The 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed (FoS) was the 30th edition of the iconic motoring event and it was jam-packed with historic cars and famous racing drivers. However, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel dropped out of the event owing to a family holiday.
The former Red Bull driver was supposed to reunite with his old pals—David Coulthard, Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen, and Adrian Newey—for the team’s 20th-anniversary-celebrations by driving his 2012-title winning car, the RB8, up the Goodwood hill.
Vettel opting out meant that team boss Christian Horner had to draft himself into the car. “I haven’t driven a Formula One car since 1993 and I’m standing in for Sebastian Vettel. So, what could possibly go wrong,” Horner said in a video published by Red Bull, which documented the festival, earlier this week.
Max Verstappen set to drive his iconic RB16b at the Goodwood Festival this July.
Klien: RB1
Webber: RB6
Ricciardo: RB7
Horner: RB8
Coulthard: RB9
Checo: RB19The much anticipated hypercar ‘RB17’ will also be unveiled for the first time ever pic.twitter.com/khJyl5uF2k
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) June 25, 2024
Christian Horner had never driven any of Red Bull’s cars before, despite joining as Team Principal in 2005, the team’s debut year in Formula 1. However, to prepare him for his Festival of Speed run, the team arranged a pre-Goodwood shakedown at Silverstone, giving him the chance to drive the RB7.
Silverstone shakedown ensured Horner’s run went smoothly
Horner’s drive in the RB8 up the iconic Goodwood Hill went smoothly. Despite being nervous about stalling the car, the 51-year-old managed the clutch expertly, avoiding any mishaps in front of thousands of fans and his own team’s employees.
Horner’s wife, Geri Halliwell, was also present to support him. Noticing the nervous expression on her husband’s face, she offered two words of advice before he set off: “Don’t crash!”
After the successful run, Horner was quoted as saying, “Having never driven a Red Bull car before, it’s a hugely proud moment to drive a car that had been designed and built by all the men and women in Milton Keynes, and we won our Championship with it in 2012.”
All in all, it was an eventful afternoon for the Briton, who got a taste of what his former driver Vettel felt like behind the wheel of the iconic car.
