McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl revealed that they were “quite impressed” with Colton Herta’s approach to the two-day test at Portimao.
Herta drove McLaren’s MCL35M car at Portimao earlier this week, which was his first experience behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. After the test, the American said that he felt “really comfortable” in the car. Meanwhile, Seidl emphasized Herta’s “professional approach.”
“The objective for this test was to give Colton the chance to experience a Formula 1 car for the first time and explore its performance. And that was the focus,” he said.
“When you do these two test days, there’s different testing objectives, obviously. First and foremost, giving Colton the chance to get used to the car, but then also switching focus on working on different driving techniques. For example, getting used to the different operational aspects of a Formula 1 race weekend, like comparing different tire compounds, running at different fuel loads as well, quali runs to race simulation-like runs as well.
“I have to say, the team was quite impressed how Colton was dealing with all these challenges and with his professional approach.”
Seidl added that good physical shape helped Herta during the test: “What was great to see as well was that his physical preparation was enabling him to really keep going throughout the two days, knowing how challenging this can be in a Formula 1 car on a track like Portimao.
“In the end, this approach allowed him really to build up pace quite early, gain confidence, and also finding always the right balance between taking risk and still keeping the car on the track, which is obviously important as well on a test like this. So, very happy with how the test went.”
