Esteban Ocon and Roy Nissany get their first taste of Formula 1

Less than a week has gone by since the FIA Formula 3 European Championship season finale and already now, the first of the young F3 drivers have been offered the chance of demonstrating their skills at the wheel of Formula 1 vehicles.

At Valencia, FIA Formula 3 European Champion Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam) and Israel’s Roy Nissany (kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport) completed their first laps in the cockpit of Formula 1 racers and enjoyed the experience. In addition, they also demonstrated that they have got what it takes to drive a Formula 1 car.

Esteban Ocon, a member of the Lotus Formula 1 team’s junior programme since 2010, was invited to test a Lotus E20 for two days. Over the course of the two days of testing, the 18-year old Frenchman covered a total of 650 kilometres and thrilled the engineers. “Esteban did a very good job and successfully executed all the tasks assigned to him by us,” said Lotus Chief Engineer Alan Permane. “His feedback and his pace also were promising and very good. I’m convinced that we will see him back in the cockpit of an F1 car before long.”

Driving the E20 is easy and was big fun. I would be really happy should I have another chance of getting behind the wheel of an F1 racer, in the near future.

Esteban Ocon

It goes without saying that the Prema driver was delighted about these comments. “The two days of testing were just great,” he said. “I felt comfortable with the team and in the car right from the start. Driving the E20 is easy and was big fun. I would be really happy should I have another chance of getting behind the wheel of an F1 racer, in the near future.”

In addition to Ocon, Roy Nissany also got his first taste of Formula 1. The 19-year old Mücke driver who finished 17th in the 2014 FIA Formula 3 European Championship drove a Sauber C31 and after having covered some 400 kilometres he said: “It was a fantastic day and I feel great. At the beginning of the day I was somewhat excited and adapting to the style of driving necessary in a Formula 1 car and to the high cornering speeds was not too easy. But I succeeded in doing so and enjoyed the day to the max. At the same time, having had the chance of learning a Formula 1 team’s modes of operation also was great. Altogether the day was just brilliant.”

FIA Formula 3