F1 Mission Possible: Tom Cruise Test Drives for Red Bull!

Tom Cruise inside the cockpit of Red Bull RB7

Hollywood heartthrob Tom Cruise recently did a test drive for the Red Bull Racing F1 team at the Willow Springs racetrack in California. According to a press release by Red Bull on August 23, 2011, Tom Cruise did 24 laps in the Red Bull F1 car at Willow Springs. Tom Cruise, the producer and lead-star of the latest installation from the Mission Impossible franchise – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which opens on December 21, took a break from post-production work to accept an invitation from Red Bull to test drive.

What Exactly Happened?

Tom Cruise with his instructor David Coulthard(L)

The Mission Impossible star spent an entire day with the Red Bull team at the track and drove an impressive 24 laps. However, Tom wasn’t left lurking. David Coulthard, former McLaren and Red Bull driver, was the instructor and passed on a few tricks of the trade to the ‘Top Gun’ star. Initially, the two men drove around the circuit in a passenger car to enable them to get familiarized with the nuances of the track. Then David Coulthard got into the 850-horsepower car and drove around the 2.5-mile (4km) Willow Springs race track in Rosamond, California, reaching a top speed of 185mph.

After a while, Tom Cruise got into the Red Bull RB7 and drove around the circuit at a blistering speed of 181 mph which was just 4mph slower than Coulthard’s speed. After a few laps the two men had a discussion regarding the telemetry of the first run. Then, the ‘Minority Report’ hero once again began to venture around the circuit in the Red Bull car and began setting better times than the earlier session. Tom Cruise reportedly cut down 11 seconds per lap in his second run when compared to the first one. The 13 time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard was awestruck at the pace at which Tom was able to learn and improve.

Here’s what the current BBC F1 Commentator and Tom’s instructor David Coulthard had to say about the driving skills of Tom Cruise:

“Tom’s the real deal. I was surprised that he picked it up so quickly and is such an accomplished driver. His recall was incredible considering how complicated driving an F1 car is. He’s a guy who really pushes the envelope in real life. This day was not green screened. He(Tom Cruise) thoroughly impressed me.”

The Bottom Line:

All I can say is well done Tom! And don’t worry if your next movie bombs at the box office; you surely seem to have a bright future in F1!