Red Bull and RB driver took part in F1's first soapbox race

Ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez and RB drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo competed in F1’s first Soapbox Race.

The competition was chaired by Montreal-based Red Bull Cliff Diving athlete Molly Carlson, alongside professional Canadian snowboarder, Craig McMorris. The course, set at the iconic Parc Olympique in Montreal, had a series of challenges for the four drivers of the two Red Bull-owned outfits.

Cheered on by fans from both teams, the drivers had to make it past the great Canadian crossing, go through a snowstorm, survive a chicane and a series of rollers. The teams battled it out for the best qualifying times before embarking on by a one v one race to the finish.

At the end of the race, it seemed height and weight advantage were key deciding factors for soapbox pure performance. Max had flown downhill the quickest, with Daniel in second, and Checo following closely behind.

Commenting on his adventure, three-time world champion Verstappen added: “When everyone’s in the same soapbox, there’s not that much difference, the heaviest one usually has a little bit of an advantage and I think I was the heaviest one of the four so you know, when you go downhill, that is a bit of an advantage.”

Having freshly secured a new contract with Red Bull, Perez added: “It was good fun, a bit hectic. Unfortunately, I couldn’t jump enough, I really tried my best, but I just couldn’t leave the ground as much as I wanted. I always knew it was going to be between Max and Daniel, because of the weight and going downhill. I could have always told you the one who was going to lose was Yuki because he’s quite a lot lighter than even myself!”

Ricciardo commented: “I’ve never done a soapbox race before. Zero horsepower was scarier than 700 horsepower! We had the weight discussion at the beginning and said that Max would have the advantage over me, and then Checo and then Yuki – we were right!”

Tsunoda said: “The main target was to drive fast and not brake at the chicane, in the end I achieved it so I was happy, that was my strategy, but it didn’t work out!”