The Lotus Racing team and a young Malaysian have made it into Formula One’s history books. 16-year old Nabil Jeffri became the youngest ever F1 test driver when he stepped into the Lotus T127 at the Imperial War Museum runway in Duxford, England. Jeffri, an AirAsia ASEAN Driver Development programme member, conducted a day of aero testing and gave the team valuable pitstop practice.
“I have had an incredible day, one of the best days of my life, and I want to thank Lotus Racing, Tony Fernandes and Mike Gascoyne for giving me the chance to drive their car. I have to admit that the first time I went out it was pretty scary – everyone told me the acceleration would be unbelievable, and the braking would be so much greater than anything I’ve ever experienced, and it took a while to get used to that, but Heikki and Fairuz gave me some advice on how to settle in to it, and after a while I was more comfortable.
“It’s such an honour to have had this opportunity, and it’ll be a long time before the excitement wears off, but I’ll keep on working hard to one day join Heikki, Fairuz, Jarno and the rest of the F1 grid, and with the support of people like Tony and Lotus Racing, I’ve got a great chance of doing so,” Jeffri said.
Heikki Kovalainen, who was there to help the young man, had this to say: “It’s a great experience for Nabil and it’s really good to see how well he did. I told him to enjoy it, and not get stressed about trying to impress everyone too much. He did a great job today – he quickly picked up the correct procedures, and was working well with the whole team, which is pretty awesome when you think we’ve got the proper race team here today which could have been a bit daunting.”
“He completed the planned programme, gave clear and precise feedback, and we couldn’t ask any more of him than that. I’m sure this experience will help him take another step forward in his career, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on him to see if what he’s learnt today can help him take that next step up, in performance terms, in the Asian Formula BMW Championship,” said Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne.
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freakin jealous of this guy. Congrats Nabil!
malaysia boleh.
tak boleh menang, tak pa, paling muda kita punya !!!!
2011 Lotus will be more faster with new Renault engine….Renault engine more reliable n consistent…
It has little if not anything to do with the engines. Its 90% down to the aerodynamics of the cars. Take the red bull for example. They have been so far ahead due to there questionable front wings aerodynamics. The engines themselves are very heavily restricted by the Formula 1 body.
Switching to Renault will certainly help Lotus move up the grid but their own improved aero design will be a major boost.
The Renault engine is lacking in ultimate hp compared to Merc and Ferrari and so high speed tracks like Monza will not favour the current Renault runners but the engine’s power is lower in the range so it delivers better driveability at tight circuits like Monaco.
Like all F1 cars the success of Redbull is down to mainly the entire aero package rather than one single aspect like the front wing. All thanks to Adrian Newey
i agree renault engine hp not as fast as mercedes & ferrari….but dun worry….Renault team itself plus redbull racing hv been on podium so fluently….agree with Lotus chg new yr 2011 engine supplier….Renault make Alonso Champion twice in 2005 n 2006….
well done Malaysia!
Lucky chap!
What is his history? someone mind introducing?
Judging from his look, he could be the son of that Azman guy who owns Symphony Bhd. Previously was CEO Danaharta. Anyway, I could be wrong.
Not related to Dato’ Azman Yahya at all. His full name is Nabil Jan Al-Jefri. These young drivers are not always sons/daughters of billionaire dads though such a situation would certainly help their career
Storm, don’t judge book by its cover
so this kid is chosen becoz of his driving skill, or becoz his father is a menteri/dato?
where got minister whose name is jeffri?
bro, why dont u send email to tony, then u pretend that u r a son of a dato, ask him ‘can i drive the lotus F1 car?im son of a dato’..if u manage to get the green lite, i’ll give u 100bucks.
im sure this young men got the skills and guts to drive, not to talk rubbish only ma
His dad ain’t no Dato’ or Menteri and no bucks were given. Like press release said, team chose him. He’s lucky and hope this grand opportunity will spur him to push forward.
you’ll need $ to start racing la bro….no one will suddenly pop out n tell you that you are the one when you are nobody at first…
With regards to Nabil and the aero test, rather than speculating/guessing/taking stabs in the dark, why don’t you seek the truth from those who are close ie people from Air Asia’s Driver development programme, Lotus Racing or people from Comma Motorsport/USJ Elite Kart track/PLUS etc etc..
