Ticktum’s prize Mclaren F1 test

Dan Ticktum experienced his first taste of Formula 1 machinery last week on Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit, his prize drive for winning the 2017

Mclaren Autosport BRDC Award.

The 19-year-old Macau Grand Prix winner took four victories this season on the way to finishing as runner-up in the Formula 3 European Championship with Motopark, losing out to eventual champion Mick Schumacher.

Ticktum drove Mclaren’s Mercedes V8-powered MP4-28, as campaigned by Jenson Button and Sergio Perez in 2013. After an installation lap on intermediate tyres, Ticktum undertook four runs of five flying laps each on demonstration specifications licks.

He told Autosport: “Everyone will say it who’s done it, but it’s 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 are 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.”