Red Bull takes the high road

Proving Red Bull’s pockets and crazy ideas know no bounds their F1 showcar team has scaled new heights by driving the world’s highest road. The Khardung La is in India and is 5359m above sea level. To give this some perspective, Australia’s highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko, has an elevation of just 2,228m.

Former A1 champion and F1 test driver Neel Jani, a Swiss with Indian heritage, was the man at the wheel and is chuffed that he can lay claim to being the first to drive an F1 car at the highest altitude possible.

After the break there’s a couple of videos and more pics of what is a pretty impressive effort from Red Bull.

[Thanks to Ryan for the video tip]

Red Bull Racing’s on top of the world (literally)

Around the time Sebastian was establishing his own world record at Suzuka, the Red Bull Running Showcar team was scaling new heights in India.

Neel Jani drove the F1 Showcar on the world’s highest driveable road, the Khardung-La pass in the Leh region of India at a height of 18,380 feet past the famous Thiksey Monastery, stopped by the Shanti Stupa and encountered the famous rolling roads of South Pullu.

This makes Red Bull Racing the first Formula One team to have ever managed to transport, fire-up and drive an F1 car on what is arguably the most challenging terrain on the planet.

Jani, a Swiss driver of Indian origin said: “Of all the places I’ve driven around the world, Khardung La has got to be the most humbling. The Himalayas are as imposing as anything in the world and to become a part of history here will be a cherished memory.”