Max Verstappen took a Red Bull RB7 on the slopes of the Streif ski course in Kitzbuehel in a demonstration run on Thursday.
With snow chains and studs fitted to his wet weather tyres, Verstappen drove the team’s 2011 world championship-winning car on a specially-designed course on the Austrian ski slopes.
2016 F1 season
- Which was F1’s best down-to-the-wire title fight?
- Are tickets too dear? Crowds fell at some tracks in 2016
- F1’s TV audience decline stopped in 2016
- Brawn among key F1 hires announced by Liberty
- Has F1 hit ‘peak penalties’? Fewer sanctions in 2016
Jerejj
14th January 2016, 15:32
Tag Heuer logos on the engine cover of RB7.
favomodo (@favomodo)
14th January 2016, 15:41
Beautiful pictures! Never knew a F1 car fitted so well in snowy scenery… Love it!
ColdFly F1 (@)
15th January 2016, 6:58
That’s what I expect Red Bull to do; be different with a lot of fun.
And it creates a lot of positive press for Red Bull and the sport.
Well done Red Bull.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
14th January 2016, 15:46
Looks like he had a nICE drive. HAHAHAHAHA!
Seriously though, the coolest thing I have seen in F1 for a long time, well done Red Bull.
Arrows98 (@arrows98)
14th January 2016, 16:24
that was indeed seriously COOL… I would even say SUB-ZERO… ;)
okay, I’ll let myself out now…
Akshat
14th January 2016, 15:51
The path of air flowing around the car is somewhat visible in this pic due to snow: https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/max-verstappen-red-bull-snow-run-2016-23.jpg
#CiaoJules
bosyber (@bosyber)
14th January 2016, 21:49
Yeah, great picture indeed Akshat!
See, this is how I like to see Red Bull – these sort of promotional events is what they are great at, they should always remember that, and act the part: F1/image is also about being seen in the right way.
j3d89
14th January 2016, 16:04
is funny how they take the V8 cars to exhibitions when they already have the 2 years old 2014 RB.. could it be to impress people with the sound and make them go see f1 ? which i think is lame, if they wish to attract people why not show them the real deal and not old glories
omarr-pepper
14th January 2016, 16:08
Maybe because it is one of their WCCs?
j3d89
14th January 2016, 16:25
i thought about it.. but at the same time..if somebody new see the exhibition, might get hyped..because of the sound.. and the real thing now is different..(not that i care, what i love to see braking battles to see who gets the corner first, but not all the people have same taste, some always complain about modern turbo engines in f1, of the formula electric..)
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
14th January 2016, 16:35
Several reasons… Nameley v8s are way more reliable, and easier to start. For v6 you need multiple times more time to get it going.
Gabriel (@rethla)
14th January 2016, 18:15
Red Bull dont care about if people go see F1 or not. They wanna sell drinks and a fierce sounding machine is selling more drinks than a Prius will ever do. If people stop going to F1 becouse the sound is lame Red Bull will just put its marketing money on other stuff instead.
Patrick (@paeschli)
14th January 2016, 20:09
They didn’t use their 2014 car because they feared the Renault engibe would break down.
Nick (@npf1)
14th January 2016, 20:39
Ferrari is still using a weird 2009/2010 chassis hybrid for their exhibitions, but I doubt Ferrari fondly remembers 2009..
anon
14th January 2016, 21:51
j3d89, there is probably a more pragmatic reason for using the RB7 – under the current regulations, Red Bull do not need to apply for permission from the FIA in order to undertake a promotional event if the car is older than 2011, inclusive of that year.
Whilst the regulations do permit the teams to use cars from the period from 2011-2014 for publicity events, the regulations are much stricter in order to prevent teams potentially abusing the system (for example, an FIA observer has to be present at the event).
Overall, whilst Red Bull could choose a newer car, the whole procedure is much easier if they simply stick with the RB7 and therefore don’t require permission from the FIA in advance of the event.
BaKano (@bakano)
14th January 2016, 16:20
That wonderful TAG Heuer V8 engine :-D
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
14th January 2016, 16:24
So does this mean that we can have the Canadian Gp in November now?
