Barcelona F1 test: Pierre Gasly says Toro Rosso debut 'exceptional'

Red Bull junior Gasly has progressed rapidly of late, finishing runner-up last year in Formula Renault 3.5 before a late run for Caterham Racing in GP2, where he is now racing for DAMS this season.

On his maiden outing in F1 the 19-year-old completed 131 laps, second only to Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg who led the way with 146.

Gasly, who will drive for Red Bull on Wednesday, finished 3.265 seconds adrift of pacesetter Rosberg's 1m24.374s lap in seventh place.

The delighted French teenager said: "The first time you jump in an F1 car, it is something really special for a driver.

"I have dreamt of this since I was really young. At the beginning I wanted as much experience as I could, and I think that is what I did.

"I did 131 laps, so it was a lot of experience. It was really useful for me and I could enjoy driving the F1 car.

"Even though the gap to GP2 is not much, everything feels so much better.

"It was awesome, exceptional, and I am happy to have done it with Toro Rosso.

"I am now looking forward to Red Bull tomorrow."

Highlighting the differences between FR3.5 to GP2 to F1, Gasly added: "The GP2 car is probably a bit closer to F1 because in GP2 you use the same tyres, so it is more or less the same driving.

"I would say GP2 is a bit closer, but from 3.5 you can still make the jump, you have a lot of downforce which is similar to F1.

"You can adapt yourself quite quickly when jumping in an F1 car, as Kevin Magnussen did by finishing second on his first race weekend [the 2014 Australian GP for McLaren], so it is possible to do it from 3.5 and GP2."

As to his overall impression of F1, Gasly said: "Under braking the G forces are higher.

"But for me the big surprise is the power steering, that is the main difference.

"It just feels so much better in the car with the power steering. It is really easy to turn the car how you want. It is a great car.

"I had to really adapt this to feel it. It is very light so you have a bit less information about the potential on the front, so I had to work a bit on it.

"There were also lots of engineers. You have so many people who work on the car at the same time just for you. It just makes you help you do the job well.

"I have tried to take as much experience and give good feedback, and also for them to tell me my feedback was good, it was interesting."