BMX legend Kriss Kyle jumps over Red Bull F1 car in world first

Red Bull is an interesting company. Covering multiple sports, showcasing wacky stunts, and more notably winning multiple F1 world championships, it is complicated to pigeonhole it as a brand.

The brand’s latest challenge was bestowed on BMX legend Kriss Kyle, who was tasked with jumping over Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 championship-winning RB7 F1 car heading towards him at rapid speed in a world first stunt.

Kyle is no stranger to dangerous and demanding stunts, having tethered a carbon fibre BMX bowl to the underside of a hot air balloon and ridden his bike 2,000ft (610m) in the sky in 2023.

Preparing

Ahead of the start of preparations, Kyle spoke with Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda, as well as Racing Bulls duo Liam Lawson and Isaak Hadjar, and inspected an F1 car up close, declaring it as “longer than (he) could remember”.

Before being deemed ready to attempt the challenge, Kyle needed to see whether he was able to jump at the required height of 1.3 metres to clear the oncoming F1 car. It was higher than he’d ever jumped before, and help from the boffins at Red Bull, with their use of motion technology, helped Kyle understand where he could improve.

Next up was perfecting his jump timing over something that moves. For this, he enlisted the help of best mate George Ecclestone and the pair headed to the GYG Karting track for a bit of practice. Here, Kyle revealed that he would only have a window of 0.2 seconds to reach his jump height (less than the blink of an eye), and if he missed his timing, the consequences could be potentially catastrophic.

The challenge attempt

So who would be driving the RB7 F1 car? None other than 13-time Grand Prix winner and fellow Scotsman David Coulthard.

The challenge attempt was to take place at Knockhill racing circuit, with Kyle combating his nerves with visualisation techniques and plenty of prayers for the wind to stay away.

Coulthard was told to do a flying lap of the circuit before holding his speed at the finishing straight, by which point Kyle would then get a five second countdown to begin the challenge.

Asked his thoughts on the endeavour, Coulthard simply stated: “Timing is going to be everything”.

As the RB7 made its way onto the track for the start of the flying lap, Kyle was summoned into position. He would then be asked to clear five practice jumps in a row by the health and safety team on site before he’d be allowed to attempt the challenge for real.

The first didn’t quite go to plan, although Kyle subsequently went on to nail five perfect jumps and the challenge attempt was on.

Nerves were once again setting in for Kyle, who veered off course to avoid the oncoming F1 car during the first real attempt. Next was a jump over the car, which brought cheers from those watching at trackside who believed it was a perfect jump. Kyle wasn’t convinced, however, with the Scotsman convinced the wind had caused him to veer off sideways and was unhappy at the standard of jump.

The wind increased in frequency and strength, and that meant that no further attempts would be able to be done on that day.

Second attempt

At a later date, which was noticeably more sunny, Kyle and the RB7 turned up at Goodwood Motor Circuit for their second attempt at the challenge, where they would be limited to only 30 minutes of track.

What happened next? I’m sure you already know the answer to that. However, if you’d like me to describe it in words, Kyle not only cleared the jump, but cleared it in a manner that satisfied both him and his team, who proceeded to pile on top of him in celebration. It was an incredibly daring challenge, and one that produced some brilliant photos and video for Red Bull.

Kyle said after completing the challenge in a world first, “It was one of the scariest things that I have ever done! Hearing and seeing the car come hurtling towards me was crazy but I just had to clear my mind and concentrate on what I needed to do to make it over. It has been a dream come true to achieve this feat.”

So, what will the next challenge from Red Bull be?

words: Mike Booth
pictures & video: Red Bull