Steven Smith (@ragwort)
14th January 2016, 21:47
Let’s go for it. Who needs Bernies sprinklers idea?
That is a great bit of fun / publicity from Red Bull. I thought Coulthard on top of the Burj Khalifa helipad was good. But that was better.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
14th January 2016, 16:56
Do want video, lol.
Seriously, this should be nearly as good as driving the Nordschleife in about a foot of snow.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th January 2016, 18:46
@atticus-2
Wish granted!
Atticus (@atticus-2)
14th January 2016, 18:49
@keithcollantine Haha, thank you. For the notification as well. :)
Philip (@philipgb)
14th January 2016, 16:58
I wonder if they used the RB7 for the added downforce of the exhaust blown diffuser?
Whatever I’ve often thought a snow race would be awesome. I know it would be about as safe as a 17 year old on a superbike in the rain with a hot girl watching, but that would be some epic racing.
Feuerdrache (@xenomorph91)
14th January 2016, 18:29
And Kimi’s only chance to ever win a race again. :P
Philip (@philipgb)
14th January 2016, 18:47
He’s chasing the icecream truck?
MattDS
15th January 2016, 6:58
I don’t think he would have been driving fast enough for that to really come into play.
The RB7 was used because the rules for using newer cars are far more strict.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
14th January 2016, 17:27
This looks amazing.
I would love to see a GP in the snow. Surely still a gimmick too far for Berny.
Pirelli could offer snow tyres with hard and soft chains.
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
14th January 2016, 19:07
The main photo almost looks like an artwork!
Scottie (@scottie)
14th January 2016, 19:53
Perfect choice of car for the job! Sure, not a more recent machine, but the blown diffuser enabled the rear tires to get up to temperature beautifully!
Boomerang
14th January 2016, 20:58
This is the craziest and best thing I’ve seen for so long… F1 car in my beloved setting. Truly and utterly cool. Not only because of the snow and ice ;-) Thanks Keith for sharing it with us! Cheers mate!
HK (@me4me)
14th January 2016, 21:32
Seems Red Bull in a stroke of brilliance found a way to prevent the Pirelli tyres from delaminating! ;)
skylien (@skylien)
16th January 2016, 6:55
@me4me
haha! :)
Mike
14th January 2016, 23:28
That’s practically pornographic.
uan (@uan)
15th January 2016, 0:30
Christian calls Vettel “Hey Seb, yeah, Max just took Kinky Kylie out and trashed her all over the ski slopes. I think you can have your WDC winning car we promised you…” ;)
Matthijs (@matthijs)
15th January 2016, 7:48
@uan That is funny! Or: “Hey Max, here’s the WDC-winning car we promised you!”
Scalextric (@scalextric)
15th January 2016, 3:17
There’s no grip! There’s no grip!
Robert
15th January 2016, 8:55
Xevi: Max, please let the Snowplow through.
Max: NO!
ben (@djdapimp)
15th January 2016, 7:42
i wish they would show the car going round (like in F1 coverage) instead of the heavily edited slow motion shots :(
Willem Cecchi (@)
15th January 2016, 8:34
Great demonstration. A bit dangerous having a teenager drive around with fans in such close proximity with no safety barriers. :)
pSynrg (@psynrg)
15th January 2016, 8:44
What an utterly pointless waste of time and money.
What’s next?
An F22 Raptor in the ExCeL centre, a super yacht down the Serpentine in Hyde Park?
Oh I can’t wait!
Melvin (@)
15th January 2016, 10:46
pretty much everything people do in their spare time is a waste of time and money. It’s called having fun.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
15th January 2016, 12:57
Spare time? This is a commercial promotional event.
mik
15th January 2016, 10:21
dont give bernies ideas he will be in talks to have a snow race included next year..and if the moneys right in possibly qatar.
Charles King (@charleski)
15th January 2016, 10:33
Those spiked tyres certainly make the car look a bit more … gladitatorial. Add some blades coming out of the hub and we’re in business!
Pit-stops might be a little tricky though …
bernie
15th January 2016, 20:45
Still has more grip than Button, lol :D