“Driving a new car is always special” – Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen take the RB16B to the track for the first time

“Driving a new car is always special” – Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen both took the RB16B out to the track for the first time, as team principal Christian Horner watched on.

Sergio Perez made his debut for Red Bull, taking the RB16B out for the first time. The Mexican excelled last season, finishing a career-high P4 in the Racing Point. This season, he will be expected to give credible completion to the P1 Lewis Hamilton.

“Driving a new car is always special for the driver and also for the 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.”

Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner delighted at Sergio Perez and RB16B debut

Christian Horner was evidently pleased with the RB16B day out, with the car very similar to last season’s challenger. There is genuine hope that they can give much stronger competition to Mercedes, now that Sergio Perez is on board.

“It’s always great to see a new car hit the track for the first time and to see the drivers get their first laps in. Today is mainly just about making sure all the basics are functioning well before it all gets packed up and sent out to Bahrain and in that regard today was a success.”

Also read: “He could never even try a different strategy” – The benefit to Max Verstappen for having Sergio Perez as Red Bull partner