2017MABAWINNERTICKTUM DRIVESMCLARENFORMULA1CAR

Dan Ticktum experienced his first ever taste of Formula 1 machinery at Silverstone last week, his prize for winning the 2017 Mclaren Autosport BRDC Award.

The 19-year-old won four times to finish runner-up in the Formula 3 European Championship this season with the Motopark team, losing out to eventual champion Mick Schumacher.

After an installation lap around the circuit’s Grand Prix layout in the 2013 Mclaren MP4- 28 layout on intermediate tyres, Ticktum undertook four runs of five flying laps.

He told Motorsport News: “Everyone will say it who’s done it, but it is impossible to put into words [how driving an F1 car feels].

“It’s been hard work with a lot of ups and downs but to be sat in an F1 car is more than a dream. I feel like I’ve completed my life almost, I’m just so happy!

“[The experience] is like taking everything in Euro F3 and then doubling it. All the techniques to drive it, I’ve noticed there’s quite a lot of similarities, some of which you’d expect.

“But the noise is just incredible and I won’t ever forget that - my first time driving an F1 car.

Amelia Lewis, the Mclaren graduate engineer who ran the test, added: “We were obviously really impressed with what he was doing, so we wanted to make sure he got the opportunity to do all of the runs. I think everyone in the team is impressed with how he’s performed.”