Five F1 Teams To Star At FoS

Formula One’s five biggest teams will star at the Festival of Speed in a spectacular display as part of a new, larger-than-ever, F1 paddock.

World Champions Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, as well as Williams Martini Racing, Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren-Honda and Infinity Red Bull Racing will all bring a superstar lineup of drivers and their cars to Goodwood in June.

Mercedes dynamic pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fought right to the last few laps of the 2014 World Championship in a truly ‘Flat out and Fearless’ battle of racing on the edge that embodies this year’s Festival of Speed theme.

On route to claiming Hamilton’s second title he and Rosberg clinched 16 of the 19 rounds of the 2014 championship; propelling Mercedes to their first F1 constructors crown.

Easily the most famous name on the grid is the Scuderia from Maranello, this year Ferrari carries five drivers’ World Championships in Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen and have stormed back into contention with a winning start to 2015. Raikonen, who clinched his only title in 2007, made his FoS debut last year alongside another Ferrari legend – John Surtees.

Red Bull can stake its claim as the most successful constructor in the modern era, after winning four straight drivers titles between 2010 and 2013 with Vettel. Last year it was the likeable young Australian Daniel Ricciardo who was the only driver able to take the fight to Mercedes, and for 2015 he is partnered by another product of Red Bull’s junior programme, the Russian Daniil Kvyat.

The legendary Williams team, winners of 114 grands prix and 16 constructors’ crowns, has undergone a resurgance over the last 12-months under new technical boss Pat Symonds. In 2014 it raced to third in the championship, the best finish for over a decade.

McLaren will pay tribute to its re-established relationship with Honda at FoS after 22 seasons apart. The iconic partnership dominated the sport between 1988 and 1991 and saw Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost claim four straight drivers titles and the team, with the help of Gerhard Berger, acheive the same number of constructors crowns.

A McLaren still holds the outright record for the Goodwood Hillclimb, then McLaren tester Nick Heidfeld having set the as-yet unbeated 41.6-second time in 1999.

Ticket information is available from www.goodwood.com or via the Goodwood Ticket Office on 01243 755055.