F1 Test leaves lasting impression on Rovanperä

The Finn followed Sébastiens Loeb and Ogier – as well as Colin McRae, Petter Solberg and Tommi Mäkinen – into one of circuit racing’s fastest cars. Ahead of his F1 debut, Rovanperä lapped the Red Bull Ring in Formula 4 and Formula 3.5 cars to help familiarise himself with the track. He then stepped aboard the Formula 1 car.

“It was a great day,” he said. “I got quite a few laps in and, of course, the F1 car was something I had been looking forward to for a long time, so it was really cool to finally get to drive it. The day went well, and I was left with very good feelings.

“Physically, the F1 car feels quite different. There's a lot more lateral G-force, the car stops much more and turns more - it feels very different to the driver, there are a lot more G-forces and the car has an incredible amount of grip.

“The biggest differences between rally and F1 are obviously that a rally car moves a lot more – F1 is a bit like a karting car, it doesn't move much from its suspension, but it has an incredible amount of grip and, of course, F1 has a huge amount of downforce which allows you to drive much faster in corners.

“Thanks to Red Bull and Red Bull Racing for the day. It was a pretty amazing experience, this has been anticipated for quite a while and I was left with very good feelings myself, so thank you very much.”