Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Red Bull Racing will field Juri Vips and Sebastian Buemi for the Young Driver Test next Tuesday at Yas Marina.
Formula 1 hosts a Young Driver Test next week at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The intent of the test is to allow junior drivers a chance to drive contemporary Formula 1 machinery, with the test being optional for the teams.
Red Bull have now confirmed their line-up for the one day test, with Juri Vips getting his first chance to drive a Formula 1 car. The Estonian has had a meteoric rise through the ranks after joining the Red Bull Junior Programme in 2018. He stepped up to race in Formula 2 this season, scoring his first podium at Mugello as he stood in at DAMS for the injured Sean Gelael.
Vips will be joined on track by Sebastien Buemi. Despite being a veteran of 55 Grands Prix and a multiple Champion in Formula E and the World Endurance Championship, Buemi has been permitted to enter as he has not raced in F1 since 2011.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity that Aston Martin Red Bull Racing have given me to drive the RB16 at the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi.” said Vips. “This will be the first time I get to drive a current Formula One car as I did my 300km in an RB8. There will be a lot to learn but I will make sure I prepare as much as I can and it has been good for me to be with the Team as reserve driver for the last few races.”
Sebastien Buemi has had plenty of outings with Red Bull, and says his work will focus on correlation between on track data and the simulator: “I haven’t driven the car since the Pirelli test last year in Silverstone, so the test in Abu Dhabi is very important to me. I spend a lot of time working in the simulator and if you get the opportunity to drive the real car it’s much better for the correlation. So, I can give feedback on how the simulator behaves compared to the real car. It also gives opportunity for an extra driver to provide feedback to the Team. It’s a great opportunity and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Red Bull have also confirmed Marino Sato, the Japanese driver who raced with Trident in Formula 2 in 2020, will drive for Alpha Tauri. This means an all-Japanese line-up for the Red Bull junior team at the test, with Yuki Tsunoda also driving on the day.
