10 Amazing Publicity Stunts in Formula 1 History

It's been a decade since Mark Webber took his BMW-powered Williams Formula One car for a spin across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The run across one of Australia's most famous landmarks was among the better promotional stunts in F1 history.

PR stunts are commonplace in F1, a sport that is constantly trying (but often failing) to reach out to the public and keen to emphasise the extraordinary qualities of the drivers and cars that fill up a given grand prix grid.

From pit stops on city streets to world-record attempts, here are 10 amazing F1 publicity stunts.

Mark Webber Drives over Sydney Harbour Bridge

Mark Webber's two seasons at Williams in 2005 and '06 was among the most disappointing periods of his career, which saw the Australian claim just one podium for a team who in previous years had won multiple grands prix.

Among the few highlights of his time with the Grove-based team, in fact, was one of his first official off-track engagements for Williams at the Sydney Harbour Bridge seven days prior to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Ahead of the race's 10th anniversary at the Albert Park circuit, Webber repeatedly powered across Australia's most iconic landmark with the help of a BMW V10 engine in an event that was broadcast live on national television.

Afterward, Webber was quoted by the official F1 website as stating:

"Thundering with 900 bhp over that time-honoured structure was an amazing feeling. The engine sound over the ocean was fantastic. I just can't thank everybody enough in my home state New South Wales who made this show for the fans possible."

Webber went on to enjoy one of his better weekends in front of his home crowd, qualifying third before finishing fifth in the race.

David Coulthard Crosses Continents

Less than six months after Mark Webber's bridge-crossing antics, a fellow competitor also took to a bridge in a Formula One car.

And Red Bull's David Coulthard took it a step further, crossing the bridge that links Europe and Asia in July 2005.

The Scot's run across Istanbul's Bosphorus Bridge, a month ahead of the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix, was a result of Red Bull's partnership with Turkey's Ministry of Tourism, with Coulthard starting his run at the Dolmabahce Palace before making his way into the Asian side of the city.

Once across the bridge, the 13-time grand prix winner performed the usual donuts and burnouts before returning to the Palace, where his overheating car caught fire.

It was to get worse for Coulthard, who according to BBC Sport was hit with a €20 fine by the local authorities for failing to pay a toll fee as he crossed the bridge.

Lotus Break World Record with Truck Jump

Lotus' 2014 car performed like a truck as the team limped to eighth place in the constructors' championship, but the Enstone-based outfit used an actual truck to film one of the most spectacular publicity stunts in Formula One history.

Race drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado were shelved as Lotus drafted in stunt drivers Martin Ivanov and Mike Ryan—who, according to The Telegraph, have featured in several movies—to pilot a V8 F1 car and the truck, respectively.

A joint stunt between Lotus and EMC, one of the team's sponsors, the high-speed truck jump resulted in the breaking of a Guinness World Record as the lorry covered 83 feet and seven inches.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the film here.

Mark Webber Takes to the Streets of London

Less than a week after his horrific shunt in the 2010 European Grand Prix at Valencia, Mark Webber was back behind the wheel on a street circuit—but not in Monaco or Singapore.

Instead, the Australian took to the roads of central London to drum up interest ahead of the upcoming Goodwood Festival of Speed and, of course, the following weekend's British Grand Prix.

What made Webber's run around Parliament Square, where his Red Bull mechanics performed a live pit stop on a public road, so spectacular was the fact that there was no prior warning ahead of the event.

This meant that there were no crowds gathered around the area, giving the publicity stunt a strangely natural feel as Webber passed bemused commuters and black cab drivers at daybreak.

Webber later told RedBull.co.uk's Sean Calvert:

"I really enjoyed that. Unique—as usual with Red Bull—doing things a little bit different. To drive an F1 car around Parliament Square, with Big Ben in the background and the boys practicing a few pitstops. It was really cool."

The Red Bull driver went on to take the first of two wins at Silverstone, a race best remembered for Webber's controversial post-race team radio message.

Toyota Race Against Batman

To mark the release of The Dark Knight, the Toyota team—always with a preference for style over substance—raced with Batman-inspired colours over the 2008 British Grand Prix weekend.

A one-off agreement with Warner Bros. led to the team sporting Batman logos on the rear wing and sidepods of the TF108 car, as well as the overalls of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, at Silverstone.

The real treat, though, took place on the Thursday ahead of the race as the team were invited to get up close and personal with the "Batmobile."

