FIRST LOOK: Perez makes Red Bull test debut in 2019 car ahead of RB16B shakedown

Sergio Perez has taken his first laps as a Red Bull Racing driver, getting behind the wheel of the team’s Honda-powered RB15 from the 2019 season around Silverstone.

The test, designed to help Perez get used to Red Bull’s systems and the Honda power unit, came on the same day as Red Bull launched their 2021 challenger the RB16B – with Perez, along with team mate Max Verstappen, set to give that car its first shakedown run in a filming day at the same track on Wednesday.

READ MORE: An extensively re-engineered car? Here's our rapid reaction to the new Red Bull RB16B

Also present on Wednesday will be Alex Albon, who Perez replaces at Red Bull for 2021. The Thai driver – who’ll spend this season as Red Bull’s reserve and development driver, alongside a campaign in the DTM driving a Ferrari 488 – will drive the RB15 that he raced in 2019, while also being present in engineering debriefs with Verstappen and Perez to help with developing the RB16B in Red Bull’s simulator.

READ MORE: Perez reveals striking new helmet for maiden Red Bull campaign in 2021

Perez, meanwhile, headed out on track in his new neon yellow, Red Bull-emblazoned helmet, which he’d revealed to fans earlier in the day, calling the new design “definitely my most favourite helmet in my career”.