Red Bull charity campaign raises €1 million

Red Bull’s initiative that will see its cars run with liveries featuring the faces of fans at the British Grand Prix has proved a major success w...

Red Bull’s initiative that will see its cars run with liveries featuring the faces of fans at the British Grand Prix has proved a major success with the world champion team announcing that it has raised €1 million for its spinal cord injury charity.

To get their picture onto the one-off collages that will run on Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber’s RB8s at Silverstone next month fans had to upload a picture of their choosing onto a special website and pledge €15 (£12) to the Wings of Life charity, which funds worldwide research into spinal cord injury, with Red Bull Racing promising to match every donation made. With many people donating more than the miniumum amount, and many famous F1 names giving their backing to the scheme, RBR has now confirmed that the campaign reached the spectacular €1m mark at the close of play.

Bernie Ecclestone, Niki Lauda, Damon Hill, Sir Jackie Stewart and David Coulthard were among the F1 figures to make their own donations to the scheme and Wings for Life says the money raised will prove invaluable to the charity’s work.

“Scientific research is very cost intensive and Faces for Charity is going to make a huge difference to our ability to fund the most promising research projects,” said the charity’s managing director Anita Gerhardter. “I can’t overstate how much this will help us progress towards our goal to find a cure for spinal cord injury.”

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “Faces for Charity is going to make this year’s race at Silverstone extra special. It will be a privilege for the drivers and the team to race with thousands of fans by our sides. Most importantly, it will create a real buzz for Wings for Life and spread awareness about their vital work.”