Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni, a United Nations war crimes expert, thinks Bahrain is ready to host formula one again.
Last year, the Egyptian led the high-profile independent investigation that found the Bahrain authorities were heavy-handed in reaction to the civil unrest.

But now, media outlets including London’s Telegraph newspaper have seen a letter Bassiouni wrote to grand prix circuit chief Zayed Alzayani, who is determined to host April’s Bahrain grand prix at Sakhir as scheduled.

Bassiouni, whose letter was copied to F1 chiefs Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone, said the race can be used to promote “national healing and reconciliation”.

He said it will be “an important point of departure for the people of Bahrain to forge ahead in their national efforts towards reconciliation”.

Damon Hill has backed Bahrain as the island Kingdom returns to the F1 calendar this year.
After last year’s race was cancelled, the 1996 world champion travelled to Bahrain with FIA president Jean Todt and afterwards said he supports the decision to give the Sakhir circuit its April 22 date for 2012.

However, as some clashes between protesters and police are still taking place, there are some who believe strongly that Bahrain is not ready to host F1 again.

The teams are mainly quiet, but Red Bull’s Christian Horner said last week that, “As far as I’m aware, we’re definitely going.

“As of today there’s a race committed to Bahrain and we’ll be there,” he added.

Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary added: “I have decided I will be going to Bahrain if the race goes ahead.”

Briton Hill, the winner of 22 grands prix, thinks Horner and Cary are right.

“Everyone wants things to move in the right direction in Bahrain,” he is quoted by The Sun.

“The grand prix is of huge economic importance to Bahrain. You’d almost be putting an economic sanction on Bahrain by pulling the race.”

 Organisers of the Bahrain grand prix have admitted disappointment with being bumped from the head of the 2012 calendar.
Following the cancellation of its 2011 race and test over the civil unrest early last year, Bahrain was provisionally scheduled to return to F1 by opening this season’s championship.

However, when the calendar was ultimately published, Bahrain was given a late April date, making it the fourth round after Australia, Malaysia and China.

Reports at the time said Bernie Ecclestone had “responded to teams’ fears over the uncertain political landscape” in the island Kingdom.

So as tickets go on sale this week, the Sakhir circuit’s chief executive admitted he is disappointed Melbourne will be kicking off the sport in less than a month’s time.

“I think formula one should start the world championship in a timezone that makes sense,” said Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa.

“We have a lot of support in Europe for our grand prix and to start in Australia, where it is 2am or 3am in Europe, that to me doesn’t make sense,” he is quoted by The National newspaper.

In addition to not being the season opener, Bahrain is also the second leg in a logistically-difficult ‘back to back’ pairing with China.

“Hosting the first race, you benefit obviously by people talking about you in the lead up to the start of the season,” continued Al Khalifa.

“Now we are going to be after China so our event will come into play only after the third round. For us, it is important to host the race and we plan to make it a success,” he added.

The slogan for Bahrain’s 2012 return to F1 is ‘Unified, One nation in celebration”.

On the continuing security fears in Bahrain, Al Khalifa insisted: “I don’t see an issue.

“Obviously, there are always concerns and the authorities are aware of that, but my main concern is that everybody is secure in and around the circuit and I am confident we can provide that.”

France’s sports minister insists the country is still on course to return to the formula one calendar.
Recently, a deal to see the Paul Ricard circuit annually share a grand prix date with Belgium’s fabled Spa-Francorchamps seemed imminent.

But although the key meeting with Bernie Ecclestone took place nearly a month ago now, sports minister David Douillet said the 2013 French grand prix “is not dead”.

“We have three new French drivers in F1 and so we have to have a grand prix de France,” he is quoted by TF1 television. “That’s my job.

“France is the land of the grand prix,” added Douillet. “I met with Bernie Ecclestone and he is totally willing to share it between Belgium and France.

“He has mobilised and motivated local governments for the financing of the event, even if we are yet to have all the details from our Belgian friends.

“There are also some details to go with one or two of the close cities. We are almost there,” he insisted.

