Jüri Vips will make his first appearance in a FIA Formula 1 World Championship weekend as he joins the field for the opening free practice session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for Oracle Red Bull Racing.
The Estonian, who will also compete in the FIA Formula 2 championship this weekend for Hitech Grand Prix, will take over the car usually driven by Sergio Pérez for the session, with Red Bull using one of their two mandatory sessions for young drivers in Spain.
The regulation introduced in 2022 means every team on the grid will need to run a young or rookie driver in two free practice sessions, with a maximum of two race starts to their name.
Vips, who has been a Red Bull junior since 2018, has tested for Red Bull before and has acted as their reserve driver on occasion having earned a Superlicence, but this weekend will be a much different challenge for him as he joins an official weekend session for the first time.
Vips will be one of three test and reserve drivers to take to the track this weekend, with Williams Racing already having announced that Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team driver Nyck de Vries will run with them in place of Alexander Albon, while Robert Kubica will make his first appearance of the season with Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN in place of Zhou Guanyu.
Kubica is not eligible for the young driver session due to his vast experience in Formula 1, meaning Alfa Romeo will need to run another driver in a couple of sessions later in the season.
