Colton Herta looks back on his testing day

Colton Herta, as part of his program as a McLaren Racing driver, was able to experience the sensations of a Formula 1 car for the first time in real conditions at the Portimao circuit. After several simulator sessions, the American driver took the wheel of Daniel Ricciardo’s victorious car at Monza. In total, during these two days, Herta completed 162 laps of the Portuguese track, equivalent to 750 kilometers, but the McLaren team has not released any timing information for this test.

« It was very fun, I had two days to get used to the car, which is obviously quite different from what I’m used to driving. » declared Colton Herta after his test.

« It’s a slightly different style of driving, but the engineers have helped me a lot to catch up, and what a car! It’s truly special, not only to have a first test in a Formula 1 car, but in a winning Formula 1 car [Ricciardo won the Italian GP in 2021]. It’s even cooler, so it’s a great opportunity for me. I have to thank Mr. Seidl [Andreas, team principal of the McLaren team] and Zak [Brown, CEO of McLaren] for allowing me to borrow their car for these two days.

McLaren is satisfied.

Andreas Seidl was encouraged by the performance of young Colton Herta, “First and foremost, this test was meant to give Colton the opportunity to get used to the car,” the German stated.

« Then, he had to learn different piloting techniques, adapt to a different operational aspect than Formula 1 race weekends, compare different tire compounds, drive with different fuel loads, do qualifying runs and also simulate race relays.

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« I must say that the team has been impressed by the way Colton tackled all these challenges and his professional approach. His physical preparation allowed him to truly carry on throughout these two days, knowing how tough it can be in a Formula 1 on a track like Portimao. This enabled him to gradually increase the pace, gain confidence and always find the right balance between taking risks and keeping the car on track, which is important in a test like this. So yes, I am very happy with how the test went.

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It is not unthinkable to see the American driver at the wheel of the MCL36 during a free practice session this year, considering how well these tests are going.