F1: 85,000 watch Sergio Perez light up the streets of Madrid
Sergio “Checo” Perez lit up the streets of the Spanish capital of Madrid for a Red Bull F1 Showrun on Saturday night before 85,000 cheering fans.
It is expected that Madrid will soon sign a deal to host a Formula 1 race and Perez was there to get the fans excited.
At the wheel of both the RB7 and RB8, Checo took the city by storm, as the iconic sound of the V8 engine reverberated around several of Madrid’s historic landmarks. In his third showrun for Oracle Red Bull Racing, the Mexican pulled out the donuts in front of the famous Cibeles Fountain, as over 85,000 fans watched on in a celebration of Red Bull motorsport.
Oracle Red Bull Racing continue to bring Formula One to new audiences and this was no exception, as the Team ran two of Sebastian Vettel’s Championship winning cars in a new city for F1. And in true Red Bull style, the showrun began with a spectacular side act featuring Red Bull athlete, paraglider Horacio Llorens, who descended with his parachute to land in the center of Cibeles square and hand over Checo’s steering wheel to him!
Madrid is the fifth city in which the Team and Checo have hooked up to run the streets in a Red Bull Showrun. In 2021 he burnt rubber in the streets of Mexico City and, fresh from winning the Constructors’ title last season with the Team, Checo stopped traffic in his hometown of Guadalajara. He’s also taken to the tarmac of Oracle Red Bull Racing’s home city, Milton Keynes and Dallas, Texas.
Checo said: “It was amazing to see the crowd here today and how passionate the people of Madrid are about Oracle Red Bull Racing and Formula One. People are super happy to see us, we are the only team who can make events like this possible, only Red Bull can shut down the busiest streets of Spain’s capital city on a Saturday night! Not many people know but Madrid is a second home to me, the vibe here is very unique and special, although I am not at home, I really feel like I am here. This was such a fun evening, and now I am looking forward to being back behind the wheel of the RB19 to get my season back on track, I want to get back to winning and score as many points as possible before the summer break, we have some important races coming up.”
The showrun was preceded by a series of activations in Madrid, aimed at bringing Oracle Red Bull Racing and F1 closer to Spanish fans. Among these was a tour of the RB7 through the capital’s roads, stopping in multiple locations and allowing fans the unique opportunity to see the World Championship winning car up close.
Alongside Oracle Red Bull Racing and Checo, fans had the opportunity to enjoy an exhibition from Elias Hountondji, a member of the Red Bull Driftbrothers, and Cristina Gutiérrez, the 2021 World Rally Cross Raids champion and the first woman to achieve a victory in the Dakar Rally since Jutta Kleinschmidt.