Four-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez is a true ace on two wheels and is already leading this year’s championship after six rounds. Recently though, he took on a whole different challenge.

Marquez went from his Repsol Honda bike to a Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 car, lapping the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria, while showing immense talent, despite this being the first time he’s ever driven a Formula 1 car.

“It was always my dream to race the quickest cars in the world. I had great respect for it ahead of today, and I didn’t sleep well. In the end it was an unbelievable experience, and an absolute highlight of my career.”

“There is a massive difference to MotoGP. The limited visibility was a great challenge, in particular, to begin with. You feel a lot more constricted in the cockpit. The braking distances and timing in turns is completely different. A Formula 1 car has much more downforce, of course, which made for a lot of fun in the part of the circuit with the most turns, in particular,” said Marquez.

When asked if he sees himself as a Formula 1 driver in the future, the Spaniard went on to say that he is completely focused on MotoGP in the coming years, seen as how he’s “part of a fantastic team”. However, he did not exclude the possibility.

Marquez was joined at the track by three-time world champion and F1 legend Niki Lauda, eight-time GP winner Mark Webber and Red Bull Motorsport boss Helmut Marko.

“He was really quiet still at breakfast. As soon as he got into the cockpit, he was 100 per cent focused and delivered a top performance on the race track. Formula 1 and MotoGP are two completely different things. Marc made my job as an instructor very easy though. He always asked the right questions and improved lap by lap,” said former Red Bull Racing driver, Mark Webber.