Red Bull team principal Christian Horner introduced himself as Sebastian Vettel's stand-in on Friday after getting to drive one of his team's title-winning Formula One cars for the first time in 20 years.
The 50-year-old, whose unremarkable racing career ended in Formula 3000 in 1998 and who has led Red Bull since 2005, lapped Silverstone on Thursday in retired four times world champion Vettel's 2012 RB8 car.
"It was fun. The first time I've driven a Red Bull car and certainly the first time with a hand clutch and two pedals," he told reporters at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where he will also drive the team's 2011 RB7 at the weekend.
Horner said the last F1 car he had driven was a Lotus at Hethel in a 1993 shakedown of a car that now-Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll had bought when he was a sponsor of the Lotus team.
"Sebastian Vettel was due to drive one of the cars here but he's on holiday with his family and wasn't able to make Goodwood so the guys suggested why don't you drive it?," Horner said.
"I haven't driven a single-seater since 1998 and a Formula One car since 1993.
"So I thought there was the opportunity yesterday to drive a car with a hand clutch and a left foot brake. It was a great honour and a great privilege to drive one of these amazing cars, a championship winning car.
"So I will be Sebastian's stand-in for the weekend here at Goodwood."
Vettel won his titles with Red Bull from 2010-13. The team are enjoying another golden era with triple world champion Max Verstappen, who will also drive at Goodwood with Mexican teammate Sergio Pérez.
"It's mind-boggling how quick these cars are and just how much aero influence there is," Horner said.
"The biggest thing that struck me was when I lifted off, it's like somebody's thrown an anchor out.
"It's like heavy braking in a road car. And then you hit the brakes and you're struggling to keep your chin out of your chest. I enjoyed it so much I missed the pitlane and managed to squeeze in an extra lap."
Currently, F1 cars average between 210 and 220 miles per hour (mph) maximum, but higher speeds have been recorded in speed trap readings. Valtteri Bottas holds the top F1 speed of all time at 231 mph.
2022. After seeing off early Ferrari challenge, dominate to take first title double since 2013, with Max Verstappen securing a record 15 wins to retain drivers' crown.
Following the controversy at the previous race in Monaco where the floor of the Red Bull car was judged to be illegal, world motorsport's governing body the FIA have ruled that the front wheel hub did not comply with Formula 1 regulations despite the design having been on the car since the start of the season.
Based solely on top speeds, then IndyCar wins out – Scott Dixon took pole for the 2022 Indy 500 with a 234mph run. The 'usual' top speed for a Formula 1 car is around 205mph, although Valtteri Bottas hit 231mph while slipstreaming at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City in 2016.
What is faster a Bugatti or a F1 car? The only thing a Bugatti Veyron or Chiron is better at than an F1 car is top speed. Anything else the F1 car wins, faster lap times, faster quarter mile, faster acceleration. A Bugatti can go over 400 kph, an F1 car usually stops at 330 kph or less depending on the race track.
Max Emilian Verstappen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɑks vɛrˈstɑ.pə(n)]; born 30 September 1997) is a Belgian and Dutch racing driver, currently competing under the Dutch flag in Formula One for Red Bull Racing.
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