Loeb gets first taste of Red Bull Racing’s F1 car
As part of his preparations for the official F1 test session on 17 November in Barcelona, Sebastien Loeb was in the UK yesterday for some familiarisation laps in the Red Bull Racing F1 car.
After a seat fitting at the team’s Milton Keynes headquarters on Wednesday, Loeb drove the RB4 for the first time at a damp and drizzly Silverstone circuit on Thursday morning.
Starting at 0930hrs, Loeb completed 37 laps of Silverstone’s 2.6km National Circuit in chassis number 005 - the same car used by Marc Webber at the F1 round in Valencia this year. Light rain fell throughout the session which meant Loeb stayed on full wet tyres throughout.
Afterwards Loeb said his first time in the Red Bull car had been a great experience - despite the rain. “The conditions were difficult and with the water and the low temperature I had to react very quickly all the time when the car went sideways but okay, I was happy with the feeling I had,” he said. “It was my first time in an F1 car without traction control and all of those things. I’m sure I was not very fast but I was feeling good - I was able to bring it back when I was sliding.”
Loeb said the test had been very useful - even though track conditions are likely to be completely different when he drives the car in Spain. “If it’s raining and five degrees in Barcelona we’ll be okay,” he joked. “For sure it would have been better to test here in dry conditions and to understand a bit the limits of the car, because I couldn’t really do that, but okay it was good to check the seat fits, I can see properly and get some good feeling with the clutch and brakes. I will be good to start in Barcelona without stalling the engine three times when I leave the pits...”
Loeb said he felt confident in the car from the start and had hit 260kph on his first lap. “It’s not easy to be comfortable in one of these cars but I had no moments,” he said. “For me the most difficult thing to understand is the speed you can take in the high speed corners and how to judge the braking points. The down-force means you have amazing grip at high speed.”
A senior source within the team gave Loeb’s performance the thumbs up: “His driving was impressive, but so was his attitude. He wasn’t intimidated by the car and in these conditions he did well to drive it hard enough to get everything up to operating temperature without making any mistakes - that’s not easy to do. He looks to be in good shape for Barcelona.”
As part of his preparations for the official F1 test session on 17 November in Barcelona, Sebastien Loeb was in the UK yesterday for some familiarisation laps in the Red Bull Racing F1 car.
After a seat fitting at the team’s Milton Keynes headquarters on Wednesday, Loeb drove the RB4 for the first time at a damp and drizzly Silverstone circuit on Thursday morning.
Starting at 0930hrs, Loeb completed 37 laps of Silverstone’s 2.6km National Circuit in chassis number 005 - the same car used by Marc Webber at the F1 round in Valencia this year. Light rain fell throughout the session which meant Loeb stayed on full wet tyres throughout.
Afterwards Loeb said his first time in the Red Bull car had been a great experience - despite the rain. “The conditions were difficult and with the water and the low temperature I had to react very quickly all the time when the car went sideways but okay, I was happy with the feeling I had,” he said. “It was my first time in an F1 car without traction control and all of those things. I’m sure I was not very fast but I was feeling good - I was able to bring it back when I was sliding.”
Loeb said the test had been very useful - even though track conditions are likely to be completely different when he drives the car in Spain. “If it’s raining and five degrees in Barcelona we’ll be okay,” he joked. “For sure it would have been better to test here in dry conditions and to understand a bit the limits of the car, because I couldn’t really do that, but okay it was good to check the seat fits, I can see properly and get some good feeling with the clutch and brakes. I will be good to start in Barcelona without stalling the engine three times when I leave the pits...”
Loeb said he felt confident in the car from the start and had hit 260kph on his first lap. “It’s not easy to be comfortable in one of these cars but I had no moments,” he said. “For me the most difficult thing to understand is the speed you can take in the high speed corners and how to judge the braking points. The down-force means you have amazing grip at high speed.”
A senior source within the team gave Loeb’s performance the thumbs up: “His driving was impressive, but so was his attitude. He wasn’t intimidated by the car and in these conditions he did well to drive it hard enough to get everything up to operating temperature without making any mistakes - that’s not easy to do. He looks to be in good shape for Barcelona.”
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