Grapevine: RTL Premieres High-Speed 'Box-Cam'

Formula One cars could be outpaced by a television camera at the start of Sunday's European Grand Prix.

"It's the fastest camera the world has ever seen," said Willy Knupp, coordinator for production and race communication at Germany's top-rated RTL network.

"The camera can accelerate even faster than the cars at the start and so the trick will be throttling the camera speed so that it moves forward at the same pace as the cars."

The camera will run on rails parallel to the track for the first 300 metres of Sunday's race, accelerating from zero to 100 kilometres per hour (0 to 60 mph) in 2.4 seconds. RTL said the camera can hit a top speed of 140 kph (88 mph) and is confident it will give viewers an unprecedented bird's eye view of the start.

"The other hard part will be slowing the camera down again so it doesn't fly off the end of its track," Knupp added. "We've got a hydraulic brake and are practicing bringing down the speed gradually."

Weighing about five kg (12 pounds), the "box-cam" will also follow cars entering and exiting the pit lane.