Antonio Felix da Costa was happy to ease into his first day of testing Red Bull’s RB8 in Abu Dhabi.
The 21-year-old, already a member of the Red Bull Junior team, finished third in this year’s GP3 championship and won four of the last five FR3.5 races this season, including both events in the Barcelona finale.
While da Costa has targeted a full season in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2013, he has also been linked with a future role at Red Bull after boss Christian Horner labelled him a ‘real talent’.
Horner had also warned however that “F1 is something totally different”, and da Costa admitted he had initially been in awe of the car.
“This was my first time driving an RB8 at a proper test, with proper tyres on a real circuit, and… wow,” he said after finishing second fastest on the opening day.
“I was perhaps a little anxious beforehand, but ultimately the pedals and the steering wheel are in the usual places.
“There’s a lot to learn, particularly with the buttons on the steering wheel, and it took one or two runs to get completely comfortable with all of that – but I think we had a good day.”
Da Costa will resume driving duties on the second day, before handing the reigns over to Formula Renault 3.5 champion Robin Frijns.
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