Sam Bird: There’s nothing quite like driving an F1 car
The British driver finished in second position today during the Young Driver Tests at Magny-Cours, under the watchful eye of Michael Schumacher. After a productive day in which he completed 125 laps, Bird is preparing to experience the third and final day as a mere spectator.
For the second consecutive day, Sam Bird was behind the wheel of the Mercedes F1 W03. Yesterday, after testing the new features introduced by the German team, the Briton told our correspondent that he would now be looking for a bit more performance. However, he had to settle for the second-best time of the day, over a second behind Jules Bianchi’s best time, but he remains positive: We collected the data we needed, we saw what we needed to see in relation to the data and the performance of the parts we evaluated. It was another positive day.
With the 125 laps he completed today, Sam Bird will have completed a total of 220 laps in two days, totaling more than 900 kilometers, without having experienced any physical issues: « There is nothing quite like driving a Formula One. I think I did 125 laps today and had no problem. »
But today, the Mercedes driver raced under the gaze of Michael Schumacher, providing Sam Bird the opportunity to express the deep respect he holds for the seven-time German world champion: « He wanted to come see for himself how I was progressing and how the team was advancing. It’s great to have a man like him among us. After 20 years of Grand Prix racing, he is still as focused as he was the first time he got into a Formula One car. It’s fantastic! »
The Briton also confirmed that Brendon Hartley would take over this Thursday: « Tomorrow, he takes the car and I watch and then I fly to Hungary (for the World Series by Renault event, editor’s note), » he replied to our correspondent, laughing. « He will do well. He has already done this, I am sure he is more than capable. »
From our correspondent in Magny-Cours.
