselves in a significantly better position in the World Championship."

Chief designer Matt Morris said that the car would receive a major upgrade prior to the opening race of the season.

"The current plan is to launch a fairly basic roll-out version of the car, which was defined quite some time ago. We will then be testing development parts during the upcoming weeks with a late upgrade for the first race on 18th March in Australia. Therefore the car will look quite different in Melbourne compared to the roll-out car."

ESPNF1

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Photos: © Sauber

Lotus launched E20

Kimi Raikkonen: 'If I didn't feel I had the motivation, I would stop' © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Kimi Raikkonen brushed aside suggestions he will struggle for motivation on his return to Formula One after a two-year lay-off.

"There's always talk about my motivation, written by people who don't know me and couldn't have an idea on how strong my motivation is," Raikkonen told the media at the unveiling of the Lotus car for 2012.

"If I didn't feel I had the motivation, I would stop. My feeling is that I probably drove some of my best races in my last season in Formula One and I was very happy with my performance. I've never had any issues with motivation."

Asked if he would be under extra pressure because people wanted immediate success from him as a former champion, he said: ""I think people expect things from me, but as long as I know that I'm giving 100% and I'm happy with my driving then I'm happy. If those aspects are true and it's not enough, then it's not enough."

ESPNF1

© ESPN EMEA Ltd.

Force India unveils the VJM05

Force India's VJM05 has been unveiled at a launch event at the Silverstone circuit near the team's headquarters.

The new car - which will be driven by Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg this season - features a stepped nose similar to that seen on the new Ferrari and Caterham cars, along with slim sidepods. Di Resta said that the aim with the car would be to overtake Lotus and finish fifth in the constructors' championship having missed out by four points in 2011.

"That's the big aim this year, to come fifth as a constructor," di Resta told Sky Sports News. "But to achieve that you're going to be overtaking a car manufacturer, which is a big thing in Formula One and a world championship (winning) team at that.

"We need to make that next step and the dedication of everyone around here - the buzz is still around - and I'm sure we're ready to make that step should our machine give us the competitiveness we need."

ESPNF1

Photos: © Sutton Images

Ferrari launched 2012 car

Ferrari has launched its new car - the F2012 - via an online presentation from its base in Maranello.

The 2012 car is visually different from last year's car and the new McLaren MP4-27 in that it features an aggressive Caterham-style stepped nose. The car also has heavily sculpted sidepods and a double air-intake like the 2011 McLaren. Ferrari will hope that the ban on off-throttle blown diffusers will mean that the car is more competitive than in 2011, when the team only won one grand prix. Felipe Massa said that he hoped the risks taken in the car's design would help the team be successful.

"It really looks very aggressive," Massa said. "This is something that was part of my dreams ... I really trust the team and the new car."

The team was forced to cancel the official launch ceremony for the car at Maranello due to the weather, with heavy snow across much of Europe. As a result it is also unable to shake the car down at its Fiorano test track.

ESPNF1

Formula 1 2012 Team Launch Week Begins (1-7 February)

(YallaF1.com)  We are fast approaching D-Day for Formula 1 teams to reveal their 2012 challengers and fans can expect a flurry of new car launches in the forthcoming weeks.

Most teams have announced their reveal dates, long gone are the lavish car launches, which have instead been replaced by modest affairs at team factories, race tracks or online.

Below is a schedule of F1 team new car launch dates for your calendar:

Date	Team	Launch Venue
26 January 1 February 3 Februay 3 February 5 February 6 February 6 February 7 February	Caterham McLaren Force India Ferrari Lotus Red Bull Sauber Toro Rosso	F1 Racing magazine Woking & Online Silverstone Maranello Online Online Jerez Jerez

Unkonwn: Mercedes GP, Williams, HRT and Marussia

Ferrari cancels launch ceremony

Ferrari has cancelled the launch ceremony for its 2012 car due to the weather conditions at Maranello.

The car was due to be launched at the team's headquarters in Northern Italy on Friday morning, with a track run also planned in the afternoon or on Saturday for promotional purposes. However, with heavy snowfall and cold temperatures affecting much of Europe, Ferrari has been forced to cancel the event.