As the cliche goes.. ASS-U-ME only makes an ASS out of U and ME
it seems that you know nothing about Nabil..
go look for his history in racing first before putting your comment
Huh..luckily it is not Nabil raja lawak..
ur comment make me feel really funny….hard to imagine if raja lawak test drive the car and create another new history….1st comedy actor drive F1 test drive for Lotus…
cool!
Young blood..
at age of 16, can’t even get car driving license yet !!!!!
so from where he gain his real life driving experience?? go karting??
does he has the skill to predict and avoid those reckless biker on the road like us? :)
He is currently competing in Formula BMW Pacific, first step in single seater racing. He’s done karting and did well in Rotax Max.
The point is, there are many youngsters like Nabil out there. All working hard to someday get into F1. Nabil is so lucky to get the chance even if its just a straight line test. Still mindblowing for a 16 year old F1 aspirant
why don’t you find it in paultan before saying that. Don’t think they will allow him to drive a F1 car if he is not experience enough to handle it.
that driving license only needed on roads, not on tracks.
at this age 16….i believe even more more talent ppl r on the road…for example see the MAT REMPIT…all their stunning really more professional & creative even the professional racer not dare to risk their life for the wonderful stunning….nothing to proud of…plenty of GREAT racer on the road….i mean the illegal racer/mat rempit…
driving on the tracks and the public roads are not the same la bro….
16? He doesn’t even old enough to get a driving license
btw, what i see is lotus F1 is very hardworking… in the sense of getting shitty firsts…
they are there to put some no1 malaysian in the world, and 2 years down the road, they will tabao. lol
boleh land!!!!
here we cant afford a better car at reasonable price, but we can have youngest F1 driver, lol. my foot
i am so amazing to see this team grown up very fast.
I am still thinking how tony can do the collaboration with the mat saleh team.
i must admit. it was so hebat.
Jeffri began his career in karting winning the Asian and Malaysian Rotax Max Junior titles in 2009.[1] He stepped up to Formula BMW Pacific in 2010, racing for Eurasia Motorsport
…
source :wikipedia
I think he is a good prospect.
Good work Lotus Team. Use “Barangan Buatan Malaysia”. Cheaper ma!
hope to see him at the podium in less then 10yrs time…
Youngest F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton
Youngest F1 polesitter, Sebastian Vettel
Youngest F1 winner, Sebastian Vettel
Youngest F1 test driver…
and they thought that is an achievement…
and you’re just jelous dude…
everything start from something… probably he could replace Lewis as youngest F1 champion in near future…
Youngest F1 test driver…it could be ur son….if u hv good relationship with Lotus boss…they may consider ur son in the lineup for test drive role….Driver dun dream lah….orang putih from western or japanese among the great…
Kidding me, only 16 yr old and don’t even hold a proper driving license, but driving F1 car could skip this. Anyway, there must be a reason he’s the choosen one. Lotus own should be driven by Msian.
One thing I am thinking, why F1 car need a test driver? What they want to test? Of course the car, I know but why not ask the proper F1 driver to test instead of finding another person? I believe if a proper F1 driver test drive the car should be able to give a better opinion, at least the car can match the driver itself well.
Quite normal lah to see young lads competing professionally in junior races. The only license you need is a racing license issued by AAM even for karts.
Alex Yoong, Fairuz Fauzy, Jazeman Jaffar, Fahmi Ilyas etc etc all did not have driving licenses but were racing already professionally at 16.
if the car goes wrong… its the test driver “goes wrong” first… so, the actual driver will be saved…
normal laa… even fighter jets have “test pilot”.
the skills of the real drivers and pilots are very valuable, they can’t let anything bad happen to them. to train a new guy to pilot a jet would take years, that’s why they even have eject seat in fighter jets.
test pilot is very very well paid, and very very experience. They are there to test the plane to the edge, and to define the SOP and the flight envelope of a new aircraft. What is the minimal airspeed, max speed, that is unknown by normal pilot during active duty, and to save the life of those rookie pilot. Test pilot has 5000++ hours of flight time and normal pilot starts with a few hundred of hours only.
Here though, the test driver is less experience than the actual driver, lol. so its the other way around. Test pilot is there as cannon fodder. lol .
