Everything that happened at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024

The Goodwood Festival of Speed is the most eccentric event on the motoring calendar. It brings the automotive world to Sussex every July, drawing the biggest brands, motorsport royalty and thousands of fans to the grounds of the Goodwood Estate. The event was started in 1993 by Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, 11th Duke of Richmond, who wanted to reopen the Goodwood motor circuit, which was shut in 1966 by his grandfather. The Earl, as he was then, didn’t have the necessary permit to do so at the time, so instead chose to start a hillclimb on his grounds, down his driveway and past his ancestral seat, Goodwood House. Thirty-one years later, and the Festival of Speed has ballooned into one of the biggest celebrations of motorsport in the world. 

Formula 1 presence

This year alone, no less than six current Formula 1 teams were present, running both contemporary and historic cars up the hill. Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Williams, Alpine and Red Bull Racing all showcased a series of F1 cars, driven by some of the most talented names on the grid. Red Bull was celebrating its 20th anniversary in the sport, and as such brought a huge roster of current and former drivers. Max Verstappen took his RB16B up the hill on the Sunday, reuniting with the car in which he won his first championship in 2021. 

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez joined him up the hill alongside Red Bull legends David Coulthard, Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo and Christian Klein in a huge celebration of the Milton Keynes outfit. Adrian Newey was on hand too, unveiling his Red Bull swansong before he leaves the team next year, the RB17. This track-only hypercar is said to be as fast as an F1 car, and with no regulations to appease, it’s allowed Newey to flex his creativity. Its sculptural, aerodynamic bodywork is paired with a Cosworth 4.5-litre, naturally aspirated V10 that can rev to 15,000rpm. And it weighs less than 900kg, making it one of the most exciting new cars in recent memory. 

Land Rover unveils Defender OCTA

The RB17 wasn’t the only car revealed at Goodwood. The FOS has become a launchpad for manufacturers unveiling their latest creations, and this year was no different. The new Porsche 911 had its dynamic debut, BMW brought its new M5 and Pagani unveiled the Imola Roadster and Epitome hypercars. One of the most impressive was the Land Rover Defender OCTA. The new top-of-the-range Defender, the OCTA is the most powerful, fastest and most extreme 4x4 Land Rover ever. It comes with a 4.4-litre twin turbo, mild-hybrid V8, which produces 627hp and 750Nm of torque. It can go from 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds, but even more impressive is the way it handles, both on road and off. 

Among the many driving modes available, including a wading setting, ‘mud’, ‘sand’ and ‘rock crawl’, is ‘OCTA’ mode. A long press of the dedicated steering wheel button transforms the car, tweaking the suspension, the braking calibration and opening a valve in the exhaust for a more raucous note. I experienced this mode as a passenger off-site near Goodwood, with one of the car’s engineers unleashing it on a closed rally course. The acceleration is impressively quick but it was the handling that stood out. The car has Land Rover’s 6D Dynamics suspension, which first debuted in the Range Rover Sport SV. It keeps the car planted through four wheel drifts, with very little body roll, and makes light work of loose gravel and even jumps. Turn the mode off and the car is comfortable and refined, and you can imagine driving long distance or cross country no problem. It also looks the part, with flared arches, twin snorkels and ‘chopped’ carbon detailing hinting at the engineering prowess underneath. 

Polestar leads the electric charge 

The EV presence at Goodwood this year was the largest ever. Walk around the grounds and you couldn’t help but notice the numerous Chinese electric car stands, from Jaecoo, BYD and Yangwang. The now EV only MG, owned by Shanghai-based SAIC Motor, sponsored this year’s sculpture, too. Elsewhere, Goodwood’s Electric Avenue stand housed a series of new EV releases from BMW, Hyundai, Maserati and Honda. But Polestar stole the EV show, both with its new 3 and 4 models, and an extraordinary concept car. The Polestar Concept BST made its global debut at the FOS, and it impressed on a number of levels. 

A race-inspired version of the Polestar 6, it may be a concept but it looks fairly production-ready. Its exterior combines the best of what we’ve seen with Polestar’s current lineup, with a mixture of curved panelling and sharper edges, for a subtly futuristic take on a road-going race car. The huge wing extends over the rear, but its height matches the windscreen for a streamlined, efficient look. The bodywork is entirely bespoke for this car, with an aerodynamically-optimised, vented bonnet and front splitter completing the motorsport feel. The BST might not be hitting the roads any time soon, but the regular Polestar 6 is expected to launch in 2026. It’s the electric sports car we’ve been waiting for, and will be joined by the 3, the full-size SUV; the 4, an ‘SUV coupé’, and the 5, an electric four-door GT. 

The Festival of Speed closed with the hillclimb shootout on the Sunday evening. The fastest car of the weekend? It wasn’t a car, but a van. The Ford SuperVan 4.2 tackled the hill in just 43.99 seconds, with Michael Lyons behind the wheel. Its electric motors put out 1,400hp, and its huge rear wing gave it enough downforce to handle like a Formula 1 car. It whooshed up the hill, jet-like, looking and sounding like nothing else. That’s the beauty of Goodwood. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re into ‘80s Le Mans cars or 1,000+hp electric vans.