Goodwood Festival of Speed provided the setting for Red Bull Racing to mark 20 years in motorsport with a series of events and celebrations across the four day festival, featuring cars and drivers from its past, present and future. It was undoubtedly the biggest celebration of a single F1 team ever seen at Goodwood.

The festival’s first day on Thursday saw Red Bull set up each of its 20 Formula 1 cars on display in the Cathedral Paddock from the RB1 first seen at the 2005 Australian Grand Prix to the present day RB20 driven by Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

There was much anticipation and excitement on Friday as the RB17, Red Bull’s first ever hypercar, was revealed to the world for the very first time. The work and passion project of Adrian Newey, alongside Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the reveal of the RB17 was three years in the making with initial sketches being done in early 2021. Weighing under 900kg, it is powered by a mid-mounted 4.5 litre naturally aspirated V10 engine that produces 1,200 hp and a top speed of 217mph. The car is yet to be finished but 50 examples will be available to buy sometime next year for a whopping £5.75 million.

Sunday’s final day saw Red Bull’s F1 drivers from past and present gather to take on the famous Goodwood Hill, forming the largest procession of F1 cars in 31 years of the festival.

Someone who was with the team from the very beginning of its journey in motorsport, Christian Klien, got behind the wheel of his RB1 and was joined by former Red Bull drivers Mark Webber in the RB6 and Daniel Ricciardo in the RB7, with Ricciardo delighting the crowd by performing some donuts.

Current World Champion Max Verstappen was in his 2021 championship winning RB16B, while Sergio Perez drove his 2022 Monaco Grand Prix winning RB18.

F1 Academy star Hamda Al Qubaisi also made her Goodwood debut as she piloted her Red Bull-liveried F1 Academy car up the Hill. The 21 year old Emirati driver is in her second season at MP Motorsport with Red Bull as the supporting team after previous stints in Formula 4.

Remarking on the procession, Al Qubaisi said: “There’s less grip here compared to our normal tracks so I was drifting around a bit in the F1 Academy car which was a really fun experience. A weekend I will remember forever!”

Red Bull Racing CEO and Team Principal, Christian Horner also got in on the action, climbing into the cockpit of the seven times Grand Prix winning RB8. Adrian Newey put on his race suit with David Coulthard in the passenger seat, to finish the procession in the Aston Martin Valkyrie, a car he had designed and built in collaboration with Aston Martin. Many people remarked upon the clear similarities the new RB17 shares with the Valkyrie when it was unveiled on Friday.

Red Bull’s attention now turns to the next race of the Formula 1 season in Hungary this weekend, as Max Verstappen looks to return to winning ways following a second place finish at Silverstone.

words: Mike Booth
pictures: Red Bull & Goodwood
video: Goodwood