High-tech F1 cars race around the track at ridiculous speeds. They are finicky, sensitive motor cars, and are normally handled with kid gloves. So who in their right mind would think to drive a high-tech F1 car from the wild Aussie coastline to the remote Aussie outback? Oracle Red Bull Racing and Daniel Ricciardo, that’s who!
A road trip with a difference
Daniel Ricciardo has returned to the Oracle Red Bull Racing cockpit ahead of the upcoming Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. To master the harsh conditions and to gain an edge over their competitors, Ricciardo took the championship-winning RB7 F1 car (a winning car for both Max Verstappen and Ricciardo) on a road trip across some of Australia’s most challenging terrains
The RB7 road trip navigated through iconic Australian locations from Broken Hill to Sea Cliff Bridge, and all the way to the home of Australian Supercars in Bathurst.
“There’s nothing that compares to the Aussie conditions; we had a lot of fun ripping through the outback and tearing across the Sea Cliff Bridge,” Ricciardo said.
The trip ended at Australia’s most famous racetrack, Mount Panorama, where Shane Van Gisbergen led the RB7 around the track in his Red Bull Ampol Camaro, giving the dominant F1 car a taste of Australia’s most treacherous circuit.
Red Bull’s racers join the trip
The team invited Supercars champion Shane Van Gisbergen, enduro motorsports legends Toby Price and Daniel Sanders, and aerobatic pilot Matt Hall to help Ricciardo test the car under Australia’s toughest conditions.
The road trip began in the Wild West before heading to a cattle station in the outback, where Daniel Sanders taught Ricciardo how to navigate the famous Aussie bull dust. A quick pitstop in the outback city of Broken Hill followed before Ricciardo met aerobatic pilot Matt Hall at the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge on NSW’s south coast for a true-blue test of handling corners.
Ricciardo revealed, “After my first Red Bull Racing Road Trip in San Francisco, I’ve always wanted the opportunity to do this in Australia.” He continued, “To be back home, taking the RB7 across the Aussie outback, and sharing the best Australia has to offer with the world; what better way to celebrate my first F1 event at home since returning to Oracle Red Bull Racing?”
Oracle Red Bull Racing Road Trips have crisscrossed the globe from the USA to the Netherlands, South Africa, the Czech Republic, and now down under to Australia, with Daniel’s homecoming trip taking place ahead of his first Australian Grand Prix since rejoining the team last year.
What do Formula 1 sailors and Formula 1 drivers have in common? Find out here.