No doubt nabil is a good driver albeit his tender age, do u know that rossi was racing way way before he got his road livcences, even schumi did…im sayin tat nabil is of the same caliber yet but hey look on the positives, it gives a person like me who is striving to make it at the upper echelon of motor sports sumtin to lok out for, knowing that a malaysian F1 team is willing to gv u tat break u you are worthy …..we cannot continue to rely on outside help, the mentality has to change!!…like mofaz racing rely heavily on mat sallehs but our msian can do a better job….trust me on this, even petronas syntium team tat won d dubai 24 were alrgely made up of foreigners not bcz msian are nt capable but the mentality….ter are ALOT of msian do well abroad in GT1, BTCC so on but not recognised by home teams, wen i asked a fren who is in btcc he said its a waste of time coz they wont hire, even if they do they wont pay u the same as n equal race engineer, mat salleh although less knowledgeable here will get better paid…..he’s been burnt twice so he wont come back
coming back to the topic, it wuz just a test of d car, test for the crew, test for the driver…they can use this to gauge the level of the upcoming talent in msia and act acordingly…the gulf is wide bt wif a lil les bashing and abit more productive tinkin we WILL GO FAR!!!!!
You can drive 50 years down the road and it will not gain you any track experience. Any kid with go kart experience will tapao you easily. Racing and driving are 2 different things.
you are right!
but part two……
you can learn hard to drive/race, but some one is born to be champion…..
there’s only one champion… unless you are born to be champion……
No you’re not born to be a champion. Champions are made, not born. Case in point, Lewis Hamilton. He was shaped by McLaren to become champion. If McLaren hadn’t taken him under their wing then he’d probably still won’t be in F1. Same goes for Michael Schumacher.
aku sokong 100%.
NUMBER 1- you dont need a driving license to be a good driver……..
No2- driving license is just to show you are eligible to drive on malaysian roads and understand the road signs…..everyone knows it and we have ‘varieties’ of drivers on the road. FULL STOP.
lets talk facts
For those not in F1, Fairuz is the official test driver for Lotus. And please do some research like ismetulamraja (P.Ramlee fan?) before giving some silly remarks about the topic/person.
I would presume you meant for those not INTO F1???
Agreed. some people here only know to bash other people without proper knowledge, typical Malaysian basher. Driving racing car like F1 doesn’t require a driving license. driving a racing car is much different to driving a road car. No one born to be champion, they develop skill to be a champion. Job of test driver is big in F1 especially during the day when test ban was not around. They help the team to develop and improve the car through out the season while the real driver racing. Nowadays, they more involved in simulation because of the testing ban. Do you know that during Nabil’s straight line test, the team actually testing some of the aero package for Monza GP.
now we hav 2 bright future F1 prospect Jazeman Jaafar (petronas sponsor) and Nabil Al jefri (AirAsia)…..
Don’t forget Fahmi Ilyas. As far as I know only Jazeman Jaafar and Fahmi Ilyas are racing single seaters in Europe. The former in British F3 and latter in FBMW Europe so it is likely these 2 that are next in line for F1. Both are relying on personal funding with a bit of sponsorship.
Nabil Jeffri (born 24 October 1993 in Kuala Lumpur) is a Malaysian racing driver.
Jeffri began his career in karting winning the Asian and Malaysian Rotax Max Junior titles in 2009. He stepped up to Formula BMW Pacific in 2010, racing for Eurasia Motorsport. On 1 September 2010, Jeffri carried out an aerodynamic test for the Lotus Racing Formula One team, driving the Lotus T127 on the airfield at the Imperial War Museum Duxford,becoming the youngest ever test driver in Formula One history.He drove for the team as a member of the AirAsia ASEAN Driver Development Program.
nephew of mr tony lah…bodohhhh….semuaa
next lewis hamilton?
Dont care he is young or old, handsome or not, fat or thin….girl or boy.
As long as he can drive and produce results…then we should give support…
If he cannot produce result, then show him the door….
Fair enough right?
dont play play with their special privilege right, ok?
Another giant leap for malaysia’s motorsport arena… Full throttle ahead!!
well done!
Being the youngest… I don feel a thing.
Others could have break it anytime the want.
OMG!who is that?ugly guy!
pfftt….test driver doesnt mean a thing nowadays since car testing is banned anyway..
look at fairuz fauzi…his lucky enough get to drive once in a while…
other than that test driver is bs..nothing gained..
better of stayed in other single seater series..
who said being test driver he/she cannot race in other single seater….they can if they wan
……How Malaysians going to improve in sports if the Malaysians itself bashing its own athletes………We SUCKS at everything….except Badminton and Squash (I think)……….so support them rather than bashing them…….
this is pathetic…for the sake of bagging “youngest test driver”, just put him there..^^
lets see few years down the road where he’ll be…on the grid? doubtful
yawwnnnn…people may not be happy with my statement, but this is call publicity for malaysia boleh. everything malaysia what to hold record, and we know its stupid records. nevertheless, young Nabil may be a good driver, but i think its all show la. if someone one puts a 15 year behind the steering wheel of an F1, confirm Malaysia/Lotus will find a 14 year old.
