Juri Vips was at the wheel of the Red Bull this morning in Barcelona for free practice 1, replacing Sergio Perez. The Estonian, who did not try to panic the clock, showed a big smile at the end of what was his very first official session during a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
“It was unbelievable. It was a packed session, we weren’t looking for a fast lap but just checking and that sort of thing. I didn’t have to push and that made me happy. So took a bit of the pressure off.”
“We were a bit ahead of our schedule so we wanted to do a flying lap at the end of the session, but unfortunately I ran into some traffic. It was quite chaotic at the time with everyone on their shoes. soft tyres. I understand why F1 is so difficult, this session was intense.”
“It’s just crazy to drive on a Grand Prix weekend. When I was told I was going to race, I thought about the days of karting when it was all a hobby, and now here I am.”
The Estonian driver was particularly happy to have learned a lot behind the wheel of the RB18.
“It’s by driving that you learn the most. As a reserve driver, I’m used to listening to feedback from starters, but this time I was able to get an idea of the behavior of the car, which was very useful for me but also for the simulator because I do a lot of work there.”
Vips already reprimanded
The Estonian also received a reprimand for his very first official Formula 1 session when he got in the way of George Russell’s Mercedes after miscommunication with his team.
The commissioners thus declared that “The team principal advised that the team gave the driver the wrong information due to a software problem.”
“The driver therefore followed the team’s recommendations but was driving too slowly on the race line forcing the #63 car to avoid him.”