Santino Ferrucci tests car for Haas Formula 1 team

Santino Ferrucci Tuesday became the first American to drive an American-owned Formula One car in nearly four decades, running 55 laps for the Haas F1 team during a test session at Great Britain’s Silverstone circuit.

Ferrucci, just 18 years old, was the first American to see time in an F1 car for an American-based team since Danny Ongais drove for Penske in the 1977 Canadian Grand Prix, the team said. Ferrucci was seventh-fastest during Tuesday’s session, which featured an 11-car field.

Haas are the first American team to compete in Formula One since 1986.

The Connecticut native told USA TODAY he was completely taken aback by the opportunity to finally fulfill his lifelong dream of driving a Formula One car.

“My first lap out was a radio check, and I was so like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening,’ that I totally forgot to do anything they asked the first lap,” Ferrucci said. “They had to come on the radio and remind me and I was like, ‘Yeah, I got it, I got it. I’m just a little bit in shock here!’”

The test was effected by wet weather conditions during its afternoon stint. However, it allowed Ferrucci to finally obtain his FIA superlicense, earned by driving 300 kilometers in an F1 car, a license required to race in world’s premiere series. Formula One rules require teams to use two days of in-season testing to train a young driver who has fewer than two F1 races of experience.

Ferrucci currently competes in the GP3 feeder series.

“The car is on another level,” he said. “I gotta say, to drive an F1 car is impressive. You really can’t explain it.

“I had an idea from the (simulator), but to go from the sim to reality, it blew me away. How fast you go from over 200 mph to 60 is unbelievable. I mean, to experience over 5 G’s of force is not something you do every day unless you’re a fighter pilot.”

The team’s principal, Guenther Steiner, said in a statement afterward that Ferrucci impressed the entire Haas team with his professionalism and preparation.

“He was well set up to be able to handle the car,” Steiner said. “These cars are very complicated, but he adapted quickly, was reliable and he didn’t put a foot wrong all day.”

The opportunity was extended by team owner Gene Haas, who also co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing of NASCAR, during the F1 team’s first season in competition. Haas added Ferrucci to his stable of talent — which features Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez — as a development driver earlier this year.

Making it in Formula One has proven to be a long and drawn-out process — through the first 10 rounds of the 2016 season, Grosjean currently sits 10th in the drivers’ championship standings, Gutierrez in 19th.

Ferrucci will return to Silverstone for a second day of testing on Wednesday, and until then, he and the rest of his team will assess the data collected from his Tuesday session.

“(Wednesday’s) expectations are to do the same as today: Progress as a driver and help the team learn about the car,” Ferrucci said.

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