Latest Austrian GP in Formula 1 he left us quite surprising images. Not because of the events themselves, that too, but because of the moments that one of the cameras left us that plummeted over the Red Bull Ring, attached to the cars. The camera belonged to a fpv drone (first-person view) flying at the height of the cars, and ended up being one of the protagonists of the broadcast.
Chasing cars. Last Sunday, during the Austrian Grand Prix, F1 used images from an FPV drone as the main camera for his coverage, something he had never done in this way. The stellar moment came on lap 11, when the drone flew at low altitude over the duel between Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull), capturing the ups and downs of the Spielberg track at the same pace as the cars.
The images were broadcast live and then repeated in the replay, placing the camera very low over the cars as they overcame the hills of the circuit, according to collect the specialized media DroneXL.
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Leadership. Until now, these types of plans were used as an occasional detail within the production. This time, the organization itself decided to give it prominence. In fact, the official F1 account public a quick and low step over the circuit, and the Red Bull team itself shared the overtaking between Hamilton and Verstappen, inviting fans to stay for the drone images.
Where does this technology come from? F1 has been trying to incorporate this type of shots for years. Just like share In the middle, the first attempt dates back to the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, although the result was quite average, since the drone used a basic camera and the image quality was not up to par with the rest of the broadcast.
A year later, in Las Vegas, drone pilot Johnny FPV managed to chase a Red Bull car through the desert all the way to the Strip with a much more decent result. But the real technical leap came with the independent project of the Dutch Drone Gods, in collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies. According to point DroneXL built a custom chase drone and completed a full lap behind Verstappen’s RB20 at Silverstone, reaching 310 km/h on a straight line.
The 350 km/h drone. This project is called Red Bull Drone 1 (RBD1) and is, to date, the reference in speed within this terrain. It weighs less than a kilogram, is made of carbon fiber, fiberglass and 3D printed polymers, and is capable of going from 0 to 100 km/h in less than two seconds and from 100 to 300 km/h in another two, with a maximum speed of 350 km/h and forces of up to 6G at full load.
According to explained its pilot, Ralph Hogenbirk, known as Shaggy FPV, told Motorsport, the order came directly from Red Bull, which wanted a drone capable of following a Formula 1 car during a complete lap, maintaining its pace and recording it with an eye-catching result. The pilot himself acknowledges that this is already the third version of the device, having completed months of testing. As a curiosity, the RBD1 does not have brakes, so to reduce speed when cornering it simply stops accelerating and brakes in the air, forcing the driver to anticipate where the cars will brake.
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It is not confirmed that it was the same drone. At the moment, it is not confirmed that it was exactly the same device that we saw in the broadcast. According to point DroneXL, the RBD1, remains a private project that F1 is trying to incorporate into its races, but negotiations are being complicated because at the moment this model cannot fly over the public or cross the track. The most likely thing, according to the media, is that the images from Austria came from F1’s own drone system that F1 already uses in other events on the calendar.
The organization operates its own internal drone system for around ten races per season, in circuits such as Bahrain, Miami or Budapest, choosing this equipment because it is already approved and is easier to approve compared to the licensing, insurance and safety regulations that change from one country to another, according to explained to SVG Europe the head of F1 TV production, Dean Locke.
It’s not easy to take one of these drones to a race. Flying an FPV next to an F1 car is not the same as doing it in a rally or on an empty circuit. Dean Locke has explained on several occasions why the Red Bull drone, despite its performance, still does not have free rein to race alongside the cars in an official session. And it cannot fly over the fans, it cannot cross the track and, lacking a moving head, it must limit itself to following the car from behind or from the side. Added to this is that the air trail generated by F1 cars at these speeds can divert the trajectory of such a light device, something that Hogenbirk himself had to overcome during filming in Silverstone.
And now what. F1 itself has acknowledged that it continues to explore this avenue, although progressively. Locke has pointed that there are sections of some circuits, such as the back straights of China or Austin, where there could be room to use technology similar to that of the RBD1 without putting the public at risk. For our part, as fans, I hope so, because the images left by these devices are spectacular.
Cover image | F1 and Red Bull
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