Red Bull Racing Got Bored, So They Performed A Zero Gravity Pit Stop

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing managed to set a Formula 1 pit stop world record during last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen’s crew stopping the clock at just 1.82 seconds before sending the eventual race winner on his way.

So, what do you do after you’ve conquered pit stops on land? Well, how about attempting to change a set of tires on a 2005 RB1 car at an altitude of nearly 33,000 feet, using an Ilyushin Il-76 MDK cosmonaut training plane?

The goal was to attempt the pit stop while the aircraft fell in a ballistic arc to produce some 22 seconds of near weightlessness, before climbing again.

Also read: Red Bull Expects Honda’s Engines To Match Ferrari And Mercedes In 2020

In order to pull this off, the 16 pit crew members needed to take a crash course in cosmonaut training, which involved multiple Zero-G flights alongside the F1 car and a 10-person film crew. In terms of precautions, the car and all of the equipment had to be carefully secured before and after each weightless period.

Red Bull are no strangers to performing daring stunts with their Formula 1 cars; they’ve undertaken projects ranging from the Himalayas to the shores of the Dead Sea, driving across snow, ice and desert conditions. Of course, the strain of Zero-G is completely different.

“My stomach was fine – but it felt like my head was going to explode. It took two or three runs to understand what was happening. At first, I couldn’t think straight. My brain couldn’t compute what was happening. I’ve been involved in some special events from slaloming the car in Kitzbühel, to the salt lakes of Argentina, we’ve been to some strange places and done some strange things – but ultimately this is the oddest – but also the most special because there’s simply nothing comparable,” said Support Team coordinator Mark Willis.