Reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo was at Silverstone Thursday, trying his hand at taming the 2014 Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 race car.
The event was organized by sponsor Monster Energy and while no official lap times were released, Lorenzo was said to be very pleased with his performance behind the wheel.
“It’s been an amazing day,” said the MotoGP champion. “I’m very satisfied with the lap time in the last run. From what the engineers were saying, my times were really competitive.”
According to Autosport, Mercedes track engineer Richard Lane confessed to enjoying working with Lorenzo, especially because of his enthusiasm.
“From the moment he arrived he’s been full of enthusiasm and keen to get stuck in,” said Lane. “Between each run he’s been poring over the data, and looking to find areas for improvement.”
As for what Lorenzo thought of the Mercedes Formula 1 car, let’s just say he came away impressed with its overall balance, braking power and cornering ability.
“The car is so smooth, I expected a more twitchy and difficult car but in the end everything was so good: the steering wheel, the engine, everything. It was quite easy to drive and the car in the corners is really, really fast and the grip of the car it’s unreal.”
Lorenzo added that the Mercedes was about 40 km/h (25 mph) faster in the middle of the corners, compared to his MotoGP bike.
“Also it surprised me how late you can brake and the amount of grip the car can support in full throttle in the fast corners is insane.”
Lorenzo is currently 3rd overall in the MotoGP standings with just four races left on the calendar.
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