Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez joined SailGP in Saint Tropez to test their skills on a FI vehicle of another kind.
Max and Sergio teamed up with Oracle and SailGP for a lesson in racing on water. Oracle is involved in both grand-prix sports – F1 and SailGP. They are renowned for taking both sports to the edge of development through knowledge sharing and excellent team work.
“I’ve had a pretty incredible experience,” said Verstappen of his time in Saint-Tropez. “I’ve never done anything like it. We do a lot of really cool things at Red Bull and this is definitely one of them. SailGP is extremely professional, and the race boats are much bigger than expected, it was impressive to see the aerodynamics and the foils.”
Added Perez: “To have that opportunity to experience a new sport today was incredible, it was something unique. We are doing some racing but not on the track – on the water. Like every sport when you see it from the outside it is so different when you actually jump into it. It is so impressive, I have a lot of admiration for what these guys do. I am very curious about it, how the team uses the data and of course the technology – it is great to learn about other sports.”
Red Bull is no stranger to partnerships in the sailing world. They’ve teamed up with Alinghi in the next America’s Cup.
Watch what happens when you put racing drivers on F50 catamarans.
Featuring @Max Verstappen @Checo Pérez @Oracle @SailGP
The Americans are back on top
Watch the highlights for Saint Tropez here. This is where we saw Jimmy Spithill’s USA team make a comeback.
“Our first event win proved the armchair critics wrong,” he said.
The rivalry between the Aussies and the New Zealand continued, forcing errors and near capsizes. The US team took full advantage of the situation and took the win.
