Red Bull loaned one of its prized RB19s to Formula E world champion and junior driver Jake Dennis for a test day in Abu Dhabi.
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Red Bull loaned one of its two RB19s to reigning Formula E world champion and long-time Red Bull simulation/development driver Jake Dennis for his mandatory race as a young driver, having also fielded him in FP1 in Max Verstappen’s position.
Dennis finished 124 laps of the Yas Marina circuit in the young driver test, completing 14th on the timesheets, while ‘teammate’ Sergio Perez finished fourth while the Mexican tested Pirelli tyres on the other RB19.
Dennis, who won the 2022/23 Formula E championship with Andretti Global, spoke to the media, adding that he PlanetF1. com followed his with F1’s most dominant car.
“A very good day for me,” he summed up.
“In FP1, you sort of just jump in and try and survive whereas somewhere like today, you obviously can push the limits a little bit more and really understand the car.
“I think that’s precisely what we did: we did 125 laps, we got a lot of knowledge for the team between Checo [Perez] and myself and, yes, a lot of things to paint about. “
“Obviously my role is a bit different to Checo’s, but I still think we have a lot of correlation to take to the simulator side and try to make things even better for the RB20 and in general the progression in the simulator aspect.
“I enjoyed every lap, I enjoyed every single lap, it was a wonderful day. “
Asked by PlanetF1.com if he could feel what made the RB19 so dominant, Dennis laughed.
“From my side, it’s obviously very difficult to feel that because I’m coming from somewhere like Formula E,” he said.
“So even if I drove the worst car on the grid, it would be pretty special!
“However, I think the car is very sensitive to your commands, it does exactly what you are supposed to do.
“It’s just that you need a lot of confidence from the driver. Obviously, this is something you don’t realize after following what I’m doing and then starting for just one day. “
“It takes time to build this. But I mean it’s a pleasure to drive the car, it’s something pretty special.
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When asked what he learned about the car’s features after his day behind the wheel, Dennis explained that he learned a lot about how the simulation paints he regularly made correlated with the actual driving of the RB19.
“It’s about pushing the car to the limit,” he said.
“In FP1 you don’t need to take that threat because it’s obvious that Max has to drive in FP2, whereas today you can perceive a bit more about the angle of the tyre, which is very vital for how it behaves in FP1. Real life in the simulator.
“So that’s all we want to prove. . . We are improving the tyre style and the simulators. This is something we will continue to improve. “
“Just pushing an F1 car to the limit is very different, for example, to just driving in FP1 and not knowing what to expect. But I mean, yes, I’m still way out of bounds, I would say.
“However, the most important thing was to gather knowledge. “
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