A decade into his drone hobby, Ralph Hogenbirk aka Shaggy has significantly advanced his career from building drones to filming major events like the Red Bull Valparaíso Cerro Abajo in 2020. Recently, he and the Dutch Drone Gods team achieved a new milestone by constructing a custom FPV drone capable of matching the speed of Red Bull’s latest F1 car, the RB20, for an entire lap around the UK’s Silverstone Circuit.
Overcoming substantial challenges, the team ensured the drone could compete with the F1 car’s acceleration and turns, endure a full 5.8 km (3.6 miles) lap on a single battery without overheating, and adapt to flying a novel drone at high speeds alongside a multiple world champion F1 driver.
For the first time ever, the Dutch Drone Gods captured a full lap of Silverstone’s Grand Prix Circuit alongside Max Verstappen’s new Red Bull Racing RB20 F1 car through an uninterrupted FPV one shot with a custom-built drone.
Engineered to exceed the car’s acceleration, the drone can hit 300 km/h (186 mph) in 4 seconds and reach speeds over 350 km/h (217 mph), a feat achieved with over a year’s work and the expertise of Red Bull Advanced Technologies, and making it the world’s fastest camera drone.
This groundbreaking project, which involved trials behind the RB8 and RB19 cars driven by Liam Lawson and David Coulthard, showcases a novel perspective of Formula 1 racing at speeds of over 300 km/h. It will forever change how we view Formula 1 racing. Rest in peace camera booms and helicopters.
Images: YouTube (Red Bull)/Red Bull.
