Formula 1
Force India young driver test report day 1
16 November 2010 - The Force India F1 Team's young driver test got underway today at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The team remained on site after Sunday's race to participate in the two day test, reserved exclusively for drivers who have ...
Published: Nov 17, 2010, 6:37 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
16 November 2010 - The Force India F1 Team's young driver test got underway today at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The team remained on site after Sunday's race to participate in the two day test, reserved exclusively for drivers who have limited F1 racing experience.
Paul di Resta took to the circuit for the opening 90 minutes to test development items ahead of the tyre test later this week before handing the VJM03 over to Antonio Felix da Costa for the remainder of the day.
Antonio became the youngest-ever Portuguese driver to run a Formula 1 car when he took to the track and performed well throughout the session, running on a variety of settings, fuel loads and aero configurations. He completed 77 laps with a best time of 1:41.381, the third quickest of the day.
Paul will again be running in the first part of the day tomorrow, with Dutchman Yelmer Buurman taking over driving duties mid morning.
Paul di Resta
It was good to be back in the car this morning for the first time since the Italian Grand Prix, even though it was a very short session - just over an hour and a half. We had a few development items we needed to run to carry over to the tyre test later this week and I had to learn the circuit layout since I'd never driven the Yas Marina track other than on the simulator. It's very technical with tight corners that you need to get right, and I'm looking forward to getting out again tomorrow to carry on the programme in the morning.
Antonio Felix da Costa
It was a good day, quite surprising, even for me. I adapted to the car a bit faster than I expected and that was very positive as I could do some real work to get up to speed more quickly and get to grips with the set up of the car. I think my lap time was good, only four tenths from the qualifying times of the Force India this weekend, so I am pretty pleased. It was just such an amazing experience today and I wish everyone could try it as it's so impressive, such fun. I have to thank the whole crew at Force India who worked so hard today, to my management and sponsors and I hope to have some more F1 experience again quite soon.
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer
A good first day of testing for the team. We started with Paul to make a short baseline and carry out some component testing and data collection. Antonio took over the car shortly before lunch, familiarised himself quickly and ran through several tyre and long run evaluations as part of what is now our standard Young Driver Programme. Overall we covered our objectives, everyone in the team did a great job, and we and look forward to tomorrow's second Young Driver day.
Testing data
Driver: Paul di Resta (9am - 10.30am) / Antonio Felix da Costa
Track: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
Best lap time: Paul: 1:42.736 / Antonio: 1:41.381
Laps completed: Paul: 28 / Antonio: 77
Kilometres completed: Paul: 156km / Antonio: 428km
Air temperature: High of 33 C
Track temperature: High of 45 C
Weather: Sunny throughout
-source: force india
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Vettel wins race and championship in Abu Dhabi
Next article F2 Abu Dhabi F1 young driver test report day 1
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Antonio Felix da Costa
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
Cadillac signs Ricky Taylor, Antonio Felix da Costa in refreshed 2027 WEC line-up
Alpine explains decision to drop Antonio Felix da Costa, Fred Makowiecki from Fuji WEC line-up
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Alpine explains decision to drop Antonio Felix da Costa, Fred Makowiecki from Fuji WEC line-up
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
Formula E
Formula E
London ePrix II
Antonio Felix da Costa defends Jaguar, says Pascal Wehrlein took Jake Dennis out “on purpose”
More from
Force India
Otmar Szafnauer reveals failed Kimi Raikkonen bid involving "Angry Birds" founders
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
Otmar Szafnauer reveals failed Kimi Raikkonen bid involving "Angry Birds" founders
Esteban Ocon explains why he collided with Sergio Perez so often at Force India
Formula 1
Formula 1
Esteban Ocon explains why he collided with Sergio Perez so often at Force India
Former Force India F1 boss Fernley dies aged 70
Formula 1
Formula 1
Austrian GP
Former Force India F1 boss Fernley dies aged 70
Latest news
Toyota explains call to run Celica and Yaris models in WRC 2027
WRC
WRC WRC 42 min
Toyota explains call to run Celica and Yaris models in WRC 2027
Isack Hadjar blames himself for George Russell clash that “ruined” his Mexico GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Isack Hadjar blames himself for George Russell clash that “ruined” his Mexico GP
Kimi Antonelli labels the "turning point" in F1 title-winning season
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Kimi Antonelli labels the "turning point" in F1 title-winning season
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe