David Coulthard was able to get his hands on the Red Bull RB-19 recently where he drove the mighty beast around the Silverstone Circuit. Coulthard is one of the first drivers to drive a Red Bull car in F1. It was named RB1, when he joined the team in 2005.
When Red Bull launched their latest challenger, the RB-19, Coulthard requested Christian Horner to let him test drive the car once at the end of the season. Coulthard’s contribution to the team was honored by the team management and in doing so, they also found a loophole in the regulations. However, the test drive of Max Verstappen‘s car raised questions given how limited the windows are today.
In today’s era, teams are not allowed to have rampant tests with their cars. They are only allowed to have two filming days where the maximum distance per day is 100 kilometers [60 miles.] However, talks are on to double the distance in the coming years.
This was the sector where the Milton-Keynes outfit played their game as per Racingnews365, and used the ‘promotional event’ to allow their former driver to have a go around the circuit in the RB-19. In doing so, they got the opportunity to have additional testing and prepare a new car for the upcoming season.
David Coulthard drives RB-19 which guided Max Verstappen to victory
The Red Bull RB-19 will go down in history as one of the most dominant F1 cars ever. The car raked in 21 wins in 22 races, the most in F1 history. At the same time, it also helped the Austrian team claim a staggering 860 points in the Constructors’ championship.
Therefore, any driver would love to have their hands on one such machine, which only a few drivers have. Apart from the obvious Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, Jake Dennis and Isack Hadjar drove the car in the Abu Dhabi GP, thanks to the mandatory rookie test.
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 13, 2023
Another lucky man was Daniel Ricciardo who test-drove the RB-19 during Pirelli’s tire test in Silverstone earlier this season and now David Coulthard, who still holds the FIA Superlicense also put his name alongside.
Admittedly, Red Bull still has one filming day in their hands due to their dominant 2023 F1 season. The team management, however, decided not to use this day for filming and instead use it to test the operation of new car parts if they do not meet the expectations.
All in all, Red Bull’s minimal update on the RB-19 allowed David Coulthard, one of their showmen in the current scenario to test drive the car and reward him for being associated with the team for so long.
