Red Bull Motorsports
F1
F1 Car Drives the Slopes of Legendary Ski Resort
What happens when you try to drive a Formula 1 car around an icy ski hill in Kitzbühel, Austria?
Snow business: F1 in the Alps with Max Verstappen
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen recently made tracks for the Austrian Alps and the Hahnenkamm Festival to enjoy a taste of the high life and perform a unique F1 show run at Kitzbühel ski resort.
The resort is revving up for the famous Hahnenkammrennen World Cup Alpine ski races, and the Downhill race on the Streif course — the biggest challenge in downhill skiiing. It's skiing's answer to the Nordschleife at Nürburgring: a test of supreme skill, fitness and bravery.
So what better way to celebrate F1, the pinnacle of motorsport, than with a snow run at the home of the pinnacle of winter sports?
“I've never driven on snow," said Verstappen after the run. "It was a real challenge; we had to put my tires in chains, it was very special. It was great fun and the enthusiasm of fans in Kitzbühel was great.”
Scroll through more photos of the event below:
Snow showers: Max Verstappen sprays fans with snow
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Max Verstappen stops to make an iced donut
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Snow drift: Max Verstappen at the Hahnenkamm
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Max gets to grip with the snow tyres
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull’s motorsport director Dr. Helmut Marko was on hand to watch his protégé in action. "It’s the perfect advert for Formula One," he said. "It shows exactly what you can do with a little imagination. I’d have loved to have done this in my youth, but unfortunately nobody thought of it at the time …"
Also among the spectators was Austrian F1 legend Gerhard Berger. "Many of the fans here have probably never had the chance to experience Formula One up close," Berger commented, "so seeing an F1 car this close, against this giant backdrop and feeling the power of the engine is quite unique. "
1 min
Max Verstappen explains driving an F1 car on snow
A very cold looking Max Verstappen discusses the challenge of driving an F1 car on snow
The Red Bull Racing showcar team spent a morning preparing the car to cope with its surroundings. An F1 car is accustomed to racing in hot weather, so in addition to making special snow tires for the car, the team had to re-tune the engine and adjust the set-up to make it possible for Verstappen to handle the car in the snow.
Mark Willis explains exactly how they did it in the video below.
1 min
Behind scenes at the F1 winter showrun in the Alps
Mark Willis from Red Bull Racing explains the challenge of running F1 car in sub zero temperatures.
