Red Bull F1 drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez swap wheels for water with Oracle SailGP team

Formula 1 drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez took to the water with the Oracle SailGP team ahead of the Italian Grand Prix.

The pair sailed in the French Riviera with US SailGP driver Jimmy Spithill against Australia’s Tom Slingsby.

Oracle is Red Bull’s title sponsor in F1 and they teamed up with SailGP earlier this month.

“I’ve had a pretty incredible experience,” said Verstappen. “I’ve never done anything like it. We do a lot of really cool things at Red Bull and this is definitely one of them.

“SailGP is extremely professional, and the race boats are much bigger than expected, it was impressive to see the aerodynamics and the foils. It was really interesting to listen to the whole team communicate on the boat, when I’m in the car I only communicate with one person.

“We also went to the Oracle Insights Center and the one thing that really interested me in SailGP is that all the data is available to everyone. And of course, in our sport, that’s not allowed and it’s not possible, but still you have so much information to make the right calls and strategy calls.”

Spithill added: “I think when they were told they were going to go on the water, they didn’t expect these boats. They certainly looked at them with a little bit of shock because the boats look more like an aircraft. I think they were blown away by the technology.

“Although they are on the road and we are on the water, the one thing that we do share is how data driven both sports are and how much the athletes rely on making decisions and using that data. It is just fundamental.”

The SailGP and Oracle Red Bull Racing teams will reunite at Oracle CloudWorld on October 17-20 in Las Vegas to showcase how Oracle Cloud Infrastructure has made SailGP the most exciting competition in the world.

Verstappen, who is set to win his second world championship, and Perez will return to F1 action this weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix after a three-week break.