Ticktum hails ‘big step’ with Red Bull after maiden run in F1

Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum labeled his maiden run in an F1 car as a “big step” in his career, and a useful day of work for the Milton Keynes-based team.

Ticktum was among Wednesday’s marathon runners in Bahrain on the final day of the in-season test, with the rookie putting 135 laps under his belt or the equivalent of a double race distance onboard Red Bull Racing’s RB15.

“I learned a lot today and my first time in a modern F1 car was a big step,” said Ticktum who is racing this year in the Japanese Super Formula series.

“I think the biggest thing was learning the procedures. There’s a lot of settings to use, a lot to do on the steering wheel, even on a push lap, which isn’t the case in the junior formula.

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“That was quite a lot to take in at the start – but I got used to it pretty quickly.

“It was also interesting having a garage full of people. It brings home that there’s a massive responsibility on the driver to deliver not just for himself and his engineers but for a whole Team.”

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Ticktum’s day went smoothly and included aero and set-up work and long runs, all of which contributed to the team’s development programme.

The rookie was nevertheless a bit unsettled by a minor issue encountered in the closing stages of the afternoon session.

“I had a little issue on my last tyre run which stopped me from going about seven or so tenths faster.

“I’m a little bit annoyed about that but it’s not what this day is about, it’s about gathering data. In that respect it’s good.

“We did some long runs and I had a good opportunity to gain an understanding of how these tyres work.

“Fitness is absolutely fine. I’ve prepared quite a lot since January. The last three or four months have been pretty flat out and that’s helped. The neck wasn’t too bad either.