It’s pretty rare to see race cars being driven in the snow but that just makes the spectacle and skills involved even more impressive.
Some racing machines are built to handle whatever weather conditions are thrown at them, but for others it takes a bit of extra help to tackle snow.
Whether it’s Formula 1, rallying or a single-seater, it’s always cool to see cars being thrown around in snowy, cold and icy conditions.
It just makes you respect the racing machine and driver behind the wheel even more. Here are a few examples of when race cars hit the snow:
Verstappen’s ski slope demo
What happens when you chuck some snow chains on an F1 car for a demo run up an Austrian ski slope? This. And it’s ridiculously epic.
Max Verstappen, driving for Toro Rosso at the time, was let loose with a snow-liveried Red Bull RB7 and the result was astonishing.
WRC action
Of course, an F1 car isn’t built for snow, but a WRC machine can handle the wintery conditions. Sit back and enjoy this amazing footage from this year’s Rally Sweden!
Nick Heidfeld vs frozen lake
A frozen lake is far from the natural habitat of an F1 car, so it’s no surprise the engine in Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber kept having to be warmed up to avoid freezing.With special spiked Bridgestone tyres, ‘Quick Nick’ was able to complete this demo run in Switzerland – much to the delight of the crowds.
Sliding around in the snow
Rally Monte Carlo is coming up next month, marking the start of the new WRC season. This awesome footage was captured from a test of the new 2017 Ford Fiesta WRC in the snow, giving us a taste of what’s to come next year…
Testing, testing…
Snow doesn’t usually settle in the UK, because it’s almost always raining. But someone did manage to capture Fernando Alonso testing his Renault F1 car in 2005 at Silverstone while snow was falling!
Taking on the Nurburgring
You have to be insanely brave to take a single-seater racing car out on the Nurburgring, when the famous circuit is covered in snow. But this guy did and it produced one incredibly awesome video.
Another Red Bull demo
Red Bull always pushes the limits with its demo runs. Before Verstappen hit the ski slopes, it was Sebastien Buemi who brought a Red Bull F1 car to the snow when he drove on a frozen lake in Quebec. Because, why not?
Fun in the snow
When you take away the travel chaos and cold, snow is actually pretty fun. But chucking around a prototype race car on a ski slope looks even better.