How Palmer impressed McLaren

It's late in the year, on a chilly day at Silverstone. Palmer straps himself into the McLaren and a grin spreads across his face, the smile beaming out from behind his visor. This really is one hell of a prize. He fires up the engine and, for the first time, drives out in a Formula 1 car.

When everything's finished, McLaren expresses a great deal of satisfaction. "Quicker than we expected and no mistakes at all," is the word from the team.

"It's such a genuinely excitedly and exhilarating experience to be able to do it, particularly in a car like a McLaren," says Jonathan.

Jonathan? Fire up the DeLorean! We've gone back 35 years by mistake - this is supposed to be a piece about Will: the 19-year-old son of former grand prix driver Jonathan. But you'll excuse the error, for the similarities are astonishing. So let's try again.

It's October 26, 2016. Overnight rain and a chilly start have left the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit covered in damp patches. Will Palmer is nervous, but excited - the smile is testimony to that - and he's not even gone on track yet.

Intermediate tyres are used for a quick installation run, but the main event will take place with slick Pirelli tyres. Now, 35 years after his father was gifted his first F1 test - in a McLaren, as a prize for winning the 1981 British Formula 3 title - it's Will's turn.

A McLaren Formula 1 test has awaited the winner of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award since David Coulthard picked up the first gong back in 1989. Every year it's the same, but the impact never diminishes.

For Will, on the same track and with the same team as his father so many years ago, the chance to get behind the wheel of Jenson Button's 2011 Canadian Grand Prix-winning McLaren MP4-26 is obviously a special moment. And not because it means he's already driven a more competitive F1 car than his dad or his brother, current Renault driver Jolyon.

"The nerves were pretty high," Will admits. "There was a bit of a worry over whether the track would be fully dry, but luckily it was bone dry."

There's a popular Award story from 2011 winner Oliver Rowland's test, when he lit up the rear tyres exiting the garage for the first time. Will isn't quite so dramatic, and trundles down the pitlane tentatively. But when the limiter comes off, there's nothing tentative about it.

"I wasted no time," he jokes afterwards. "I thought I'd better make the most of it!"

A trio of five-lap runs on Pirelli show tyres is not quite a full day at Jerez, but there is still plenty to be judged on - and plenty to get wrong. Drive a Formula 1 car under the limit and under the limit you will stay. Achieving the right brake and tyre temperatures is key, and comes from following instructions - then pushing properly on track. And the feedback from McLaren is good.

"You want to see them start pushing on their first run," explains simulator engineer Alice Rowlands, who is on hand to help the Indy Lall-run McLaren F1 team and also provides data analysis throughout the remainder of the Award process. "He was definitely going for it on his first run!

"He was making the car move. It's nice when you can see them taking sensible lines and being disciplined with the brakes - driving it like an F1 car. And, looking at the data, it was definitely someone driving an F1 car, not on a little Sunday afternoon drive."

Chairman of the judges Derek Warwick leads the throng of supporters on the sidelines, backed up by his judging panel (including 'cameraman' Jason Plato, who later tweets "How lush is that?" along with a trackside video), Will's family and friends, and the four watching 2016 finalists: Ricky Collard, Sennan Fielding, Lando Norris and Toby Sowery.

Stood atop a small viewing gantry at the end of the pitlane, there's a collective 'ooh!' as Will gets a big wriggle exiting Club on his first run. And with each passing lap, the message the onlookers try to channel through to the driver is 'Take Abbey flat!'

"I was trying to," admits Will later. "But it was just a small feather... It was absolutely incredible, like nothing I've ever done before. The power, the brakes, the downforce... just how together the car seemed.

"It's unbelievable how much of a step it is. I had a bit of a problem with blistering the tyres, they were in pieces a bit!"

Part of the problem was Will's eagerness. Or perhaps, more fairly, it was his determination to just get on with it. "He built up quicker than I was expecting," admits Rowlands. That caused the blistering on the first run, but there was still plenty of performance to extract from the car, which had been driven in that trim on that track by Button not too much earlier in the year.

"You can't compare it to [the 2011] pole but he wasn't far off, genuinely," says Rowlands. "You'd be happy if that was his first proper F1 run at a test. He just shut up and listened. It's not easy. He doesn't know anyone, it's a step up from before - five engineers instead of one. It's quite different. He was happy to listen to what he was supposed to."

And then put it into action. So, all smiles and a big thumbs-up. None more so than from Warwick. The purpose of the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award is to find the next British star, and making a positive impression in this short run is always a good sign.

"I want to see them make the most of the opportunity," says Warwick. "I want to see them get sideways out of the garage! But I want four wheels to come back, obviously.

"I remember every detail of my first test - everyone remembers it. You can see him smiling through his helmet. He'll remember it for the rest of his life."

Will agrees: "It's an incredible thing to have done, a massive memory. A McLaren at Silverstone is an amazing combination."

The prize test is always a family affair - Warwick talks with sincerity of how "incredible" and emotional it is "to see family and friends almost in tears and the excitement as their son or brother drive it out". For Will's father Jonathan, who has now watched both his sons sample F1 machinery, and follow in his wheeltracks in a grand prix car at Silverstone no less, it is particularly moving.

"I've never seen Will grin from ear to ear like this," says Jonathan. "He was nervous this morning, but he's loved it.

"Will has won in F4, won a race in Eurocup and to have this opportunity and have done a good job, I'm very proud. There's a lot of disappointment in motor racing and it's very important when you get good times that you really enjoy it - that's what fuels it.

"On another level, any time you get in a car people are looking at how you get on and I'm absolutely delighted that he's done a very professional job. He's been quick, and not made any mistakes. It's not been totally straightforward, but he's demonstrated his intelligence. He's come away from this having had a huge amount of fun and made a very professional impression.

"It's a fantastic contribution that McLaren makes as part of a great scheme. I can't praise it enough. It's a great opportunity."