The F1 car completed a lap of the track alongside the Batmobile before stopping on the pit straight as Glock and Trulli posed for pictures with the car and the "Batpod," Batman's two-wheeled machine.

Toyota's mechanics also got in on the action, servicing the Batmobile in a mock pit stop.

Despite Batman's influence, Toyota couldn't produce any heroics on race day as Trulli and Glock both finished a lap down in seventh and 12th, respectively.

Santander and McLaren Promote the 'London Grand Prix'

Santander, a sponsor of McLaren, took advantage of the buzz surrounding London ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games by producing a short film designed to whet the appetite for a grand prix in the English capital.

Featuring British world champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton as well as Sky Sports commentators David Croft and Martin Brundle, the video showed what a potential night race in London would look like.

The McLaren drivers discussed the track, which passed landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, in detail, while Croft and Brundle "commentated" on an animated race that saw Hamilton and Button race wheel-to-wheel throughout.

Initially a publicity stunt, the film seemed to become a driving force for change when—two years after its release—Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans for motor racing to take place on public roads, as per the BBC, knocking down one of the many hurdles standing in the way of a London Grand Prix.

That decision coincided with another video from McLaren and Santander, which showed how the street circuit would look from an F1 on-board camera.

F1 'Parade' in London

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

A London Grand Prix remains the ultimate dream for British motorsport, but the capital has already had a brief taste of how a race would be received.

Street demos are very often single-team affairs, but eight outfits—Ferrari, BAR-Honda McLaren, Williams, Jaguar, Jordan, Toyota and Minardi—were represented in a Formula One "parade" on Regent Street and Piccadilly Circus days ahead of the 2004 British Grand Prix.

Stars including Nigel Mansell, Jenson Button, David Coulthard, Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin Brundle were on hand to wow a crowd of around 500,000 people, with BBC Sport reporting that the event had to be shortened due to its sheer popularity.

Tom Cruise Drives a Red Bull F1 Car

Formula One's return to the United States in 2012 was always bound to be preceded by several publicity stunts, and they didn't come much bigger than the world champions inviting a Hollywood actor to drive their car.

In a 2011 event organised by Red Bull (who else?), Tom Cruise was offered tuition by David Coulthard at the Willow Springs circuit in California, where he completed 24 laps in a seven-hour test session.

Despite spinning off the track at one point, Cruise impressed Coulthard, who told RedBull.com:

"

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 thoroughly impressed me.

"

Seemingly not content with the adrenaline rush that comes with driving an F1 car, Cruise later took to the skies to fool around in a helicopter.

Nick Heidfeld Tackles the Nordschleife

The Nurburgring Nordschleife today acts as a mere reminder of what Formula One used to be. As the scene of Niki Lauda's near-fatal accident in 1976, the circuit is symbolic of a dangerous time, when drivers risked their lives every single time they climbed into the cockpit.

"The Green Hell" has no place in the modern era of state-of-the-art racing facilities, but BMW Sauber went back in time in April 2007 when Nick Heidfeld became the first driver to take on the original Ring in F1 machinery in over three decades as part of a celebration of the German manufacturer's motorsport activities.

According to the official F1 website, Heidfeld—driving a slightly modified 2006 car—completed three laps of the 12-mile circuit, recording a best time of eight minutes and 34 seconds.

The German was quoted by the same source as stating: "The drive was simply incredible. I thought it would be great to drive on the Nordschleife before I started out. But it was even better than I had expected. This racing track is the best in the world. I'll never forget today as long as I live."

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher emulated his countryman in May 2013, driving a 2011 Mercedes at the Nordschleife as part of his ambassadorial role with the Silver Arrows, but Heidfeld's breakthrough run is arguably more memorable.

Jordan F1 Car Becomes Roller Coaster

Following Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa's roller coaster ride in 2010, Ferrari World is arguably the most famous F1-related amusement park.

But Jordan's stunt at Blackpool, England, in 2003 certainly made the Pleasure Beach the most spectacular.

The team's 2001 car replaced the usual carriage on the track of The Big One—"Europe's tallest and fastest roller coaster" at the time, as reported by Crash.net—to mark Jordan's opening of their own ride.

And Ralph Firman, one of the team's '03 drivers, became the first and last person to use the F1 roller coaster, which was probably for the best judging by how violently the Irishman's head bobbled in the fast sections.

The peak of the ride was arguably the high point of Firman's season, with the Norwich-born driver scoring just a single point in his one and only F1 campaign.

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