 Bernie Ecclestone insists he wants to sign a new race contract with beleaguered German venue the Nurburgring.
At present, the future of the biennial event looks grim, after the Rhineland-Palatinate state cancelled the circuit operator’s lease, and Nurburgring Automobile GmbH hit back by threatening legal action against the government.

Perhaps because F1′s current world champion Sebastian Vettel is German, and because Hockenheim only wants to host one race every two years, the sport’s chief executive Ecclestone sounds keen on a solution.

“If the government finds a new partner who agrees to have the race, then I am more than happy to agree to a new contract,” the 81-year-old is quoted in the Rhein Zeitung newspaper.

“What we can make possible, we will make possible,” added Ecclestone.

The relevant state government minister Roger Lewentz told the same newspaper that he is prepared to meet with Ecclestone.

“We want to continue with formula one at the Nurburgring, but at a reasonable rate,” he said.

Ecclestone commented: “So far I have not heard from him (Lewentz).”

 Bernie Ecclestone has played down the latest reports about violence in Bahrain, insisting April’s 2012 race is still scheduled to go ahead.
On the one-year anniversary of the ‘Day of Rage’ unrest, international media agencies claimed violent clashes took place, with youths throwing rocks and petrol bombs and police hitting back with tear-gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades.

“The only message I got was that there were some kids in trouble with the police,” F1 chief executive Ecclestone told the Telegraph.

“We are planning to go. People there seem confident that a race two months away will be alright.”

At the Jerez test last week, it was suggested teams were expressing concerns about Bahrain.

But Ecclestone insists: “The teams are not the slightest bit concerned. They seem happy that things will go ahead without problems.

“Last year was a more clear-cut decision not to go but things have changed a lot since then.”

In recent days, however, F1 has been the subject of a high profile row about the event, with influential figures and political parties publicly debating whether the sport is right or wrong to return to Bahrain.

“We’ve always been non-political,” said Ecclestone, 81. “Any decision will be made on grounds of safety.”

But an FIA spokesman said the “staging of a grand prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing”.

And a spokesman for the Bahrain International Circuit told CNN: “We are entirely confident that the race can be and will be an excellent event.

“The FIA has said that there is no reason why the grand prix should not go ahead.”

The unnamed spokesman also compared Bahrain’s problems of the last twelve months with London’s riots last August.

“There’s no doubt that (in Bahrain) there have been some small riots, nothing like on the scale that we saw in London,” he insisted.

“When it comes to being in and around the track, the drivers and the teams will be extremely safe. Absolutely, totally confident about that.”

