Formula 1 is often called a ‘travelling circus’, but a carnivalesque stunt that went wrong ahead of the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix definitely was a bit ridiculous… Thankfully, nobody got hurt.
Over the weekend, the 2023 Austrian Grand Prix took place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, and it was a pretty standard F1 affair, apart from being the second Grand Prix weekend of the 2023 season to use the controversial sprint format – which admittedly generated some great racing.
Like any Grand Prix weekend, there’s always plenty of fun stuff around the race. The driver’s parade saw the 20 pilots driven around in funky-looking Steyr-Puch Haflingers (a nice Austrian touch), Esteban Ocon choppered in with some journalists, Lewis Hamilton wore a crazy outfit and his new IWC watch… You get the picture.
One moment that almost ended really badly, however, was a jetpack demonstration. One stuntman flying had the fright of his life when his jetpack malfunctioned, sending him crashing to the tarmac below.
WATCH the stuntman’s nasty crash (and Oscar Piastri’s hilarious reaction) below.
The crash looked pretty dramatic, with the poor stuntman barrelling down the Red Bull Ring. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who was watching from his garage, shared a concerned look with the cameras – a face that’s already become something of a meme format.
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As dramatic as the crash looked, the stuntman was okay, getting up and waving to the crowd before walking off with seemingly only his ego somewhat bruised.
The two stuntmen were from a company called JetPack Aviation, who’ve previously performed with their jetpacks at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. The jet pack (or rather jet suit) they use appears to be a Daedalus Flight Pack, which is different from other jet packs in that it uses additional jets attached to the hands which enable it to be directed by moving the arms.