► Six-times world champion
► Four of those times in MotoGP
► Racing a V8-engined Toro Rosso
Marc Marquez is the hottest property on two wheels right now, but earlier this week he swapped motorbikes for motor cars. The four-time MotoGP world champion took to the track in an older Toro Rosso Formula 1 car, and you can see how he got on in the video above.
The test took place at the Red Bull Ring (formerly called the A1 Ring) in Austria, and the 25-year-old had some preparation in the simulator beforehand.
‘There is a massive difference to MotoGP,’ the reigning MotoGP said. ‘The limited visibility was a great challenge, in particular, to begin with. You feel a lot more constricted in the cockpit. The braking distances and timing in turns is completely different.’ And that’s quite significant when you consider the older car he drove didn’t even have a Halo device installed.
As you’d expect from this sort of promotional event, Marquez didn’t drive a contemporary car, but rather a V8-engined racer which must’ve been at least five years old.
‘A Formula 1 car has much more downforce, of course, which made for a lot of fun in the part of the circuit with the most turns, in particular,’ he added.
Marquez follows champions such as Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo – Marc’s teammate next year at Honda – and it looks like he’ll be invited back again.
‘In the coming years he is going to break a lot more records in MotoGP,’ said Red Bull’s Helmut Marko. ‘Up to now only a few exceptional talents, such as John Surtees, have managed to compete in both racing series. Marc also has what it takes. Today definitely wasn’t the last time he will sit in a Formula 1 car.’
Love him or hate him, it looks like Marc Marquez is talented on four wheels as well as two.
Read our guide to the 2018 F1 championship