Grapevine: F1 lifts bushfire victims' spirits
BMW Sauber test driver Christian Klien and former Minardi boss Paul Stoddart on Tuesday did their bit to lift the spirits of victims of the recent Australian bushfires, with an F1 demonstration through the streets of a town badly hit by the disaster
Klien drove his BMW Sauber while Stoddart provided a two-seater Minardi for Zsolt Baumgartner to drive, on a special 220-metre track that had been laid out through the centre of Kinglake.
More than 200 people were killed in the bushfires last month, which badly ravaged parts of Kinglake.
Town residents packed the streets and Stoddart arranged for some of those who suffered in the tragedy to get a ride in his two-seater.
Speaking about his experience afterwards, Klien said: "We saw on the news back in Europe what happened with the fires, and I flew there this morning by helicopter and you could see what happened to the land there.
"It was nice to bring the people up there a bit of happiness and to run our Formula 1 car there. You really could see the smiles on the faces of the kids, and it was a really nice thing to do."
The demonstration at Kinglake is just the start of a weekend of efforts by the F1 community to help the victims and honour the heroes. The F1 drivers on Sunday are set to have their pre-race parade laps on the back of local fire trucks.
Share Or Save This Story
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Jon Noble: An unfair perception or a genuine concern? Lifting the lid on Red Bull’s Tsunoda scepticism
F1 drivers raise concerns over 'self-learning' power units – what's going on?
What is holding back Bagnaia in MotoGP 2026?
Why the 2026 F1 cars suit Antonelli's driving style more than Russell
Hamilton takes "full responsibility" for disappointing Belgian GP
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments