Marc Marquez is doing his best to look relaxed, but behind the cool façade there must be butterflies in his stomach. And well he might be nervous - Marquez is a four-time MotoGP champion, but he's never properly driven a racing car on a circuit before, and his first proper experience of it will be in Formula 1 machinery.
In technical terms, F1 and motorcycle racing sit at opposite ends of the spectrum, yet it's not uncommon for specialists of the respective disciplines to swap shirts - if only fleetingly. MotoGP megastar Valentino Rossi tested for Ferrari in the mid-2000s, while triple champ Jorge Lorenzo tested a 2014 Mercedes at Silverstone just two years ago. But this is still a bit unusual - even for Marquez, a man whose brain must surely operate on a different plane, given his supremacy in one of the most exciting and dangerous forms of motorsport.
"A new experience," agrees Marquez as he greets Mark Webber on a cloudy morning in the Red Bull Ring pitlane. Webber, nine times a grand prix winner, will be coaching Marquez through this exploratory journey. They stroll to the garage together as mechanics finish fettling the car Marquez will drive - a Red Bull RB8 from 2012, clad in Toro Rosso livery.
"I'll have a chat with you each time you come in," Webber reassures him. They discuss locking the front tyres under braking and the need to progressively apply the throttle coming out of corners - and Webber explains how Marquez can adjust traction settings via the steering wheel. Marquez, in turn, asks to see data from a 'reference lap' on the laptop and Webber emphasises the importance of achieving the correct 'peak pressure' on the brake pedal, which tends to be quite a challenge for anyone who hasn't driven a high-downforce single-seater before. And then there's the matter of keeping those revs up...
As Marquez readies himself, Webber gives a final briefing, urging him to feel "the bite" of the front tyre and explaining how this will give him the confidence he needs to explore the limits of the car. Marquez looked relaxed when he arrived in the garage, but now appears pensive as he stands at the front of the car and fits his earplugs. He puts on his helmet and lowers himself into the cockpit. Webber removes the steering wheel and helps with the seatbelts as Marquez pulls on his gloves and then gives a thumbs-up. As the headrest is fitted and the wheels attached, Webber turns to make a gesture that indicates Marquez's eyes are on stalks.
The engine fires up and the mechanics push the car out onto the pitlane to save Marquez making an awkward turn out of the garage while trying not to stall the engine. With plenty of clutch-slip, he lurches slowly out of the pits and onto the track. Marc Marquez, MotoGP superstar, is now a Formula 1 driver...
After an installation lap, he's back in the pits, complaining his foot is catching on something. It turns out his left boot is snagging on the chassis as he comes off the brake. This car was designed around Webber's considerably taller frame, but that universal saviour of motorsport - good old duct tape - quickly facilitates a temporary fix.
"We'll do a four-lap run, on traction control six," an engineer explains. "If it feels okay, go down to five, then four. It would be good to get down to one or two by the end of the day." Marquez heads back out for his first proper run and is fearless as he begins experimenting with his approach to Turn 1 - attacking the braking zone and trying different gears, stabbing at the throttle to work out what this unfamiliar beast can do.
"He asked me if he should be fast into the corners and late on the power," says Webber. "I said it was better to come off and be earlier on the power - but that was late! Everything wasn't in order..." Webber isn't admonishing Marquez, merely highlighting how easy it is to revert to type. But already Marquez is impressing onlookers. "Nice" remarks one mechanic as the car dives into Turn 1 at speed. "Yeah, he seems keen!" remarks another. "Watch out Brendon Hartley!" quips an eager spectator from the pitwall.
Feedback after Marquez's first run suggests he has adapted quickly to the requisite braking style, although Webber would still like to see more peak pedal pressure from his charge. But Marquez is relying too heavily on extra help from the engine by shifting down through the gears far too quickly. It transpires that this is a technique he has carried across from MotoGP, where trick electronics control the amount of braking done by the engine for the rider, letting them get their gearshifts done early without upsetting the bike.