It is unlikely anyone can top it and put a 15 year old in the car.
Why? because the youngster needs familiarity with single seaters. Formula BMW is the entry level for single seaters and the minimum age for that is 16. Nabil is in FBMW
You can’t put a 15 year old karter with no single seater experience in an F1 car even just for a straightline test.
Also for various factors it is very rare for a 16 yr old to get such an opportunity in an F1 car. Therefore Nabil was incredibly lucky. Very rare occurence.
but one has natural talent he/she can skip that age barrier..Jazeman, who owns an FIA international Class C racing license under special exemption by FIA although he was 14 to race in formula BMW..which require minimum of 16yr old to get Class C racing license.
good info :)
that’s why people said you must know what you’re talking about, not simply bashing like stupid, such as Ichan above.
Name:Nabil Jeffri…. Nabil(definitely malay) Jeffri(chinese name,got some chinese blood maybe)
face=indian++or singh….like hidustan actor..or mamak stall worker..hahaha
1malaysia meh!..how come la u all wanna bash ur own countrymn… dat matsaleh team belong to malaysian remember?…just be proud la aney!
Malay??? i guess mayb muslim only kot….where got original malay face look like him…i agree he more like mamak or hidustan….same like Pakistan ppl / muslim indian known as mamak in local….mamak name in m’sia also put malay name coz that is muslim name….campur here n there…bcm rojak 1 malaysia favorite food…
weird la malaysian…
our own countrymen also bash… give la some support…
we dont know future, maybe from this test driver post he will grow and become a good driver…
i bet, ppl who condemn here, bash his own child when the child not walking straight after being born…
its a publicity stunt…
he’s just driving in a straight line…
Jz like put D gear for auto gear car (common road user) and press acceleration gogogo ….i totally agree with u….since i’m malaysian, i knw malaysia very very want FACE….
really?do u know how to drive the F1 car in a straight line?may be its quite easy like driving a proton saga(A) rite bro?
Well, good for him. If any of your children wants to be like him, better set aside some money for all the kart racing, training, etc. Not sure how much, maybe Nabil managed to saved a lot, that’s why he’s here right now. With all the right training and all. Save Save Save
Only posh kid with posh dad can afford motor sport.
Maju Nabil maju. Kami sungguh bangga dgn pencapaian kamu.
haiyaaa!!! actually, there’s a lot of young racers in malaysia laaa…but they race illegally because there is no support given to them. I know a 15 year old boy racing among older racers in a downhill grip race. He have some skills u know :)
Bravo nabil !!!!
Walau hanya aero test tu dah kira bagus 1 dlm sejuta dpt test F1 car..
Ingat senang ke nak join team F1 walau pn as a test driver…zaman skrg ni
selain talent MONEY paling penting jika nk join F1 team…..test ni sebagai jalan
pada nabil supaya lebih maju dlm kerjaya dia dlm single seater….skrg ni Fairuz
Fauzy test dirver dlm Lotus Team…harap2 soon dpt full seat F1(lack of sponsor
mgkn jadi halangan utk full seat F1)…jika lihat time Alex Yoong dulu , after keluar
fm Minardi team dengar citer ada lain team F1 nk dia jd driver malang sekali lack of
sponsor buat dia kecewa….k kita lihat sape after Alex Yoong dpt jd full F1 driver :
Mungkin :
1.Fairuz Fauzy -2nd Renault World Series
2.Jazeman Jaafar -Champion Formula BMW Asia
3.Fahmi Ilyas -2010 race Europe Formula BMW tp sekerat jln je..tak tahu nape ekk..
4.Bryan Mehta -Karter..dia ni dh 2 tahun race kt Japan n full sponsor by BIREL..
perhati kan mamat ni nnti jika dia jump to single seater…mcm
Jazeman dia punya talent….
Mcm sy ckp di atas tdi MONEY@SPONSOR akn jd penghalang pada dia org jika
ingin pergi jauh dlm single seater ………
Youngest formula 1 test driver?? Hahahaha. Tu pun nak kecoh ke wey. Lain ah kalau champion ke