With the usual chill in the characteristically breezy Silverstone air, Joseph Loake arrives at the home of the British Grand Prix ready to fulfil a childhood dream: finally, he is going to get behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car, with Aston Martin.
Following in the footsteps of drivers who began with David Coulthard in 1989, and include such names as Jenson Button, Paul di Resta, George Russell and Lando Norris, right up to Luke Browning in 2023, this is Loake’s moment in the sun. But unbeknown to many of those on site that day, this test is about so much more than simply getting to sample top-tier machinery.
After graduating from GB3, where he finished third overall to Callum Voisin and Alex Dunne, Loake used the financial reward from being named Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year to help finance a seat with Rodin Motorsport in F3, putting him squarely in view of F1 teams.
This proved a challenging step, and he scored eight points across the season. Impressively, his points all came in Monaco, where he finished fifth in the sprint race and ninth in the longer feature. But the difficult year had caused self-doubt to creep in.
“Throughout the year, I had slowly lost a lot of confidence that I hadn’t realised I’d lost,” reflects Loake. “I noticed, especially looking back, I had been beating myself up a lot and really struggling at times and I never realised it through the season.
“I think the F1 test is that time to almost drive a car without any pressure, or with less pressure. That’s helped me reset a bit and remind myself why I’m a racing driver.”
Across the day, the 19-year-old completes 36 laps in the Aston Martin AMR22 – this being the first time a car with ground-effect technology had been used for the Award test. Following a single installation lap to get used to the car, and far more intricate systems than he’s familiar with, Loake completes runs on used hard and used soft tyres, before new sets of each compound are bolted on, the higher-grip soft rubber rounding out the day.
Asked whether the outing has helped him rediscover his love of racing, Loake replies: “Exactly. It’s very tricky to enjoy something when things are going wrong week in and week out. It was just the bit of enjoyment that I needed to pick myself back up again.
“Words don’t describe how crazy a machine it is. It’s just such a special day. Obviously, I hope to drive a car like this again, race one and take it to a world championship one day. But the first time is always the most special; it’s a day I’ll never forget.
"I think I was flat [through Copse] by lap three, which I promised my mates I would do, so there we go!"
Joseph Loake
“It’s just so incredible that I got this opportunity. It was very difficult to get up to speed, and speed up my brain with everything that goes on. Once you’ve done the first two runs, you’ve figured it out a little bit and are straight away trying to find lap time. The racing driver in you comes out; you think you’re about to go and qualify the next day and want to find all the time you can.
“I think the first two times I went through [Copse Corner], there was a lift,” he smiles. “But then I was like, ‘I can’t be a wuss for this one, I’ve got to do it flat’. I think I was flat by lap three, which I promised my mates I would do, so there we go!
“By the end of the day, I was starting to feel comfortable and feel what made the car quick. I wish I’d had a few more laps where I could put it all together, but either way, I’m thankful to Aston Martin, the BRDC, Autosport and everyone involved.
“It’s just an incredible experience to be able to drive the car and of course, like I said, I hope to be able to drive it again one day. But if I don’t, at least I got to drive one. I’m so overwhelmed.”
Varied conditions make comparisons a challenge
One thing that any driver wants to know is how well they stack up compared to those who’ve come before them. Given the constantly changing chassis used for the Award test, this is a question that’s particularly hard to answer.
Assessing Joseph Loake’s performance, Aston Martin programme director and race engineer Robert Sattler says: “He did a very good job. It was very limited running. It’s a big step from F3 to F1, so he had to get used to the higher power, extra grip and downforce etc. Comparing to other drivers is very difficult because the track conditions are always different.
“It was quite windy and there was only one car on track. When we did a test recently, we had another four cars on track, so the track obviously improved much more. But overall he followed the procedure, he did everything we asked him to do, made no mistakes and was very focused with good feedback. He did what we expected from him.
“Obviously, we always expect to go faster, but he only had one new hard set of tyres and one new soft. The other drivers had multiple new tyres. That’s why it’s difficult to compare.”
Can Loake’s performance be weighed up against that of his 2023 Award predecessor Luke Browning? “Luke did a very, very good job,” nods Sattler. “He was very impressive, but the conditions were different.
“It’s a different car. The 2021 car [which Browning tested] is nicer to drive. We’ve been using this car [the AMR22] since the beginning of the year and, if you ask the race drivers if they could pick a car to drive, they’d prefer the ’21 car. OK, the ’22 car is now improving on everything, but that doesn’t matter. At the end of the day – back to the comparison – I don’t know how to compare.
“Historically, we know that everyone who wins this Award succeeds somehow, so the way the selection is done works well, and we now just need to wait. We’re going to see Luke progressing; we’re going to see Joseph progressing.”
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