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Ready for take-off: an unfamiliar setting for Hamilton and his McLaren as Schiphol hosts an unusual speed challenge |
NETHERLANDS. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport hosted one of the more unusual publicity stunts yesterday as Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton was challenged to outpace Vodafone’s mobile data network, using the airport’s Oostbaan runway as a racetrack.
Hamilton, in his McLaren, had 4.7km to cover in a shorter time than it took the Vodafone network to download a virtual Formula 1 car, consisting of 28,800 profile photos from social networking site Facebook. Putting the disappointment of the weekend’s Italian Grand Prix behind him, Hamilton won two of the three races held, with a fastest ‘lap’ of 108 seconds, though the Vodafone network recorded a faster time of 96 seconds to record its sole win.
“We have organised this show to demonstrate to the country how fast our data network really is,” said Vodafone Netherlands CEO Jens Schulte-Bockum. “And I think we have succeeded in that.
“But Lewis Hamilton is a formidable race driver indeed. He is not one to be beaten easily. It has been a privilege to stage this demonstration, but an honour to lose against Lewis. We will continue our efforts to improve our network, its capacity, speed and performance. We’ll be back!”
