Ride On-Board With Max Verstappen In The Aston Martin Valkyrie

Three Aston Martin Valkyries have taken to the legendary Silverstone circuit as part of validation and verification tests.

The shakedowns, partly for show but also designed to try to uncover any final gremlins in the high-revving hypercar’s setup, saw Red Bull Racing team drivers Max Verstappen and Alex Albon take turns in Valkyrie VP1 – the chassis that has already been seen at the 2019 British Grand Prix. You can ride with Max Verstappen in VP1 in the video above.

The two drivers used the experience to give further feedback to Goodwin, who took the first turns in chassis VP2 and VP3 himself. The other ‘celebrity’ drivers on the day were Aston Martin Racing WEC pilots Darren Turner and Alex Lynn.

Eight verification prototypes will be built and subjected to a variety of punishing tests to expose any weaknesses. Each will have slightly different ‘final-spec’ components to allow each to fulfil specific testing and longevity roles.

Having three prototypes in readiness will really speed up the pace of development, said Goodwin at the 17 February event. He said:

“To have three cars now running will see the rate of physical development for this exceptional hypercar increase exponentially. Both Max and Alex were both really positive of the direction that we’re currently taking and could see that the ingredients for an exceptionally high-performing car are already there ready to be tapped.

To have that second opinion and validation doesn’t mean the hard work is done already, but this is a great step on our journey.”

The drivers themselves were full of praise as well. Let’s be honest, though, it’s not going to be a bad car and all of these people are paid to have positive opinions about Red Bull and Aston Martin. Max Verstappen said:

“I was here at Silverstone to watch the first runs of the Aston Martin Valkyrie at the British Grand Prix last year but of course it’s always better to be behind the wheel yourself, and to be one of the first guys to drive an insane car like this was really exciting. It was amazing to get a first taste of it”.

“Of course it’s still in the development phase but you can already feel the pace, which compared to a normal car is… pretty different! The Aston Martin Valkyrie and its levels of downforce are incredible, and it looks super aggressive. It was a lot of fun out there.”