Max Verstappen got his first taste of a Formula 1 car at speed when he took part in a test for Toro Rosso at the Adria International Raceway with the 2012 STR7.
The 16-year-old, who had an outing earlier this month in which he drove through the streets of Rotterdam, completed 148 trouble-free laps of the 2.702km circuit just two hours from Toro Rosso’s Faenza base.
Speaking about the day, in which he not only got up to speed but also practiced starts and pit stops, he said: “I was looking forward to my first drive in a Formula 1 car on a proper race track and I really enjoyed it.
“It was a good opportunity to work with Xevi [Pujolar], who will be my race engineer next year, as well as having a chance to get used to all the buttons on the steering wheel. I think it went well and I can’t wait to get back into a Formula 1 car as soon as possible.”
His future race engineer Pujolar, added: “Max started his run on Intermediates and got up to speed, making no mistakes. We worked through various procedures that make up a race weekend. He was very focused and precise and learned quickly, without having to ask many questions.
“Once we were able to fit slicks, he got used to the car in the dry and built up his speed, while we tried various fuel levels, replicating both qualifying and race trim, doing a mix of short and long runs. For a first day, it was very impressive.”
