Toro Rosso deputy tech chief Jody Eggington heaped praise on Alexander Albon, insisting the rookie followed a "fantastic approach" and exceeded the team's expectations on his F1 debut this week in Barcelona.
A young novice who enters pre-season testing without any F1 experience is practically unheard of in this day and age of development and reserve drivers in the sport.
Albon had only enjoyed a brief run on the team's filming day at Misano before he took to the Circuit de Catalunya track on Tuesday.
By Thursday afternoon, the 22-year-old had topped a session and put the second fastest lap of the entire week on the board. Additionally, he also left a big first impression on his team.
"He’d not driven a Formula 1 car before," said Egginton.
"He’d done a reasonable amount of simulator work, which you can imagine we’ve done a big simulator programme and he’s done a lot of time with us.
"On the filming day he did a good job getting in and here he’s been fantastic.
"The install off [spin] was partly engineering induced, it wasn’t directly his fault to be fair, after that he got into the programme and he’s been great."
©ToroRosso
Toro Rosso's future tech boss offered a reminder that the Faenza-based squad was obviously well versed in the art of testing and nurturing young talent.
"Toro Rosso are familiar with young drivers. His progress in places where he was quick initially and not quick enough are exactly as you’d expect," added Eggington.
"But by the end of the day he’d ticked every box and on some of his long runs, especially on the C2 compound, he did a really good job, we’re really pleased with him, a fantastic approach, and he’s exceeded my expectations.
"It’s one of the nice things about Toro Rosso, working with the young drivers, and moving them forward.
"He’s on a steep learning curve but the young drivers’ capacity to learn quickly and move forward is really impressive, so far we’re happy."
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