There are, with all due respect to CarWow, some races on that channel that sound silly and turn out to be boring and/or completely predictable. Although the title “F1 Car v Radio Controlled Car” might sound like that at first, it actually turns out to be a pretty entertaining race.
The F1 car in question is one of Red Bull’s world-championship winners, the RB7, with decorated driver David Coulthard at the wheel. It’s powered by a 2.4-liter naturally aspirated V8 that makes 750 hp (761 PS/559 kW) and weighs just 650 kg (1,433 lbs).
The specs on the radio-controlled car are a little more difficult to run through, but according to the driver, the £1,400 ($1,899 USD) adult toy has a soft-start program that helps prevent it from just spinning its little wheels. It also has assisted steering to help keep it pointed in a straight line when it takes off.
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And boy does it take off! In the first race, it absolutely obliterates the F1 car and the Acura NSX, which is the third car in this race, albeit one that acts mainly as a chase vehicle to keep the operator in radio range.
The race is so exciting to the operator that he pants as if he was actually in the RC car and says that the prospect of the race had been keeping him up at night. To be fair to the F1 car, Coulthard says he had a bad start and couldn’t really get the power down on the surface, which is undoubtedly unusual for a Formula 1 team.
In subsequent races, the two cars are a little closer and the spectacle makes for a surprisingly entertaining race that I won’t spoil here. Suffice it to say, though, that the RC car’s best quarter-mile time is a, frankly, stunning 8.6 seconds.