"When you go out, you try to translate the technique of MotoGP into F1 - but that doesn't work," Marquez later tells F1 Racing as we chat in the VIP area above the pits. "You need to change everything."
This is most likely why Marquez reports the car "moving from side to side" under braking, because his early shifts are breaking traction and causing the car to slide. Webber urges patience, admitting it's not easy even for experienced F1 drivers to master. Webber cites Kimi Räikkönen as an ace late down-changer, and diplomatically suggests Marquez's technique would work well in a car with a blown diffuser.
Red Bull Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko turns up to see what all the fuss is about, followed later by Niki Lauda. After a quick check with Marquez that everything is okay inside the garage, Marko and Webber head trackside in Marko's Aston Martin to get a better read on how the motorcycle ace is driving.
"We could make him competitive ready for the start of next year," Marko says with a gleam in his eye upon his return. "But he has a two-year contract..."
As his confidence builds, Marquez is handed fresh Pirelli tyres (hard compound, sadly) and granted an extra 1,000 revs (taking the engine up to 18,500rpm) to chase a lap time. The fuel load has also gradually reduced - from 50kg to 20kg - to give the car a more agile feel. Marquez gradually works his way down to a 1m 14.9s best, just over six seconds slower than Felipe Massa's pole time for the 2014 grand prix at this circuit. He would have been o.6s quicker but for a spin at the final corner, which he puts down to being "too slow" in the corner and not properly accessing the downforce.
"Trying to understand the braking point was the most difficult thing, because in MotoGP normally at the end of the straight we brake at 200m, and with an F1 car you're braking at 70-75m," Marquez explains. He also claims to have found the slower corners more difficult to master than the quick ones.
"It's a massive difference, and even on the last laps I was going to the corner thinking 'This time I will not go in!' But in the end, the car goes in. The braking was impressive. The fast corners and the downforce were impressive. But the braking was more impressive."
As was Marquez's driving, which left a considerable impression on his mentor Webber.
"He was nervous and he'd never driven a race car before, so straight into an F1 car was a baptism of fire," says Webber. "We didn't expect a huge amount, but we knew within the first two laps that we had a very aggressive starting point, which was great. He was very measured, very calm: it was impressive."
Webber feels Marquez pretty much got to the limit of what Red Bull's 'show car' could do, in a single morning. Both he and Marko were particularly impressed by how Marquez held on when sliding through the tricky medium-speed double-left in the middle of the circuit."From the first lap onwards he was competitive," says Marko. "I always wanted him in a car. He didn't achieve the lap time that would have been possible, but the car control and the approach... for sure, he would be a competitive Formula 1 driver.
"In the fast, double left-hander, the car goes sideways, he puts the throttle down, so no fear. We don't know about these tyres but he wouldn't be far off [one of our regular drivers]. Doing a quick time is one thing, but in a race it's a different story."
Could Marquez make the leap Rossi didn't and race in Formula 1? He and Red Bull are keen to do more testing, so don't rule it out. Trying an F1 car has planted a seed in the mind of this MotoGP superstar.
MotoGP vs F1
Max speed: Bike 221mph, Car 205mph
Acceleration (0-60mph): Bike 2.5s, Car 2.5s
Acceleration (0-150mph): Bike 7.9s, Car 6.3s
Deceleration (200-100mph): Bike 2.9s, Car 1.9s
Deceleration (100-60mph): Bike 1.5s, Car 1.1s
Max power: Bike >241bhp, Car >900bhp
Weight: Bike 170kg, Car 740kg
Power-to-weight ratio: Bike >1.42bhp/kg, Car >1.22bhp/kg
Capacity: Bike 1,000cc, Car 1,600cc
Lap time around Red Bull Ring: Bike 1m23.142s, Car 1m05.600s
Red Bull Ring Turn 1 apex speed: Bike 62mph, Car 71mph
Marc Marquez is doing his best to look relaxed, but behind the cool façade there must be butterflies in his stomach. And well he might be nervous - Marquez is a four-time MotoGP champion, but he's never properly driven a racing car on a circuit before, and his first proper experience of it will be in Formula 1 machinery.
