Simon Rennie felt Daniel Ticktum’s first experience in a Formula 1 car went ‘very smoothly’, and it was impressive that the young Briton was able to complete a healthy one hundred and thirty-five laps of the Sakhir International Circuit on Wednesday.
Ticktum, a Red Bull Junior, was handed his first opportunity to run in a Formula 1 car in the post-Bahrain Grand Prix test on Wednesday in the Honda-powered Red Bull Racing RB15, and he set the ninth fastest time of the day, a 1:30.856.
Rennie, Red Bull’s Group Leader of Simulator Engineering, was pleased with the days work and with how much Ticktum was able to learn and experience during the day in Bahrain.
“Today went very smoothly,” said Rennie on Wednesday. “We did 135 laps, which is pretty impressive for Dan’s first time in the car.
“He did lots of aerodynamic work that involved complex procedures and performed all of those very well. He could experience some set-up changes and longer runs to give him a good feeling for the RB15.”
Rennie feels Ticktum, who is working hard in the simulator back at Milton Keynes to aid the development of the RB15, will be able to go back to his simulator duties with better references than he did previously now he has felt what it is like to drive a Formula 1 car on track.
“Dan has been doing good work in our simulator without having driven the real car – so today has definitely been valuable for him and us,” added Rennie. “When he’s next on the simulator, he’ll have a very good reference.
“That was one of the big positives of the day as he now knows what the car really feels like, rather than having to go on what we tell him!”
