F1'S MAX & CHECO RIDE WILD MUSTANGS IN THE DESERT ON THEIR DAY OFF .
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Red Bull has to be the absolute coolest company on the planet when it comes to creating interesting content. The energy drink giant is the absolute best thing to happen to the world of action and extreme sports, their involvement and sponsorships have helped create celebrities that are instantly recognisable. The biggest thing they do is Formula One, their team is one of the most popular sports teams on the planet out of any sport. While there are quite a few teams in F1, the Oracle Red Bull Racing team does a lot more in getting recognition for the sport. By putting together interesting collabs they manage to merge the world of F1 with other sports which results in new eyes being introduced to it. This latest colab sees the two top Red Bull athletes spend their day off with the crew from Performance Ford, in a desert of all places. Drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were shipped off to the desert to play with one of the most powerful series production Fords to date, the all-electric Mustang Mach-E. The drivers were handed the keys to the SUV-like EVs that were fully charged and ready for action. There wasn’t really any point to all of it, no course set out, no challenge and not a stopwatch in sight, just the opportunity to play with some big toys in the sand until the batteries went flat. While watching we were trying to figure out the link between the Oracle Red Bull Racing F1 team and Ford because the F1 cars don’t use Ford powerplants but we remembered that’s set to change. It seems that Red Bull Ford will provide power units for Oracle Red Bull Racing and sister team Scuderia AlphaTauri teams from 2026 up to at least 2030. While that’s cool for the teams and everyone involved, we think it’s awesome purely because of the content that we’ll be seeing emerge from the colab.
The cars used for this really cool day off were the latest version of the all-electric Mustang - the Mach-E Rally. The rally version is lifted by 20 mm and has a unique suspension system along with some specially-tuned springs coupled to MagneRide shocks. These help the heavy SUV to breeze over rougher terrain. To make sure it can stop, the Mach-E brakes were upgraded a bit and so the EV now sees fitment of sizeable 385mm front brake discs with big red-painted Brembo-branded calipers. These are found behind durable 19-inch rally-style wheels in gloss white inspired Ford rally vehicles of the past. In case things get sticky, there’s a recovery point built into the front end with an included tow hook. The underside now features protective shielding for the front and rear motors and there’s a protective film on the door cladding and fender arches to help reduce paint chips. There are also optional dealer-installed styled mud flaps to reduce debris spray. The Mach-E Rally gets a tuned version of the regular Mustang Mach-E GT powertrain that sees two motors powering all four wheels with a very healthy 360 kW of power and a powerful 880 Nm of torque, and thanks to a 91 kWh battery it has a range of just over 400 km. It is estimated to charge from 10% - 80% in just 36 and a half minutes on a DC Fast Charger. Says Donna Dickson, chief engineer, Mustang for the Mach-E is as impressed with the car as we are: "Just a year ago, this was merely an idea, and what you see today is a testament to the passion and intense creativity of our Model-E team. We have always explored new areas of performance, and the combination of a rally-tuned suspension, dual motor electric powertrain, and wicked styling makes the Mustang Mach-E Rally a different kind of performance vehicle that will excite customers chasing their next adventure.”
Take a look at the YouTube video that shows off the fun life of a Formula One driver in between the gruelling race schedule. This time round the Oracle Red Bull Racing duo gets to play with wild electric Mustangs in the desert - we're not sure why there's a colab between Ford Performance and the F1 drivers, but it makes for cool content: Max & Checo’s Day Off in the Desert | Ford Performance
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News Desert EV Mustang Mach-E Mustang Max Verstappen Sergio Perez F1 Ford Ford Performance