Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver Joseph Loake stars In Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team Silverstone Test

British racing driver Joseph Loake made an impressive Formula 1 test debut when he drove an Aston Martin Aramco Formula One^®  Team car on Wednesday (21 August) as part of his prize for winning last year’s Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award [AMABA].

The 19-year-old completed 39 laps of Silverstone’s legendary Grand Prix circuit in an Aston Martin AMR22, similar to the cars four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and current   Aston Martin Aramco Formula One^™ Team driver Lance Stroll raced during the 2022 FIA Formula 1^® World Championship season. It was the British emerging talent’s first experience of driving an F1^®  car of any kind.

The day began with two series of installation laps on the 3.66-mile long track (located across the road from the AMR Technology Campus) before continuing into a series of slick tyre runs. In total, Loake completed more than 225km running in the car in dry conditions.

Loake, who finished third in the 2023 GB3 Championship before stepping up to FIA Formula 3 this year, sampled both hard and soft-compound Pirelli tyres across four further runs throughout the day aboard the 1.6-litre V6-engined car, which combined with a twin-energy hybrid retrieval system, can produce around 1000bhp.

“It’s been incredible,” Loake said. “I knew it was going to be faster than anything I’d driven, but the grip and speed through the fast turns was absolutely astonishing – a whole level above anything I could have imagined.

“The whole experience has been amazing and so different to racing a Formula 3 car. Walking into the garage and seeing so many people who are just there for you and your car, and then seeing your name on the halo really makes it dawn on you, ‘this is real; I’m going to drive a Formula 1^® car.

“But the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One^® Team AMR22 is incredible. I’ve never known a car to be so responsive to every steering adjustment, every dab of throttle. It’s the most compliant car I’ve ever driven and that gives you confidence to push. Then your brain adjusts to the speed and you can focus on making the small adjustments that really help your laptime. Off-track the depth of data available is like nothing I’ve experienced and I’ll definitely be able to use some of the things I learnt to improve my driving for the rest of the season in F3. It was a really cool day and I’m pleased to say I left nothing on the table.

“The whole experience has been amazing and the team were brilliant with me. I’m so grateful to everyone involved from Aston Martin, Autosport and the BRDC who have made this possible for young racing drivers.”

Loake won the test, along with a cash prize of £200,000, full British Racing Drivers’ Club membership, an Arai helmet and a Jordan Bespoke personalised helmet bag, after beating three pre-selected rivals in a two-day assessment at Silverstone last year in various machinery including an Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Robert Sattler, F1 Evolution Programme Director, AMF1 Team added: “Joseph did a very good job on his first time drving a Formula 1 car. It’s a big step up from what he’s used to in Formula 3, but he dealt with everything extremely professionally and made a very good impression on the team with his attitude. The number of technical staff and other people that are involved in running a Formula 1 car can be a bit overwhelming for some, but Joseph settled in well and asked a lot of pertinent questions. It’s one thing to listen to the engineers after each run, but to take on board their feedback and translate it into what they do on-track really shows a young driver’s potential and Joseph did this very well. He had a lot of confidence to push the Aston Martin Aramco Fomula One^® Team AMR22 hard straight away to try to find the limit and this is rare for somebody drving an F1^® car for the first time. Joseph’s clearly a driver with a bright future in motor racing and we wish him all the best.”