22/04/2019
NEWS STORY
With a year to go before F1 powers up for the first Vietnam Grand Prix, Red Bull revved up the anticipation with a second visit to the country.
The Austrian team, in partnership with Heineken and the Vietnam Grand Prix Corporation, unleashed a double dose of F1 power, with David Coulthard and simulator development driver Jake Dennis burning up the streets of next year's race venue, Hanoi.
F1's newest street circuit will feature a high-speed, 22-corner layout, part of which flows past the My Dinh national stadium, and it was on this stretch of road that Coulthard and Dennis were let loose in a pair of V8 powered RB7s.
Throughout a sweltering day in the Vietnamese capital the audience steadily grew until showtime at 7pm when more than 50,000 fans had packed the length of the specially constructed, 700 metre-long track.
"It's great to have the opportunity to drive the RB7 again and to see the energy of the crowd," said Coulthard, who added that the sound and fury of the cars in action had left fans primed for the celebrations to follow.
"It was pretty dusty out there but in fairness to the city they're building a grand prix track on this site as we speak but it just added to the visual aspect," he said of the layout for this second show run in Vietnam following Red Bull's first visit, to Ho Chi Minh City last May.
"It was very warm out there but it was really great to have the chance to do it. The energy that these show cars bring around the world is amazing. Red Bull is the top team when it comes to bringing F1 power to people around the globe, so it's only fitting that we're here to mark the one-year countdown to the first race in Hanoi with our partners Heineken."
Meanwhile, for Dennis it had truly been a night to remember. "It was a pretty cool experience and sharing an F1 show with DC has been an absolute privilege," he said. "The fans here have been incredible. The donuts at the end were great fun and to stand on top of the car with the fans going crazy was fantastic. I believe there were over 50,000 people here, which is amazing. I definitely won't forget it."
Having turned up the heat in Ho Chi Minh and brought the noise to Hanoi, F1's next visit to Vietnam will be next April for the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix.