F1’s broadcast leader, Dean Locke, has revealed that the sport is collaborating with Dutch Drone Gods, the creators of the world’s swiftest drone camera, which notably raced Max Verstappen at Silverstone.
Red Bull, in collaboration with Dutch Drone Gods, spent more than a year engineering the drone capable of outpacing an F1 vehicle, achieving acceleration to 300 km/h in a mere 4 seconds and surpassing speeds of 350 km/h.
This rapid development was propelled by Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the elite engineering division of the Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team, and underwent testing with the RB8 and RB19 cars, piloted by Liam Lawson and David Coulthard.
The drive to enhance how Formula 1 is showcased to viewers on TV is relentless, introducing drones into the mix, despite the challenges and limitations they face.
Incorporating drone cameras into sports broadcasting is becoming more common, yet integrating them into the fast-paced and complex setting of Formula 1 presents significant challenges.
Locke announced plans for “some drone activities this year,” speaking to the media he stated: “We are always playing around with drones. They have been amazing for some sports. For us, it is still very challenging because the speed of the cars is ridiculously fast.
“And we have these events where we’re getting over 400,000 people turning up over a weekend, so flying over crowds is quite difficult now.
“We had a meeting with the FIA (on Wednesday) to discuss various stuff, and we cracked a few areas in Vegas. We did some quite nice stuff there.
“So we are doing some work, not only on the speed of the drones but how light can we go. Can we go incredibly small, so if it does drop or does something, it does very little damage?
“We have been approached by some companies with these huge things, and it’s just scary.”
