Luca Ghiotto completed an amazing 161 laps of the Hungaroring on his first day in a Formula 1 car with the Williams Martini Racing team on Wednesday, with the Italian admitting he was surprised to have covered so much distance.
The current FIA Formula 2 Championship frontrunner was eleventh fastest on Wednesday but missed out on a late run on the Supersoft tyre that was planned due to a red flag, but overall he was really happy with the day in the car, which saw him achieve a lifelong dream of driving a Formula 1 car.
Ghiotto thanked Williams for giving him the day in the car, and revealed that the team were also happy with the work the twenty-two-year-old put in at the Hungaroring.
“What can I say other than first of all, I have to say a big thank you to Williams and everyone that made this possible because I have been working on this since I started racing,” said Ghiotto.
“It was unbelievable and now that the day is over, I can say it has been more unbelievable than I thought it could have been. I am really happy about today, especially because I can see the team is happy about the work we’ve done, all the things we’ve tested have worked out well and we were good, we could feel all the changes we made.
“The car is unbelievable to drive and of course it took me a lot to adapt to such a great car. I did many laps, which I’m surprised about. I couldn’t believe I could do 161 laps which is a lot, especially on such a tight track on a hot day, so yeah, I am really, really happy about the whole day.
“It was a shame we couldn’t do a lap time on the Supersoft tyres because of the red flag at the end but still, considering all the tyres we ran and the conditions, I am really happy and also from what I saw, the team is happy with everything as well.”
