30,000 FACES IN THE FAST LANE

Never before had Formula 1 fans been so close to a race: At the Silverstone Grand Prix, 30,000 of them alike did laps with the Red Bull Racing team. For the one-time experience they loosened their purse strings in donations to a tune of one million dollars.

F1’s newest innovation – the fan car with a difference – was rolling out of the Red Bull Racing garage at Silverstone this weekend adorned with the faces of thousands of race fans. Over 30,000 pictures had been uploaded onto the livery of David Coulthard’s and Mark Webber’s cars, raising over a million dollars for the charity, Wings for Life.

One million dollars against spinal injuries

Since the Red Bull Faces for Charity project launched at the Monaco Grand Prix in May, fans from across the globe had been visiting the Red Bull F1 website to upload their pictures onto the cars and donate to Wings for Life, a charity which aims to find a cure for spinal injuries. The million dollars raised will have a significant impact on the work of the charity.

"… the importance of spinal injury research."

Among the faces gracing the one-off bodywork were England cricketer Freddie Flintoff, footballer Nigel Reo-Coker and Virgin radio DJ Christian O’Connell. Their portraits sat alongside Mark Webber’s donkeys, David Coulthard’s parents and even a few ultrasound images of as yet unborn F1 fans! Richard Dashper, who was himself affected by spinal injury, was excited to have his face on David’s car. “I had a motorbike accident four years ago which partially severed my spinal cord. At the time I didn’t think I would walk again but after five months at Stoke Mandeville National Spinal Injury Unit, I’m pleased to say that I am on my feet again. I understand the importance of spinal injury research so I’m really happy to be supporting Wings for Life, and getting my face on David’s car was an added bonus.”
Karen Jones donated her spot to her dad: “He’s a huge motor sports fan so I surprised my dad on Father’s Day by showing him where his face would be on Mark Webber’s car. He was thrilled!”

Coulthard says thank you

Driver David Coulthard said: “I always look forward to Silverstone because the circuit has played such an important part in my career. My two British Grand Prix wins are the outstanding moments here. I’m always surprised and encouraged by the support I get from the fans, but this year, even before we got to Silverstone, I had to say a very big thank you to so many of them who had pledged money to be on the car with me for this weekend. It’s great that, together, we can do something for such a worthwhile cause as the Wings for Life charity.”

Webber: "The car looks great!"

Driver Mark Webber said: “I know that most of the support from the fans was for the Brit drivers this weekend at Silverstone, but this year I had got thousands of my own fans traveling with me every inch of the way. This “Faces For Charity” initiative is a really good idea and apart from the fact it had raised a lot of money for a worthwhile cause, I also think my and David’s cars look really great in their special livery.”