As a result the team has announced that it will still launch the car on Friday via its website, following the likes of Red Bull and Lotus who have also chosen to launch online.

"It is still snowing heavily here in Maranello," Ferrari said via its Twitter account. "Therefore, the launch ceremony of the new F1 car has been cancelled. Pictures, interviews and technical analysis of the new car will be available tomorrow [online]."

ESPNF1

McLaren launched the MP4-27

McLaren has launched its 2012 car - the MP4-27 - at the McLaren Technology Centre.

The car is an evolution of the MP4-26 which took six victories in 2011, with the team hoping to close the gap to Red Bull this year. The car features a different front end solution to the Caterham that was launched last week, with a gradual transition between the lower nose and chassis. The sculpted sidepods that were prominent on the MP4-26 have also been redesigned, while the car features a neater rear end than the 2011 car.

The new car will be driven for the first time by Oliver Turvey during a straigh-line test ahead of its track debut on Tuesday at the first pre-season test in Jerez, with Jenson Button at the wheel for the first two days before handing over to Lewis Hamilton.

Button hoping for 'further step forwards'

Jenson Button says that he is hoping the new McLaren MP4-27 will provide the team with "a further step forwards in 2012".

McLaren won six grands prix in 2011 with Button and team-mate Lewis Hamilton securing three victories each. Despite those wins, Sebastian Vettel was dominant in the Red Bull winning six of the first seven races before McLaren could mount any sustained challenge. As a result, Button said that he hoped that the new car could build on the progress made towards the end of last season with the MP4-26.

"With the regulations remaining relatively stable, we've really been able to focus on the detail with this year's car," Button said. "I still think we had a very fast package last year - it was very strong in certain areas - and our race pace was almost always fantastic, but we're hoping for a further step forwards in 2012. With Mercedes-Benz, I think we also had the best overall engine and KERS Hybrid package in the pitlane.

"We were also able to continuously develop throughout the year to match Red Bull - and that shows that we have the knowledge, effort and resources to sustain our efforts across the course of a whole season, which can be crucial. I know that the whole team is extremely proud of the MP4-27. It may look like a direct evolution of last year's car, but we've analysed every area of performance over the winter and the whole car has benefited from lots of fresh thinking and new ideas in every area."

Button also admitted that after the difficulties of the 2011 pre-season it would be important to maximise the potential of the car early on.

"I'm really looking forward to getting behind the wheel in Spain next week. I know that everyone will be watching us very closely to see what progress we make during the pre-season tests, but I genuinely believe we have every reason to feel optimistic about the progress we've made and our competitiveness this year."

Hamilton 'hungry' after winter break

Lewis Hamilton insists that he is "so hungry" to start the new season after recharging during the winter break.

Despite taking three victories Hamilton suffered a difficult year in 2011 as issues in his personal life started to affect his performance on-track. Having been beaten by a team-mate across a season in Formula One for the first time, Hamilton admitted that it had been "great to get away from everything".

"The winter has been a great opportunity to recharge," Hamilton said. "I got away into the mountains, spent a lot of time hiking and running, improving my fitness and starting to prepare for the New Year. It's always great to get away from everything; change the scenery. And what's great about Formula 1 is that you start each season with the baseline completely reset - everybody starts again from zero - and that always makes me so hungry."

Hamilton admitted that while he was away he kept in close contact with the team to monitor the progress of the MP4-27.

"I've been keenly following the development of MP4-27 over the winter and I've been really encouraged by the results and the data that the engineers have been showing me. I think we already had a very strong base to build upon: Jenson and I won six races with MP4-26 last year and I think we've been able to retain all the strengths and the reliability of that design while also incorporating lots of improvements and new ideas into the new car.

"Of course, the biggest changes for 2012 are the modifications to the exhaust regulations - that will reduce the downforce and grip that we had last year, but it just puts the emphasis on the designers to try and claw some of that back in other areas. I get the feeling the MP4-27 is going to feel very new and exciting when we get to drive it for the first time."

