F1 has often been criticised for their illogical and hectic calendar, with a plethora of double and triple headers comprising of races nowhere near each other. One such example is that of the last two races of the season, the Las Vegas GP and the Abu Dhabi GP – a double header with two races on two opposite corners of the world. As per a recent report by F1Maximaal, Red Bull chief Helmut Marko acknowledged how difficult it is for the staff and the drivers to deal with such a situation. He explained, “There is a twelve-hour time difference, and you have to get rid of the jet lag and be completely sharp again.”
However, Red Bull have taken a proactive approach to tackle this issue and make sure that their drivers do not have to struggle with the jet lag and all the issues that come with such long distance travelling. The Milton Keynes outfit have decided to put two junior drivers in their cars on Friday to make sure that Verstappen and Perez get some added rest after the long travel from the US to the Middle East.
Marko explained, “We were aware of that, and that’s why we used junior drivers in both cars on Friday.” While it would mean that the drivers would get less time to get up to speed, Red Bull believes that the advantages they would get by resting, would outweigh all the disadvantages.
Red Bull are aiming for their 21st victory of the season in Abu Dhabi and if Verstappen manages to win it, it would be his 19th of the season – a record that would definitely be extremely difficult to beat. Sergio Perez would also want to put up a good performance before starting over for 2024.
The unique advantage that Red Bull gets from their rookie drivers
The two rookies who would be stepping up for Red Bull in FP1 are Jake Dennis and Isack Hadjar. Red Bull’s chief engineer Paul Monaghan explained the several other importances of having rookies in the car apart from giving rest to the main drivers.
He explained that having different drivers enables the team to get a different perspective at things. Monaghan said, “They present it differently, their feedback, and if they use different terminologies, it sometimes enlightens us on different ways to look at problems.”
Red Bull would be able to utilise the unique perspective of the rookies as well as the robust feedback of the senior drivers to make sure that they end their season on a high