In technical terms, F1 and motorcycle racing sit at opposite ends of the spectrum, yet it's not uncommon for specialists of the respective disciplines to swap shirts - if only fleetingly. MotoGP megastar Valentino Rossi tested for Ferrari in the mid-2000s, while triple champ Jorge Lorenzo tested a 2014 Mercedes at Silverstone just two years ago. But this is still a bit unusual - even for Marquez, a man whose brain must surely operate on a different plane, given his supremacy in one of the most exciting and dangerous forms of motorsport.
"A new experience," agrees Marquez as he greets Mark Webber on a cloudy morning in the Red Bull Ring pitlane. Webber, nine times a grand prix winner, will be coaching Marquez through this exploratory journey. They stroll to the garage together as mechanics finish fettling the car Marquez will drive - a Red Bull RB8 from 2012, clad in Toro Rosso livery.
"I'll have a chat with you each time you come in," Webber reassures him. They discuss locking the front tyres under braking and the need to progressively apply the throttle coming out of corners - and Webber explains how Marquez can adjust traction settings via the steering wheel. Marquez, in turn, asks to see data from a 'reference lap' on the laptop and Webber emphasises the importance of achieving the correct 'peak pressure' on the brake pedal, which tends to be quite a challenge for anyone who hasn't driven a high-downforce single-seater before. And then there's the matter of keeping those revs up...
As Marquez readies himself, Webber gives a final briefing, urging him to feel "the bite" of the front tyre and explaining how this will give him the confidence he needs to explore the limits of the car. Marquez looked relaxed when he arrived in the garage, but now appears pensive as he stands at the front of the car and fits his earplugs. He puts on his helmet and lowers himself into the cockpit. Webber removes the steering wheel and helps with the seatbelts as Marquez pulls on his gloves and then gives a thumbs-up. As the headrest is fitted and the wheels attached, Webber turns to make a gesture that indicates Marquez's eyes are on stalks.
The engine fires up and the mechanics push the car out onto the pitlane to save Marquez making an awkward turn out of the garage while trying not to stall the engine. With plenty of clutch-slip, he lurches slowly out of the pits and onto the track. Marc Marquez, MotoGP superstar, is now a Formula 1 driver...
After an installation lap, he's back in the pits, complaining his foot is catching on something. It turns out his left boot is snagging on the chassis as he comes off the brake. This car was designed around Webber's considerably taller frame, but that universal saviour of motorsport - good old duct tape - quickly facilitates a temporary fix.
"We'll do a four-lap run, on traction control six," an engineer explains. "If it feels okay, go down to five, then four. It would be good to get down to one or two by the end of the day." Marquez heads back out for his first proper run and is fearless as he begins experimenting with his approach to Turn 1 - attacking the braking zone and trying different gears, stabbing at the throttle to work out what this unfamiliar beast can do.
"He asked me if he should be fast into the corners and late on the power," says Webber. "I said it was better to come off and be earlier on the power - but that was late! Everything wasn't in order..." Webber isn't admonishing Marquez, merely highlighting how easy it is to revert to type. But already Marquez is impressing onlookers. "Nice" remarks one mechanic as the car dives into Turn 1 at speed. "Yeah, he seems keen!" remarks another. "Watch out Brendon Hartley!" quips an eager spectator from the pitwall.
Feedback after Marquez's first run suggests he has adapted quickly to the requisite braking style, although Webber would still like to see more peak pedal pressure from his charge. But Marquez is relying too heavily on extra help from the engine by shifting down through the gears far too quickly. It transpires that this is a technique he has carried across from MotoGP, where trick electronics control the amount of braking done by the engine for the rider, letting them get their gearshifts done early without upsetting the bike.
