Red Bull changes third driver for this Turkish Grand Prix
On this Turkish Grand Prix weekend, Red Bull and AlphaTauri welcome a new reserve driver, Estonian 20-year-old Jüri Vips.
Jüri Vips will be present at the Istanbul Park circuit as part of the Turkish Grand Prix. The young Estonian driver will act as a replacement in the event that a Red Bull junior driver is unable to compete in the Grand Prix.
For several races, Sébastien Buemi has been donning the role of a third driver, but this weekend the Swiss driver is held in Bahrain to participate in the last round of the WEC championship with Toyota in LMP1.
Red Bull also specifies that the young driver from their program obtained his super license after accumulating 300 km of running during a test at the wheel of an F1.
Istanbul will have VIPS! ???????????? After being awarded his FIA Superlicence following the completion of 300km in an #F1 car, Juri Vips will join us and @AlphaTauriF1 trackside as Reserve Driver this weekend #TurkishGP pic.twitter.com/gd94fyZCzk
— Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) November 12, 2020
The current health crisis is completely disrupting the status of the third driver. A position that was almost thankless in the past, as few main drivers were willing to give up their seats, even if they were sick.
For a long time, Esteban Ocon had hoped to take over the seat of an unwell Lewis Hamilton during the 2019 German Grand Prix.
But today, Covid-19 is redefining this role of reserve driver, and like Nico Hülkenberg, the hope of taking the place of a main driver is clearly conceivable.
