Teenager Jeffri becomes youngest tester
Date published : 02 Sep 2010 - 11:13:33
Malaysian teenager Nabil Jeffri became the youngest driver to test a Formula 1 car in history on Wednesday when he drove Lotus's T127 in a straightline aerodynamic test.
The 16-year-old, who competes in the Formula BMW Pacific championship, spent the day testing Lotus's current challenger at the Imperial War Museum's runway at Duxford, carrying out vital aero testing for the new team as well as providing feedback on the car's performance.
Jeffri, who is a member of the AirAsia ASEAN Driver Development programme, said his first experience of F1 machinery was everything he hoped it would be and more.
I have had an incredible day, one of the best days of my life, and I want to thank Lotus Racing, Tony Fernandes and Mike Gascoyne for giving me the chance to drive their car, the teenager said.
I have to admit that the first time I went out it was pretty scary everyone told me the acceleration would be unbelievable, and the braking would be so much greater than anything I've ever experienced, and it took a while to get used to that, but Heikki [Kovalainen] and Fairuz [Fauzy] gave me some advice on how to settle in to it, and after a while I was more comfortable, and was able to get through the day's plan.
It's such an honour to have had this opportunity, and it'll be a long time before the excitement wears off, but I'll keep on working hard to one day join Heikki, Fairuz, Jarno [Trulli] and the rest of the F1 grid, and with the support of people like Tony [Fernandes] and Lotus Racing, I've got a great chance of doing so.
Jeffri's progress was watched by Lotus race driver Heikki Kovalainen, and countryman Fairuz Fauzy, who is Lotus's principle tester, and Kovalainen said he simply told the youngster to make the most of the moment.
It's a great experience for Nabil and it's really good to see how well he did, the Finn said.
He's obviously very young, and he'll remember this experience for the rest of his life. When you feel the power of a Formula 1 car for the first time it's an incredible feeling and I told him to enjoy it, and not get stressed about trying to impress everyone too much.
He did a great job today he quickly picked up the correct procedures, and was working well with the whole team, which is pretty awesome when you think we've got the proper race team here today which could have been a bit daunting.
Chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne was also on hand to oversee the test and added: I'm delighted that Nabil has done such a good job and I'd like to thank him for the work he put in today.
He completed the planned programme, gave clear and precise feedback, and we couldn't ask any more of him than that.
I'm sure this experience will help him take another step forward in his career, and we'll be keeping a close eye on him to see if what he's learnt today can help him take that next step up, in performance terms, in the Asian Formula BMW Championship.