ESPNF1

 

Formula 1 2012 Teams and Drivers

Red Bull Racing Renault

1 Sebastian Vettel (DEU)
2 Mark Webber (AUS)

McLaren Mercedes
3 Jenson Button (GBR)
4 Lewis Hamilton (GBR)

Ferrari
5 Fernando Alonso (ESP)
6 Felipe Massa (BRA)

Mercedes
7 Michael Schumacher (DEU)
8 Nico Rosberg (DEU)

Lotus Renault
9 Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)
10 Romain Grosjean (FRA)

Force India Mercedes

11 Paul di Resta (GBR)
12 Nico Hulkenberg (DEU)

Sauber Ferrari
14 Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)
15 Sergio Perez Mendoza (MEX)

STR Ferrari
16 Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)
17 Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA)

Williams Renault
18 Pastor Maldonado (VEN)
19 Bruno Senna (BRA)

Caterham Renault
20 Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)
21 Vitaly Petrov (RUS)

HRT/TBA
22 Pedro de la Rosa (ESP)
23 Narain Karthikeyan (IND)

Marussia Cosworth
24 Timo Glock (DEU)
25 Charles Pic (FRA)

'The order could be shaken up in 2012' - Raikkonen

Kimi Raikkonen: "I am more motivated than

ever and I don't think I've lost any speed" © Getty Images

Kimi Raikkonen reckons regulation changes could shake up the order when he makes his return to Formula One next year.

Raikkonen will drive for Renault (soon to be renamed Lotus) in 2012 after two years competing in the World Rally Championship. His comeback coincides with some relatively small changes to the regulations, mainly regarding exhaust positioning, but Raikkonen is hoping they will make a significant difference.

"Although the technical regulations don't seem to change much, they apply to a lot of areas and quite a few elements will have to be re-designed," he told Renault's official website. "As a result, the cars will be significantly different next year. The order could be shaken up, which will make things very interesting."

Raikkonen added: "I am more motivated than ever and I don't think I've lost any speed. Getting on top of the tyres will be the hardest thing, of course, but I'm not really worried."

Raikkonen said he will be training hard over the Christmas break and revealed that he plans to test a 2009-spec Renault in January in order to prepare for the first official pre-season test in early February.

"We don't test the new car until February so it's a long wait," he said. "However, I should be able to jump into a two-year-old F1 car in January. Of course, there will be the usual training, but I will also be working on getting to know the team better and making sure I fully understand all the changes since I have been away."

And Raikkonen played down his recent snowmobile accident in Austria.

"I was surprised by how much attention there was over me falling off a snowmobile," he added. "You can watch what happened on YouTube and it was probably the smallest and slowest crash I've ever had. It is almost embarrassing! I won a snowmobile race right before the start of the 2007 season and that year didn't go badly for me so who knows?"

ESPNF1

Mercedes tweaks name for 2012

The team ran as Mercedes GP Petronas
this season © Getty Images

Mercedes will be known as the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team in 2012.

The addition of AMG is a move to include the performance brand of the Mercedes-Benz company, with the Mercedes AMG brand already the most successful in DTM racing. Team principal Ross Brawn said that the new name signalled the desire of Mercedes to be even more competitive next season.

"We are very proud to reveal our new team name today," Brawn said. "It adds another strong performance element to our team's identity and, by virtue of being shared between Brackley and Brixworth, will forge even stronger links within our team. At the factory, we have been focused for some time on the challenge of 2012, and our very clear ambition to move forward up the grid next year."

At the same time as announcing the name tweak, Mercedes announced that it would not run its new car until the second pre-season test in Barcelona on February 21, and Brawn said that would allow the team further time to find performance.

"As always, the winter development and manufacturing processes are a trade-off between time for finding performance in the factory, and time for delivering that performance during pre-season testing. We believe that the decision to run the car at the second winter test is the optimum compromise for our design and development programme with F1 W03."

ESPNF1

New McLaren to run at first test

The MP4-26 proved to be difficult to master
during pre-season testing in 2011 © Getty Images

McLaren has announced that the new MP4-27 will run for the first time at the first pre-season test in Jerez.

The test takes place from February 7-9, and McLaren has confirmed that the car will be launched on February 1 but does not reveal the location. It marks a change from 2011, when the team evaluated the Pirelli tyres at the first test in Valencia before launching the MP4-26 ahead of the second test in an attempt to get the maximum development time for the car.

