For a Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard almost devoted to endurance racing and Le Mans, the variety of F1 titans on show seems even more spectacular than usual. That's in part thanks to our celebrations of McLaren and Lotus but it goes beyond that. For one, we’ve got Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes-AMG F1 W12, otherwise known as the car with which Hamilton famously fielded in tight opposition to Max Verstappen in the 2021 Formula 1 season, which of course featured that climax in Abu Dhabi.
Iconic Formula 1 cars at the 2023 Festival of Speed
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That Verstappen emerged triumphant of course is no slight on the Mercedes or its driver. The W12 – based as it is on the previous year’s dominant W11 – remains one of the most incredible Formula 1 cars of the hybrid era. Scything through the rain up our Hill on Friday, it looked as if it could have come from the pen of H.R. Geiger. That is joined by the W02, an early example from Mercedes’ latter-day grand prix endeavors, driven in period by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and piloted here by his son, Mick Schumacher, for a very special moment on the Hill.
Alongside the Mercs we also have the 2017 Ferrari SF70H, formerly driven by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. Though the car in period did not feature the ‘halo’, it’s since been adapted to carry the important safety feature. The car is also wearing a black and red livery resembling more the Ferrari SF23 that’s racing this year. Joining it also was the 2009 Ferrari F60, featuring that incredible screaming 2.4-litre V8, capable of revving up to 20,000rpm.
We’re celebrating 60 years of McLaren Racing at the Festival of Speed this year, so having a selection of the team’s grand prix greats on the Hill is a given. These include the M23 of Emerson Fittipaldi, the MP4/8 of Ayrton Senna (driven here by Sebastien Vettel using renewable fuel), the V12-engined MP4/6 and Mika Hakkinen’s MP4/14.
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Alongside the McLaren celebrations, we’re also celebrating 75 years of Lotus at the Festival of Speed, with an incredible batch of the marque’s stunning historic F1 machinery. Cars on the Hill include the Lotus 79, a selection of Lotus 72s, Lotus 49 and the Lotus 18 from one of Sir Stirling Moss’s all-time great drives, Monaco 1961.
Joining the Mercedes, the Ferraris, the McLarens and the Lotuses were of course a selection of other greats, including Nigel Mansell’s Championship-winning Williams. It was gloriously donutted on the Hill by its owner. You might have heard of him. His name is Sebastien.
The list goes on and on, but we’ll be here all day if we read them all.
The 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed is underway! You can watch every moment of the action by watching our livestream.
Photography by Peter Summers, Jochen Van Cauwenberge and Toby Whales
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