Lewis, George, and Toto Wolff got to experience INEOS Britannia’s AC75 Race Boat first-hand with guides Sir Ben Ainslie and Sir Jim Ratcliffe on Wednesday, 19th June. The trio visited the British Challenger of Record representing Royal Yacht Squadron Ltd for the 37th America’s Cup at their base in Barcelona ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
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Lewis, George, and Toto were taken on a tour of the facilities, including spending time in the team’s simulator and meeting the wider team. George and Toto then joined Sir Ben on the water, with George getting behind the wheel of ‘Britannia’ whilst Toto joined the squad of cycling sailors, known as cyclors, to help power the boat via the onboard bikes.
Lewis said:
It has been so exciting seeing the work of INEOS Britannia at the factory in Brackley over the past few years. It was so impressive to come to Barcelona and see it all coming together, including the race boat, for the first time. The technology involved is incredible, and my mind is absolutely blown! I’m really excited to see how the team gets on later this year, and I want to wish them the very best of luck in their pursuit of the America’s Cup.
George added:
What an incredible experience! It was amazing to sail with Sir Ben and get a true sense of the speed and manoeuvrability of the INEOS Britannia AC75 Race Boat. It felt like we were floating through the air; it definitely got the blood pumping!
There are many similarities between F1 and the America’s Cup. They are the pinnacle of their respective sports and technical innovation is vital in both. The dedication and effort of the whole INEOS Britannia team was also clear to see, and I can’t wait to watch them compete later in the year.
Toto commented:
Today has been an amazing experience. We’ve got our headquarters at Brackley, where a lot of the INEOS Britannia design work takes place, but it has been brilliant to see the base here in Barcelona. This is where the action will take place later this year and the facilities the team has are excellent.
I also thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a ‘cyclor’ on the team’s AC75 race boat too. It is a real physical test, and it’s easy to forget just how athletic the team must be. We are all out-and-out racers. Whilst our core objective as a business is winning on land in F1, this is an exciting project with Sir Ben and Sir Jim, and we are delighted to be a part of it.
Sir Ben Ainslie said:
It was a privilege for all of us at INEOS Britannia to show Toto, Lewis, and George around our base here in Barcelona. They have been supporters of the project throughout, and it was, therefore, very fitting for us to give them a closer look at our race boat for the first time. It was great to get the guys out on the water today too; they know their way around a car but made sailing our AC75 look a touch too easy for my liking. We’re always looking for new and emerging talent to take the helm, but I didn’t realise we’d find it in the F1 paddock! It was a brilliant day, and I look forward to supporting them all this weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The America’s Cup is the oldest international trophy in world sport and represents the pinnacle of yachting. Through INEOS Sport, INEOS Britannia partnered with Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s Applied Science division to create a team capable of competing in the Cup. More than 100 designers and engineers have been based at the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 base in Brackley, Northamptonshire, helping to develop the race boat.
