Anonymous Shuts Down Formula 1 Website Ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix

Anonymous, a hacker collective, has shut down the official Formula 1 website after a series of violent protests ahead of its race in Bahrain.

Anonymous executed a Distributed Denial of Service attack, according to Jalopnik, which shut down the organization's website ahead of this weekend's race. The hacking group, which has shut down the websites of some of the world's biggest companies, left a note on the Formula 1 website early Friday morning.

Greetings from Anonymous

For over one year the people of Bahrain have struggled against the oppressive regime of King Hamad bin Al Khalifa. They have been murdered in the streets, run over with vehicles, beaten, tortured, tear gassed, kidnapped by police, had their businesses vandalised by police, and have tear gas thrown in to their homes on a nightly basis.

Still the regmine persists to deny any meaningful reform and continues to use brutal and violent tactics to oppress the popular calls for reformation. Not only is the Human Rights situation in Bahrain tragic, it becomes more drastic with each passing day. For these reasons the F1 Grand Prix in Bahrain should be strongly opposed. The Al Khalifa regime stands to profit heavily off the race and has promised to use live ammunition against protestors in preparation. They have already begun issuing collective punishment to entire villages for protests and have promised further retribution to keep order for the F1 events in Bahrain. The Formula 1 racing authority was well-aware of the Human Rights situation in Bahrain and still chose to contribute to the regime's oppression of civilians and will be punished.

We demand the immediate release of human rights worker Abdulhadi Alkhawaja who has spent over 70 days on hunger strike. He has committed no crimes and is being punished by the regime for advocating people's basic human rights. Free him and all other political prisoners in Bahrain. End torture. Deport all mercenary police and stop the use of tear gas against civilians.

We Do Not Forgive. We Do Not Forget. Expect Us.

0x0 was and still is here. Join #OpBahrain

Anonymous joins other prominent groups in opposing the race. Ed Mliband, the leader of Britian's Labour Party, has called for the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

''Given the violence we have seen in Bahrain and given the human rights abuses, I don't believe the Grand Prix should go ahead, Miliband said in a speech in Wales. I hope that the [UK] Government will make its view clear and say the same.''