Second trailer for Formula 1 movie “Rush”
The second trailer, longer than the first, was released this week for Ron Howard’s new movie “Rush“.
The movie tells the story of the 1976 Formula 1 points championship battle between Kiki Lauda and James Hunt.
Will this film end up on our Top 5 list of the all-time great movies for car enthusiasts? It’s looking better for inclusion – we’ll let you know when the movie opens in North American on September 20th (and one week earlier in Britain).
Watch the trailer for Formula 1 movie “Rush”
Ron Howard’s labor of love opens September 20th in the United States, and a week earlier in Britain. The movie tells the story of the 1976 Formula 1 points championship battle between Kiki Lauda and James Hunt.
Shell Ferrari F1 Commercial “Circuit”
As we finally get close to the kickoff for this year’s F1 season, we are reminded yet again of the rich history of Formula 1 and Grand Prix. In this commercial, Shell takes us on a wonderful ride thru several venues and in several historic F1 racecars.
Turn up your volume, go full screen – enjoy!
Sir Patrick Stewart: 1953 Vanwall better than the USS Enterprise
According to an article in The Sun this morning, Sir Stewart while filming the BBC2 documentary Racing Legends, stalled the 1953 Vanwall racecar which Sir Sterling drove to the win in the 1956 British Grand Prix. Sir Stirling was in attendance, and said “You don’t just jump into a Vanwall and go shopping. It’s quite a complicated thing”. The documentary will be shown on BBC tonight.
Nevertheless, Sir Stewart got it going for some high-speed laps and commented “It felt absolutely brilliant – this beats the Enterprise any day.” That statement will disappoint some people… apparently stationary to Warp 9.8 isn’t the visceral thrill most of the rest of us have assumed it would be!
To this speed:
Or in this? You decide which you’d like better!
Infiniti expands F1 team sponsorship
Infiniti Press Release follows:
New for 2013 – Infiniti Red Bull Racing
- Triple Constructors’ World Champions to become known as “INFINITI RED BULL RACING”
- Infiniti to become a major Technical Partner, deepening collaboration on engineering and development projects
- Infiniti joins Alliance partner Renault, official engine supplier to Red Bull Racing
SAO PAULO, Brazil – Infiniti and Red Bull Racing, the three-time FIA Formula One Constructors’ World Champion, today announced a comprehensive extension of their partnership originally established in March 2011. The partnership will involve the team name changing to INFINITI RED BULL RACING and Infiniti named as the major technical partner starting with the 2013 Formula One season.
Johan de Nysschen, President of Infiniti, commented, “While our first 24-months have been very beneficial to both parties, our new deeper relationship will bring increased advantages to Infiniti and Red Bull Racing. As title partner, INFINITI RED BULL RACING will help us garner even more worldwide exposure for our brand, products and technology.”
Red Bull Racing’s Team Principal Christian Horner stated, “Red Bull Racing and Infiniti have been working on a number of initiatives since the start of our relationship in March 2011. During that time, Infiniti has demonstrated significant technical prowess and I’ve been impressed by the depth of the wider engineering capabilities of the Nissan Motor Company. In terms of marketing, Infiniti has leveraged their involvement with Red Bull Racing and Formula One very effectively and has become well known in a short space of time. These two attributes are what makes Infiniti the ideal title and technical partner for Red Bull Racing.”
The enhanced partnership, starting in 2013 and initially carrying through to end of the 2016 season will see a number of new technology initiatives. Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer also welcomed the long-term nature of the agreement. “Formula One presents immense design and engineering challenges on a daily basis. Having a committed technical partner like Infiniti gives us a great platform for working together on technical projects, such as the Energy Recovery Systems for the 2014 season.”
About Infiniti
Infiniti, the premium automotive brand, reflects its brand promise “Inspired Performance” with a model line-up of sedans, coupés, SUVs and crossovers featuring exhilarating performance, emotive design and cutting edge technology. Infiniti continues to launch across the globe through a dedicated network of Infiniti Centers that share a commitment to exceptional hospitality throughout the entire period of ownership.
Infiniti was launched in 1989 in the United States. Infiniti’s global footprint expanded into Canada in 1990, the Middle-East in 1996, Taiwan in 1997, Korea in 2005 and Russia in 2006. Global expansion continued in 2007 with Infiniti Centers opening in the Ukraine and in one of the world’s fastest growing luxury automotive markets, China. In 2008, Infiniti launched in Western and Central Europe which has added 19 additional markets to-date. Infiniti is sold globally in 47 markets to-date.
Since May 2012, Infiniti’s new global headquarters is situated in Hong Kong, headed by Johan de Nysschen as President of Infiniti on 1 July.
Since the 2011 season Infiniti has been a major partner of the Red Bull Racing team and in 2012 the relationship has been deepened with Infiniti featuring even more prominently on the Red Bull Racing RB8 and the overalls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Last year Sebastian Vettel was appointed Infiniti’s first ever Global Brand Ambassador.
For the latest news about Infiniti please visit: http://www.infiniti.com/.
