Red Bull transform F1 icon into a train in Madrid stunt

Red Bull has transformed the 2012 Formula 1 world championship-winning RB8 into a train in the team's latest stunt ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. 

Red Bull is no stranger to putting its cars or mechanics in strange locations - completing a zero-gravity pit stop, Max Verstappen taking a car down a ski run in Austria, and David Coulthard performing donuts on a 700-foot-high helipad in Dubai are just three such examples. 

However, this latest effort is taken straight from the Top Gear playbook, as Red Bull converted the RB8 to run on the Madrid Metro. 

In a 10-minute YouTube video, Red Bull showcases the entire project, from the design and problem-solving stages to actually putting the car on rails. 

The efforts were a combination of the Red Bull Heritage Team, and Spanish engineering and creative collective Andtonic.

Red Bull's Patrick Friesacher, who made 11 F1 starts for Minardi, took the wheel for the bizarre outing, which took place on a closed network of tracks as he drove by the Estadio Metropolitano station and the Sacedal and Chamartín depots.

"It was an unbelievable experience," said Friesacher. "I've been lucky enough to experience a lot with our Heritage team, but driving an F1 car on railway tracks was surreal. It's very cool to add Metro driver to the resume." 

F1 will return to Madrid this weekend for the first time since 1981, when the championship ran its Spanish round for the final time at Jarama. Since then, Jerez and Barcelona have hosted the Spanish Grand Prix.