Ralph Hogenbirk, aka Shaggy, is taking the tech world by storm owing to his Drone-building skills. What started as a mere hobby alongside a full-time job soon became something huge. He now leads the Dutch Drone Gods team and builds some of the world’s best first-person view (FPV) drones. Red Bull Racing took note of the same and challenged him to build a drone capable of following Max Verstappen in an F1 car around the Silverstone track for one lap.
The foremost task faced by the drone builders was to match the acceleration and deceleration of an F1 car. Next up was endurance. The drone had to have enough battery to last an entire lap, managing equal power for 3.6 miles. However, none of these questions took priority when Shaggy opened discussions with his two colleagues. “What should we do?” and “What’s been done before?” were the first two questions that arose in the initial meeting.
There had been drones that reached speeds of 229 mph, but they were very light and did not have any recording gear. They were also capable of running only once, over a very short distance. Hence, the Dutch Drone Gods also had to work out a way of bypassing all these barriers.
Details of the impressive viral drone
Eventually, they came up with a design that was able to check all boxes. The top speed of the drone is 217 mph, with the capacity to go from 62 mph to 186 in just two seconds. The use of carbon, glass fiber, and a 3D polymer body allowed the drone to weigh less than 1 kg and withstand a maximum of 6G force. It also features a 4k60fps/5k30fps camera with 10bit colors.
Max Verstappen was shocked to see the drone keep up with his car throughout the lap. The quality of the video added to his elation. Speaking about the same, Verstappen felt the drone could bring a revolution in the way F1 is broadcasted worldwide. It could bring a whole new perspective to watching racing and add to the excitement of the sport, according to him.
Fans react as drone follows Max Verstappen around the Silverstone track
Verstappen wasn’t the only one impressed with the performance of the drone as several fans took to X to share their reviews over the footage. Some called it “awesome” or “cool”, while other’s wanted more such footage.
One fan pointed out how the footage brings out the feeling of an F1 car’s raw power.
Meanwhile, a couple others pointed out the prowess of Red Bull’s marketing team and their genius innovations in motorsports.
The use of high-speed drones could add a whole new element of excitement to F1. High-speed chase cams would add to the intrigue of the sport immensely. However, the drones might also end up distracting drivers particularly during the more stressful stages of a race.