AUSTIN, Texas — February 13, 2012— Circuit of The Americas is the newest member of the Green Sports Alliance, a non-profit organization made up of more than 40 professional and collegiate sports teams and nearly 90 sports venues with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Circuit of The Americas will be the first Formula One™ racing facility to become a member of the Alliance.
“Circuit of The Americas and the City of Austin have taken a bold stand with their sustainability plan for the sports and entertainment complex,” said Martin Tull, executive director of the Green Sports Alliance. “We welcome Circuit of The Americas into the Alliance and look forward to working with them.”
The Green Sports Alliance is a unique coalition of sports teams and venues, professional sport leagues, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental and green building experts.
“I applaud the Circuit’s commitment to setting a standard for sustainability in North American motorsports,” said Lucia Athens, chief sustainability officer for the City of Austin. “Joining forces with the Green Sports Alliance will increase their green horsepower and put Austin on the map yet again for its leadership and innovation. The Green Sports Alliance has been providing expert technical assistance to many of the sports leagues, and can now assist motorsports in achieving greener results.”
Members in the Green Sports Alliance share best practices to improve the environmental performance of their venues, saving millions of dollars through energy and water conservation, waste reduction, recycling and composting. By tracking environmental performance, sports facilities learn how they compare to their counterparts and how to maximize sustainability efforts. Alliance members have reported reductions as high as 30 percent in energy usage, 60 percent in natural gas use and more than 20 percent in water use.
“We are excited to be collaborating with the best minds in sustainable facility management,” said Edgar Farrera, sustainability director at Circuit of The Americas. “We look forward to developing new approaches to environmentally sustainable operations at our facility and sharing what we learn with organizations and companies around the world.”
About the Green Sports Alliance
The Green Sports Alliance is a non-profit organization with a mission to help sports teams, venues and leagues enhance their environmental performance. Less than a year since its public launch, the Alliance is made up of representatives from over 40 teams from 13 leagues and 90 sports venues, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Protection Agency, Bonneville Environmental Foundation and many other organizations.
Its second annual conference, the Green Sports Alliance Summit, will be held on Sept. 5-7, 2012 and will bring together hundreds of facility operators, team executives, league officials,
environmental experts and corporate partners to discuss innovations in environmental performance.
For more information about the Green Sports Alliance visit: www.greensportsalliance.org.
About Circuit of The Americas
Circuit of The Americas will be a world-class destination for performance, education and business. It will be the first purpose-built Grand Prix facility in the United States designed for any and all classes of racing, from motor power to human power, and be the U.S. home to the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX™ Nov. 16-18 and V8 SUPERCARS.
The Circuit of The Americas’ master plan features a variety of permanent structures designed for business, education, entertainment and race use. Its signature element will be a 3.4-mile circuit track with capacity for 120,000 fans. Other support buildings will include a medical facility, a conference center, a banquet hall as well as an expansive outdoor live music space. Future proposed amenities include a driving/riding experience, a motorsports driving club, kart track, grand plaza event center and tower, and a trackside recreational vehicle park.

 With the 2012 season now just weeks away, the most serious doubts yet about April’s returning Bahrain grand prix have emerged.
Reports claim that, on the eve of the one year anniversary of the bloody ‘Day of Rage’ protests that led to the cancellation of the race and test in early 2011, violent clashes involving tear gas-firing police have broken out.

“Formula one is monitoring events there”, a report in the Guardian newspaper said.

“Formula one’s governing body is keeping a low profile because it doesn’t want to be part of the mounting pressure and speculation,” added journalist Paul Weaver.

International news agencies including Reuters and the Associated Press reported this week’s clashes involve protesters trying to reoccupy the symbolic scenes of the 2011 violence.

“Traffic came to a standstill on the main thoroughfare into the capital (Manama), and teargas canisters, rubber pellets and rocks littered the highway,” said Reuters, adding that elsewhere “youths threw petrol bombs, iron bars and rocks” and police returned fire with “stun grenades”.

The New York Times, meanwhile, referred to numerous

A dark cloud continues to hang over Bahrain’s scheduled return to the F1 calendar in 2012.
In the UK – where eight of the twelve formula one teams are based – the violent attack of a British man by Bahraini youths is making waves.

News that the man had his fingers severed by a sword came on the same day as a letter in the Times newspaper signed by several influential Lords called on Bernie Ecclestone and the governing FIA to cancel the race.

“Given the current dire situation, with daily street protests and the deaths of more civilians, we do not believe that the time is right for formula one to return to Bahrain,” the letter read.

 450 workers are pushing to enable Austin’s new Circuit of the Americas to be ready for the US grand prix later this year.
After the Texas project’s earlier hiccups, the rooves and walls of the paddock and medical buildings, media centre and main grandstand are now taking shape.

Another recent setback, however, was 2 inches of rain in the last ten days.

“We’ve got a lot of dry weather we know is going to be coming, and are hoping to be gaining some time,” said a contractor spokesman.

He revealed that the first layer of track asphalt will be poured around April “so we can get other elements, the tire barriers (and) the FIA fence going on”, he told the local Austin American Statesman.

The report said construction is scheduled to be essentially completed two months before the November 18 race.

The future of the German grand prix at the Nurburgring looks set to race into the courts.
The Rhineland-Palatinate state this week said it intends to cancel the circuit operator’s lease, arguing that a bright future is “not possible” with the existing tenants.

Minister Roger Lewentz said he wants to personally take over the negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone about the future of the F1 race.