With just three pre-season tests, however, McLaren wants to get as much track time as possible in an attempt to challenge Red Bull from the start of the season. It will join Red Bull, Ferrari, Sauber and Williams in launching its car prior to the first test.

Only Mercedes has so far confirmed that it will wait until the second test on February 21 as it looks to exploit the two-week gap between tests to find performance.

ESPNF1

Ferrari boss Domenicali confident of 'no surprises' with 2012 F1 car

Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali is confident his team has taken the right measures to make sure there are no surprises with its new car when the 2012 season starts.

The Maranello-based squad was upbeat about its chances for the year after a very strong pre-season testing, but it was off the pace when the racing started.

In the end, the team managed just one win and finished a distant third in the championship.

Domenicali is confident the steps the team has taken to address the situation will pay off in 2012.

"From one side we tried to react from the organisational point of view, to do some changes," Domenicali said during a video conference with fans. "And we have done quite a lot of changes and we will have some more changes at the beginning of next year.

"Secondly of course we want to make sure that, with a humble approach, we don't underestimate any area of development.

"With the new regulations there is no such a big effect on the so-called blown diffuser, so we need to make sure that the car, from a general point of view, is very efficient and is able to create downforce because that was the main problem that we had this year.

"And I have to say that we need to be realistic and I believe in the choices that our technical people have taken to make sure there are no big surprises when we start the season.

"I'm confident about the job of the people who are here day and night because there is a great will to the place where we should be."

Domenicali confirmed the new car will be ready for the first test of 2012, with a launch expected to take place the week before.

"We are targeting the first week of February," Domenicali said of the launch date. "We don't know the day exactly but that's when we should be ready with the new car."

Autosport

Ecclestone backs Bahrain Grand Prix go-ahead

Bernie Ecclestone would need to be presented with "incontrovertible evidence" of unacceptable things happening in Bahrain to reconsider next year's grand prix, but is hoping for a problem-free race in April.

The 2011 grand prix was postponed and eventually cancelled against a backdrop of international condemnation at the political situation inside the kingdom and unease over the dates among the teams. The 2012 race has been approved for April 22 despite ongoing political tensions in the country and more anti-government demonstrations at Manama's symbolic Pearl Square roundabout this week.

The roundabout had been the focus for protests earlier this year when the government enforced martial law to crack down on the demonstrators. At least 24 people were killed in the unrest according to official figures and an inquiry said excessive police force had resulted in deaths, mistreatment and torture of civilians.

Human rights organisations also reported that doctors were put in prison for treating protestors, but in an interview with the Guardian Ecclestone said he had been given assurances that was not the case.

"We have been assured that this is not what's happening," he said. "In fact they had a report made, allegedly independent. What did the report say? Yes, there were instances or whatever, but ... I wanted to go out there. I was happy to go. I'd like to go into the prison or the hospital or whatever and ask: 'What actually happened?'"

He added: "I have asked [to go out there]. They said, 'No problem.' The danger is you go out there and they pick you up in a limousine and take you to the best hotel and take you to dinner and then put you back on the aeroplane."

Asked what he would do if he was presented with "incontrovertible evidence that unacceptable things were still happening", Ecclestone said: "We'd have to give it some serious thought then. But we've been to Argentina when there's been big dramas. There's been dramas in Brazil. Bad things happen there. I think you can look anywhere now and it's not all good. You can't really hold England up as being all good, can you? There have been some terrible atrocities that we committed."

However, Ecclestone hinted that not going to Bahrain was an option and added that he had pulled F1 out of South Africa during apartheid.

"Wherever I go, the minute you get off the plane, the minute you go into somebody's country, you've got to respect exactly what their way of life is - their religion, their laws or whatever. It's not correct to go moving into somebody's country and try to change them. Don't go. If you know something's wrong, stay away.

"We pulled out of South Africa years ago [in 1985] because of apartheid. I witnessed things that had happened there which upset me. I thought: 'That ain't the way to go on.' I hope we go to Bahrain and there's no trouble - the race goes on, the public are happy and there are no dramas. That's what I hope."

ESPNF1