This new drone is as fast as Max Verstappen (and it's amazing!)

© RedBull

As the 2024 F1 world championship begins this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix, RedBull unveils… the fastest camera drone in the world. “The Dutch Drone Gods followed Max Verstappen's all-new F1 Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 for a full lap of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit&amp ;#8221; says RedBull. And the result is obviously stunning.

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A drone capable of reaching 300 km/h… in 4 seconds!

Indeed, after careful preparation, the world's first uninterrupted FPV (First Person View) shot was captured by a custom, manually piloted drone. The latter having been specially designed to follow the car at exceptional speeds, exceeding 300 km/h.

RedBull says development was accelerated by access to the know-how and processes of Red Bull Advanced Technologies, a high-performance engineering division of the Oracle Formula 1 team Red Bull Racing. The objective was to follow a complete lap, on the 5.8 km Silverstone circuit, of Max Verstappen at the wheel of the RB20.

Many challenges to overcome

The challenge obviously included various questions, particularly regarding the drone's ability to negotiate turns as quickly as an F1 car. Usually, drones used to follow car races are capable of reaching 150/180 km/h. Likewise, the battery needed to be able to complete a full lap, with enough energy to provide optimal performance from the start line to the finish line.

As for the Dutch Drone Gods, many combinations had to be tested before finally arriving at a new prototype capable of ticking all the boxes. The first prototype developed by the engineers imploded just one second after takeoff… In addition to its power and autonomy, it was also necessary to take care of the maneuverability of the drone.

The result on the screen is particularly impressive, since we can follow a complete lap of Silverstone, without the slightest cut, with a drone which will follow the RB20 piloted by the Dutch pilot. The opportunity for the viewer to enjoy a point of view that is unique, to say the least, and particularly immersive.

Note that the whole thing was done on a wet track (which makes the whole thing even more spectacular), and that the drone visibly had some difficulty braking to take the last hairpin before the finish line. “This could change the way people watch F1” explains Max Verstappen.

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