Jose-Maria Lopez is a product of the Renault Driver Development programme [RDD], this week he had his first experience at the wheel of an F1 car at Barcelona with the Renault F1 team. Here he talks about his F1♉ 🙈test debut, how he was feeling when he first went out on track and a lot, lot more...

Q:
Jose-Maria [Lopez], how did y🦹our test in the R23 go?

Jose-Maria Lopez:
It was an unforgettable experience. It was very intense, and represented another first in my career. Having said that, it is just a step. In a more precise senseও, I also hope I met the engineers' expectations.

Q:
What w👍as your feeling when you first wen🦹t out on track in an F1 car?

JML:
I was feeling lots of different things: ha📖ppy, of course, and a little bit of emotion, because I was achieving a dream. My father and brother were there as well. From a purely professional point of view, it was fantastic. The team did everything to give me the best possible conditions to work in, and the track was. amazing! But I just tried to stay calm and concentrate: when you are playing with 800bhp, you don't try and show off. The power and the braking were incredible.

Q:
How did you cope physically?

JML:
Fine, even if the first few times I hit the brakes, it caught my neck a bit by surprise! Once we had got my seating position exactly right, everything was perfect. It was just a shame that 💝I couldn't get in a good final run on new tyres yesterday: I had made a good start to the lap when the engine failed.

Q:
And of cꦿourse, the rain yesterday [Wednesday] didn't help things for you?

JML:
Yes, the conditions were difficult, but driving in the wet is another way for the Renault engineers to as🎐sess my behaviour out on the circuit. In other categories, I never had a problem driving in the wet, and you feel very safe in an F1 car: the tyres, the brakes and the car itself all reassure you.

Q:
However, the ಞweather must have disrupted the work you and the engineers had ❀planned?

JML:
Clearly, it wasn't easy wo꧃rking in the conditions. We did try and make some set-up changes, but it then got very wet indeed. Overall, I think the times I set were respectable [1m 32.751s for his best lap] and༺ there were no mistakes.

Q:
So what does the future hold?

JML:
I will know better after another test next week at Vallelunga with Minardi, and the management of the RDD will tell me more. In any case, I particularly want to thank the Renault F1 Team,🧸 who gave me a fantastic welcome.