Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly complete a F1 showrun in Istanbul, Turkey, as Williams’ acting team principal Simon Roberts tests COVID-19 positive.
Ahead of F1 return in Istanbul, Turkey, this weekend, Red Bull Racing took AlphaTauri along for a special showrun on the famous Bosphorus Bridge, with Albon and Gasly in action. The bridge connects Europe with Asia to make it a world renowned destination.
The special showrun co-incided with Red Bull’s celebration of its 300th F1 grand prix weekend, while AlphaTauri joined in as they launched the fashion brand in Turkey. Albon and Gasly drove a pair of RB7 machine, in their respective livery.
Kick-starting the showrun, Albon and Gasly first went past the Galata Bridge, along the coast of the Golden Horn, before going through the streets of Istanbul’s old town, Sultanahmet, and around the beautiful Blue Mosque.
They went through the Arnavutkoy district then along the banks of Black Sea. Albon and Gasly split up as the former took the route of Euroasia tunnel to the Asian side, while the latter headed north towards the European side of the Bosphorus Bridge.
After undertaking donuts midway on the bridge, Albon and Gasly went to Zorlu Centre, where the launch of AlphaTauri took place. “F1 returning to Istanbul is pretty cool for the sport, and today’s tour of the city was a great introduction to Turkey for me as I’ve never been here before,” said the Thai.
“Driving on the streets is challenging but fun and it’s great to be able to drive an F1 car in places which otherwise would never be possible. The view from the Bosphorus Bridge is amazing and to see it all from the cockpit of an F1 car was pretty mega, but I think the best bit was driving between the two continents.
“I think it was the best possible way to bring AlphaTauri to Turkey and create some noise around the launch. AlphaTauri is still young but has big aspirations and this event definitely shows that,” summed up Albon, as the products will be available in select stores at Vakkorama Stores.
Here’s photo collection:
https://twitter.com/redbullracing/status/1326619494119317505?s=20
https://twitter.com/redbullracing/status/1326586139751419910?s=20
https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1326609182477471744?s=20
https://twitter.com/AlphaTauriF1/status/1326626961121275904?s=20
Simon Roberts tests COVID-19 positive:
Aside the above, Williams confirmed that its acting team principal Roberts returned a positive COVID-19 test on Wednesday, after testing negative on Monday in the team’s regular testing. Minor symptoms observed prompted the administration of another test.
Though he is feeling well, the COVID-19 rules state that he must be in a state of quarantine for the next 10 days. Consequently, he will not be at the F1 Turkish GP as he joins the likes of Lawrence/Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez and Will Buxton in high-profile cases.
Williams noted that Dave Redding, Team Manager, and Chief Engineer of Vehicle Design, Adam Carter, will assume his responsibilities in place of Roberts. They have also clarified that he was not in contact with other team members.
But Williams is already down on members as per their last update. The team has been forced to shuffle some of its team personnel from factory to trackside for this weekend’s F1 grand prix at Istanbul Park.
Here’s Max Verstappen on RB16 troubles
Here’s last from Williams F1 on COVID-19
Here’s Pirelli on its Istanbul visit
