Horner confirms: 'Perhaps Formula E champion gets chance in RB19'

With seven race weekends left, Red Bull Racing has time to appoint one or two drivers to take part in free practice for the Austrian team. Liam Lawson can no longer be used because he has too many Grands Prix under his belt. Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have to look for alternatives. Horner confirmed on Friday that there are plenty of options.

Each team must give a rookie a chance in two free practice sessions in a season. It has to be a driver with less than two Grands Prix. With Sprints in Qatar, Austin and Brazil still to come, those weekends are out of the question. Las Vegas also seems a no-go, as it is the first time Formula 1 will be there. The regular driver will no doubt want to get to know the track well then.

Dennis for Horner an option

So Japan, Mexico and Abu Dhabi are basically the remaining options for Red Bull to comply with the rules. The next question is who Red Bull Racing will field. Horner hinted to Sky Sports: "Obviously, we've got a couple of drivers in the junior programme. We also have other drivers that we work with as well. We've got Jake Dennis, the Formula E champion, who has done a lot of work behind the scenes for us on simulator for example. Isack Hadjar is here this weekend and standing in as a reserve as well, so we've got a few options and a little bit of time yet before we need to put a driver in the car."

Dennis has been a development driver at Red Bull since 2018, in addition to his own racing career in Formula E. Last season, he became champion in this series with Andretti.