"When you go out, you try to translate the technique of MotoGP into F1 - but that doesn't work," Marquez later tells F1 Racing as we chat in the VIP area above the pits. "You need to change everything."
This is most likely why Marquez reports the car "moving from side to side" under braking, because his early shifts are breaking traction and causing the car to slide. Webber urges patience, admitting it's not easy even for experienced F1 drivers to master. Webber cites Kimi Räikkönen as an ace late down-changer, and diplomatically suggests Marquez's technique would work well in a car with a blown diffuser.
Red Bull Motorsport advisor Helmut Marko turns up to see what all the fuss is about, followed later by Niki Lauda. After a quick check with Marquez that everything is okay inside the garage, Marko and Webber head trackside in Marko's Aston Martin to get a better read on how the motorcycle ace is driving.
"We could make him competitive ready for the start of next year," Marko says with a gleam in his eye upon his return. "But he has a two-year contract..."
As his confidence builds, Marquez is handed fresh Pirelli tyres (hard compound, sadly) and granted an extra 1,000 revs (taking the engine up to 18,500rpm) to chase a lap time. The fuel load has also gradually reduced - from 50kg to 20kg - to give the car a more agile feel. Marquez gradually works his way down to a 1m 14.9s best, just over six seconds slower than Felipe Massa's pole time for the 2014 grand prix at this circuit. He would have been o.6s quicker but for a spin at the final corner, which he puts down to being "too slow" in the corner and not properly accessing the downforce.
"Trying to understand the braking point was the most difficult thing, because in MotoGP normally at the end of the straight we brake at 200m, and with an F1 car you're braking at 70-75m," Marquez explains. He also claims to have found the slower corners more difficult to master than the quick ones.
"It's a massive difference, and even on the last laps I was going to the corner thinking 'This time I will not go in!' But in the end, the car goes in. The braking was impressive. The fast corners and the downforce were impressive. But the braking was more impressive."
As was Marquez's driving, which left a considerable impression on his mentor Webber.
"He was nervous and he'd never driven a race car before, so straight into an F1 car was a baptism of fire," says Webber. "We didn't expect a huge amount, but we knew within the first two laps that we had a very aggressive starting point, which was great. He was very measured, very calm: it was impressive."
Webber feels Marquez pretty much got to the limit of what Red Bull's 'show car' could do, in a single morning. Both he and Marko were particularly impressed by how Marquez held on when sliding through the tricky medium-speed double-left in the middle of the circuit."From the first lap onwards he was competitive," says Marko. "I always wanted him in a car. He didn't achieve the lap time that would have been possible, but the car control and the approach... for sure, he would be a competitive Formula 1 driver.
"In the fast, double left-hander, the car goes sideways, he puts the throttle down, so no fear. We don't know about these tyres but he wouldn't be far off [one of our regular drivers]. Doing a quick time is one thing, but in a race it's a different story."
Could Marquez make the leap Rossi didn't and race in Formula 1? He and Red Bull are keen to do more testing, so don't rule it out. Trying an F1 car has planted a seed in the mind of this MotoGP superstar.
MotoGP vs F1
Max speed: Bike 221mph, Car 205mph
Acceleration (0-60mph): Bike 2.5s, Car 2.5s
Acceleration (0-150mph): Bike 7.9s, Car 6.3s
Deceleration (200-100mph): Bike 2.9s, Car 1.9s
Deceleration (100-60mph): Bike 1.5s, Car 1.1s
Max power: Bike >241bhp, Car >900bhp
Weight: Bike 170kg, Car 740kg
Power-to-weight ratio: Bike >1.42bhp/kg, Car >1.22bhp/kg
Capacity: Bike 1,000cc, Car 1,600cc
Lap time around Red Bull Ring: Bike 1m23.142s, Car 1m05.600s
Red Bull Ring Turn 1 apex speed: Bike 62mph, Car 71mph
