F1 News
Max Verstappen's replacement waxes lyrical: 'What a great car the RB19 is!'
- Ludo van Denderen
Jake Dennis is in a unique situation: not only did he drive the fastest Formula E car last season - with which the Briton even captured the world title; he also got the opportunity in recent days to test the best Formula 1 car of the year, possibly ever. During FP1 in Abu Dhabi as well as in the final test, the 28-year-old got to drive Max Verstappen's RB19.
As many as 124 laps Dennis was allowed to compete with the Red Bull on Tuesday before it gets a place at the museum in Milton Keyes. Afterwards, the FE champion said he was very impressed with the RB19. " What a great car!", Dennis said. "It was a very special day for me. In FP1 you just jump in and try to survive, whereas today you can push the limits a bit more and really understand the car. And I think we did exactly that."
Dennis takes experiences to simulator
During the Abu Dhabi test, teams were required to put a rookie in the car. Most teams chose to give youngsters, coming out in Formula 2 or even Formula 3, a go. Although Dennis never drove in a Grand Prix, he is extremely experienced. As a simulator driver for Red Bull, he drove many virtual laps, always in service of Verstappen and Sergio Perez. In Abu Dhabi, he got to experience how the sim compared to reality.
"Checo and I collected a lot of data for the team. Obviously, my role today was a bit different from Checo's, but for myself, I was able to gain a lot of knowledge, which I take back to the simulator. This is how I try to improve things for the RB20 and developments in general. I enjoyed every lap, it was a great day."