But according to the SID news agency, the operator Nurburgring Automotive GmbH (NAG) has announced it will fight back, including demanding “substantial amounts” from the government for the wrongful action.

“There is no reason for this extraordinary step,” NAG’s lawyer is quoted as saying.

The company’s spokesman said the situation is crucial to Germany’s future on the F1 calendar.

“Already, there are many candidates waiting for a (race) date to be available,” NAG spokesman Karl-Heinz Steinkuehler said.

“Without the Nurburgring, formula one would make probably only a guest appearance every two years in Germany, at the Hockenheimring,” he warned.

The minister Lewentz, however, said the government is ready for a fight, despite hoping for “an amicable solution” to the dispute with the operator.

“If not, a lengthy legal dispute cannot be ruled out,” he said. “We consider ourselves well prepared.”

 The boss of Spanish grand prix venue Circuit de Catalunya has played down reports the event is endangered.
It is reported that Spain’s other F1 host, Valencia, as well as F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, are pushing Barcelona to agree a plan to annually alternate a single race date.

But amid the country’s troubled economic times, Catalunya track boss Salvador Servia said Barcelona remains fully focused on its current race contract.

“Only a disaster – say, an earthquake – is a problem. Forget all the rumours and headlines, we are still working as we were before,” he told Vuelta Rapida radio.

Ecclestone warned recently that, with F1′s calendar ever-globalising, there could be only five grands prix remaining in Europe within a few years.

“If there are five then we want to be one of them, and we will fight to be,” Servia insisted.

He said Barcelona’s current F1 contract guarantees the Spanish grand prix until 2016.

“We have had no communications, either verbal or written from him (Ecclestone) or his organisation regarding the issues of the rumours and headlines,” said Servia.

“We are here, working to fulfil our contract until 2016 and thinking about 2020 as well.”

 Bahrain’s formula one return in April is now looking unlikely.
Amid reports the situation inside the troubled island Kingdom is still not stable, the Sakhir circuit’s boss Zayed al-Zayeni last week insisted Bahrain and the world “has to move on”.

But not everyone agrees, including the US State Department which has warned Americans of political unrest.

“The department … strongly urges US citizens to avoid all demonstrations, as even peaceful ones can quickly become unruly, and a foreigner could become a target of harassment or worse,” the new alert about Bahrain reads.

The department also said US staff are being moved to safer locations.

“We expect that planned and spontaneous demonstrations will continue,” a US spokesman told the Gulf Daily News.

Valencia is waiting on fellow Spanish F1 host Barcelona to reply to talks about alternating a single annual race date.
Both venues have admitted to suffering economic difficulties at present, with the sport’s chief executive Bernie Ecclestone pushing for them to share a spot on the calendar in future.

Valencia’s regional president Alberto Fabra is quoted by the EP news agency as admitting he wants Ecclestone to agree to a new deal with “different conditions”.

Fabra met with the Briton last week.

“Now we are waiting for a response from him and, after contact with different organisations and also with Catalonia, he will tell us what are the alternatives.

“I’m waiting for what Ecclestone says, being aware of our economic situation, that allows us to continue with the grand prix,” he added.

Fabra said simply breaking Valencia’s existing race contract is not an option.

“There is a penalty of two years of fees and then a submission to the English courts for a possible (further) compensation,” he revealed.

“The only viable option is to renegotiate the contract,” added Fabra.

France is poised to return to the F1 calendar.
French-language RMC Sports reports that prime minister Francois Fillon has finally “given the green light” to the race at Paul Ricard to alternate annually with Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps, beginning in 2013.

“The negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone can begin,” read the report, adding that “informal meetings” with the F1 chief executive have already been held.

Fillon’s decision follows a minister’s meeting last Thursday, and RMC said the Var region has also agreed.

“There are still some loose ends to tie up with the department of Alpes-Maritimes,” said the report.

RMC said the French carmaker and F1 engine supplier Renault may also be closely involved with the French event.

“The eyes are now on the Belgian side, who must also validate the project.”