Trackside Happenings

Red Bull on rails

The RB8 was filmed travelling at speed along the tracks in Madrid. (Red Bull Racing)

Red Bull has celebrated the return of the Spanish Grand Prix to Madrid in 45 years, putting its double-title-winning RB8 on the tracks of Madrid’s Metro.

The stunt, in partnership with MadRing – the race circuit and organiser – and in collaboration with Metro de Madrid, comes as thousands of Formula One fans are expected to travel underground for this weekend’s Spanish GP.

Red Bull is well known for its grand stunts, and this latest feat put its Heritage Team and Spanish engineering and creative collective Andtonic to the test.

For the RB8 to travel along Madrid’s Metro rails, metal wheels weighing 29.8kg (double the weight of an F1 wheel) were designed and manufactured ahead of the stunt.

Come Sunday, thousands of fans will be travelling along these tracks to attend the Spanish GP. (Red Bull Racing)

The car took to the tracks in a closed section of the Metro, passing the Estadio Metropolitano station and the Sacedal and Chamartín depots.

Former F1 driver Patrick Friesacher was in the cockpit for the stunt, saying it was a surreal experience to drive an F1 car on railway tracks.

“It’s very cool to add Metro driver to the resume,” he said.

Red Bull says taking one of their cars underground has been off limits until this collaboration. (Red Bull Racing)

The Spanish GP will be held at the new MadRing circuit this Sunday, which will be accessible to fans via a new Metro station.


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