For interesting content on Infiniti in Formula One, visit http://www.infiniti-performanceteam.com/blog
Information Technology at Marussia F1 Team
Pat Symonds, a technical consultant for the Marussia F1 team, takes us through what information technology means for a small F1 team. With 40 teraflops (limited by the governing body) of Dell-powered supercomputing available for tasks such as computational fluid dynamics, an enormous amount of research and development can be carried out before actual physical testing. Several department use this system, one of 40 people is dedicated solely to aerodynamic research performed solely on the system. All of this work is carried out before the race; during the race hundreds of sensors embedded in the car supply data in real time so that strategic decisions can be made far more effectively.
Read the full article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19623281
Ron Howard and the “Rush” of Grand Prix racing
If you saw Ron Howard interviewed at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend, you saw an enthusiastic fan of Formula 1 talking about the drama and excitement he hopes to catch in his new movie “Rush“. Rush is the story of Niki Lauda and the 1976 crash that nearly ended his life, as well as the extensive rivalry between he and driver James Hunt. As our readers know, Lauda suffered extensive and disfiguring burns at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, an event he initially protested because of the dangerous safety conditions on the 23 kilometer circuit. Despite lapsing into a coma, he returned 6 weeks later to the Italian GP. An incredible act of sheer willpower and persistence.
This is a very serious and meticulously crafted film, with care taken to get the story and technology right and an estimated budget of $65M USD. Most of the cars used came out of private collections, ensuring accuracy.
Here is the first featurette of the film, which is just starting post-production work now for release in 2013. With footage from the film, and interviews with Ron Howard, Chris Hemsworth (James Hunt), Daniel Brühl (Kicki Lauda), and others.
This is clearly going to be one of the greatest racing films ever made, perhaps the greatest, with emotional levels approaching - but not exceeding – that of Senna.
And we’ll forgive Ron Howard for his earlier car films Eat My Dust (where he starred, with a plot that was basically “Opie gets laid”) and Grand Theft Auto (where he also starred, but more importantly made his Directorial debut). Of course there is also his role in American Graffiti. None of these were standout roles for him, but nonetheless all are now a part of movie history.
Read our reviews of >175 good (and bad) films for driving enthusiasts on our site CarMovieEnthusiast.com.
Indy 500 versus Monaco Grand Prix F1 events today
Awesome day! After several hours spent watching both the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix F1 events live, we have an observation. Well, two. First, we should be outdoors in the sun and fresh air. Except that this is the top raceday of the year!
But second, we enjoyed the Indy 500 a lot more than the F1 race. That will be controversial to some F1 die-hards, of which we consider ourselves a member. But the bottom line is that the Indy 500 coverage is far better, with better camera angles, better background stories, better interviews, and plenty of human interest coverage for fans both before and during the event. And there was plenty of passing – what racing is all about. 35 leads changes by 10 drivers!
Furthermore, the drivers are far more approachable than F1 drivers are. We get to know them better, in interviews we get to see their faces: smile or frown, admit their past failures (such as the Tony Kanaan interview), discuss their hopes, and see their families – of which there are far less blond bimbos. These are by and large real people – and isn’t that exactly why so many of us like Rubens Barrichello?
These are all the types of things we don’t see in F1.
And then there was the tribute to Dan Wheldon. Beautiful.
We’ll admit that we don’t find oval racing particularly interesting – but this is Indianapolis and we feel a great sense of the shear speed involved with plenty of in-car cameras. We’d be happier to see the IndyCar spend most of their time on road courses, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be their direction. And we’d be especially happy to see them come to the Circuit of the Americas… but unfortunately their next new location will be a street race in Houston. Few people will find Houston awesome.
Coulthard Circuit of the Americas documentary on BBC
As followup to our earlier post “David Coultard hoons it up in the Red Bull F1 racecar on the streets of Austin Texas“, here is a short documentary aired by BBC this past weekend as part of their India F1 coverage. It was shot at the Circuit of the Americas and tells the story of the fan interest that is building in the Austin Texas area. We have 2 established “watch parties” in the Austin area, where fans gather to watch every race together and often number more than 100 people. And, indeed, in all of Texas, with groups in Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston.
Take note in the video of Wild Bubba himself, of Wild Bubbas Wild Game Grill (offering the best wild game burgers in Texas), who has established the local “hangout” for Central Texas F1 fans in his restaurant. Where you’ll find many of the workers who are building the track gathering for lunch on weekdays, as well as a large collection of F1 memorabilia. All of the top designers and management of the track have been seen there for lunch… you never know who you’ll meet at Wild Bubbas!
The Red Bull escapes! (F1 video!)
Red Bull has released the video they shot in the Austin area in August, including parts filmed downtown, on a ranch south of Austin, along route 812 in Speed City, and on the Circuit of the Americas track itself. The video begins with the “red bull” escaping from a barn chased by cowboys on horseback.
The scenes of the track under construction is particularly interesting: the track itself has been dug out 6 to 8 feet below ground in preparation for laying the multiple layers of base and paving. It shows the extent to which the builders go to provide a perfect surface for racing.
And consider the cost of making this video: not only the time and materials, but the wear and tear on the car and on its engine. This is clearly a labor of love by Red Bull, David Coultard, and everyone concerned. And it’s just the first taste of what we’ll see from the return of F1 to North America.