Red Bull Racing power through Palermo on the road to Monza

After two intense home races at Spa and Zandvoort behind him and with the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, you’d forgive Max Verstappen if he went in search of a little rest and relaxation ahead of the beautiful chaos of Monza.

However, with Max, there’s no such thing as R&R without power, so it should come as no surprise that when we suggested we might take a pre-Monza mini-break with a little filming, he asked us to take the double F1 title winning RB7 for a high octane holiday in the Sicilian capital, Palermo.

Titled ‘Ciao Palermo, Monza is calling’, the latest Red Bull road trip pays homage to one of Italy’s most evocative and vibrant cities. Kicking off at Palermo’s oldest and most famous street market, Ballarò, the RB7 then powers through the city’s narrow laneways before hitting the wider grand boulevards, including the Via Vittorio Emanuele, which cuts through the historic centre.

And after arriving at the beautiful Quattro Canti, where the urge to nail a sequence of donuts in a sea of petals was impossible to resist, the F1 car powers towards the Porta Felice and the Foro Italico promenade, passing by YouTube star Jakidale, before at last arriving at beautiful Mondello beach, where after encountering Wakeboard World Champion and Red Bull athlete Massimiliano Piffaretti, the RB7 is loaded onto a boat to finish its journey.

Looking ahead to the Italian Grand Prix, Max said: “I’m looking forward to the Italian Grand Prix. I have a lot of history with go karting in Italy from back in the day and I always enjoy the food there. Traditionally it hasn’t been the best track for our chassis and power unit package. It’s fast and the braking zones are really important and quite tough, but I enjoy driving the track and hopefully it will suit us better this year. The fans are so passionate about racing and the Tifosi come out in forso I’m looking forward to seeing all of them there in the grandstands.”