11 October 2023 , 15:55
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Nico Rosberg heaped praise upon "super rapid" Aston Martin driver ambassador Jessica Hawkins after her maiden Formula 1 test.
The 28-year-old recently took the team's AMR21, which raced in the 2021 world championship, for a spin around the Hungaroring. And, in doing so, she became the first female driver in half-a-decade to drive an F1 car.
Hawkins completed 26 laps of the Budapest circuit. She later said: "It went well and I maybe surprised myself, I was very happy with how it went," though her exact lap times have been a closely-guarded secret.
Sky Sports F1 pundit Rosberg claimed he had managed to lay his hands on them, though, as he spoke to Hawkins at the Qatar Grand Prix about her experience. "What everybody doesn't know, I know your lap times when you were testing," he teased.
"I can tell the little secret that you were rapid compared to the official test driver. I'm not going to say the exact times, because I know those too, but you were super rapid."
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Hawkins, a former W Series and British Touring Car Championship driver, has a key role at Aston Martin as the team's official driver ambassador. And important part of that job going forward will be to prepare the team for its first involvement in the all-female F1 Academy series from next season.
"Over the winter I'll work hard to ensure that I'm able to bring other sponsors and the partners to work with me to achieve my dream and work with them to achieve theirs, and inspiring more women along the way," she said.
And, on a more personal level, she will also be pushing to get another opportunity to test an F1 car in the future, adding: "My next goal is to push to get back in the car. I think at least I did a good enough job to put myself in that position."
Having made a good impression in Hungary, Aston Martin are keen to give Hawkins more opportunities to progress. "Jessica approached the opportunity with great maturity – she was up to speed quickly and found a nice rhythm," said team principal Mike Krack.
"This has been a hugely significant moment in Jessica's journey with AMF1 Team and I am pleased we could give her this next step in her development journey by testing a modern Formula 1 car."