BOITUMELO RANTAO
MAN met the machine.
The machine was both powerful and colourful. The acquaintances took a few laps and the man pronounced himself ready for probably the biggest challenge of his Formula One career.
After his dramatic move to Red Bull, a stunt that shocked F1 fans and saved his career, Sergio Perez finally got behind the wheel of the red, yellow and blue car.
And while Perez will race for Red Bull in the newly-built 2021 car, he had to use the 2018 car, one that was driven by the man he replaced – Alex Albon – to get familiarised with Red Bull cars.
Perez got behind the wheel of the team’s Honda-powered RB15 from the 2019 season around the Silverstone racetrack. The test was designed to familiarize Perez with the Red Bull cars’ controls, and the Mexican was not shy about his reaction to the car.
“Everything about the car is different. It’s still an F1 car in the end but the seating position is different, the steering wheel, the brakes, the buttons, procedures, the engine and the power delivery, the torque, so many things are different. But I can see there is so much potential with this team.” said the one-time race winner.
Soon after Perez was finally given the opportunity to take the sparkling new RB16B for a spin and immediately took a liking to the upgrade. “Driving a new car is always special – for the driver and also for the team,” he continued.
Perez paid homage to his industrious development team: “They have been working so hard through the winter, so to finally take the car on track, it’s quite an emotional day,”
“I can say I think there is a lot of potential. The conditions were not great but it was nice to get a feeling for the car. It’s pretty exciting. Earlier this week I drove the RB15 but today I could feel a step in overall grip and top speed.” said Sergio.
