George Russell is a step closer to fulfilling his dream of becoming a Grand Prix driver when the Norfolk racer recently tested the 2017 race winning Formula One Mercedes AMG W08.
Russell, part of the Mercedes AMG Junior F1 programme, undertook two days of testing at the Formula One young driver test held at the Hungaroring.
'What a mega two days of testing with 209 laps completed with lots of information gathered,' tweeted a delighted Russell. 'The first of many I hope.'
The local racer was very keen to get behind the steering wheel of the real thing and expand on his simulator work for the title winning team.
'I've probably driven more virtual laps than anyone else with this car, so it's going to be incredible to drive it in reality,' explained Russell prior to the test.
Russell was able to reflect on his two days behind the wheel of the race winning car. 'I was very pleased with the test. I feel like I could have done even more laps.
'It's obviously extremely tough driving the 2017 car. And there's no rest at a circuit like this, especially in 36 degree temperature. I was playing it safe because I knew I had two days in the car with lots of mileage planned.
'I wanted to do a good job for the team and tick off all of their test items. We didn't focus on coming out on top of the timesheets. We came away from this test learning a lot. From our point of view we took everything away we needed to.'
However, as with most cutting edge technology, some problems did develop during the second day.
'We had a couple of issues, as things didn't go quite to plan and at the end of the day, the engineers told me I had a loss of oil pressure and had to stop the car,' explained the local racer.
Russell also ran, for a short time, the 'Halo' cockpit safety device which will be mandated for Formula 1 next year. 'I had a much better view with the Halo than I expected,' added Russell.
'From a driver's perspective, the visibility is completely fine. The only hindrance could potentially be seeing the start lights. Getting in and out of the car with the Halo takes a bit of experience. I struggled initially, but after a few trial runs I was fine.'
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