Colton Herta tested the MCL35M on Monday and Tuesday and was surprised by the acceleration and braking capabilities of a Formula One car
Colton Herta tested this Monday and Tuesday (11 and 12) the MCL35M, McLaren's car for the 2021 Formula 1 season in Portimão. After being announced as a test and development driver for the British team, this was his first contact with a car of the category, an opportunity that the American valued highly.
"It was a lot of fun. It was two great days to get used to the car, which is obviously quite different from what I'm used to. The driving style is a little different, but the engineers helped me a lot to adapt. And what a car to drive, it is really special. It's a great opportunity for me," Colton celebrated in an interview with the Racer website.
At 22, Herta is currently in his fourth year at Indy, his third with Andretti. Used to the American car, he needed time to adapt to the Formula 1 car in Portugal. Among the main differences noticed by the young McLaren test driver in relation to Indy are the acceleration, braking and the smoother steering wheel.
"I think the first thing was the torque right at the speed limiter on the way out of pit lane, which is amazing. Even when you are in such a low toation. Those were the biggest things for me: the straight line speeds, the acceleration, and the braking. Obviously, the corner speeds were higher than in an Indy car, but it didn't really catch my attention as much as the acceleration and how easy it was with all the downforce," explained the American.
"It's a completely different feeling. Obviously, the feeling you get in an Indy car is quite different because of the lack of power steering. So the lock and the smoothness of the steering wheel doesn't really transcribe what you get from a car like this. So that was something I had to get used to. Slowing down the hands. Obviously the speed is much higher on the track, but overall it was good to get a feel and a taste of what these machines can do," said Herta.
The American said that it was difficult not to accelerate to the maximum right away, but that things got easier over the two days. Colton even made changes to the setup of the car to get it to his liking. The various tuning possibilities of the Formula One car also surprised him, and Herta was amazed at how easy it was to change the behavior of the MCL35M from inside the cockpit.
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"We are able to test many different things, many different tuning changes, mechanically, aerodynamically with the car. And also inside the car itself, with all the tools. It was really cool to see the setup changes you can make to the car inside it, which is a lot more than we were able to do at Indy," analyzed the Andretti driver at Indy.
"It was amazing. If you have a problem in a corner, you can adjust with a flick of your finger. I really felt very comfortable and could feel the limit, maybe not the consistency. That will come after a few more days [of testing], but I felt it was close," Herta concluded.
Formula One has established a rule in 2022 in which teams are required to use rookie drivers in at least two free practice sessions. Depending on his performance in Portimao, Herta could appear in the McLaren car for a Formula 1 weekend this year. The category returns on July 24 for the French GP at the Paul Ricard circuit. Colton is back on track this Sunday (17), for the Toronto GP of the IndyCar Series.