Less than 24 hours after finishing second in an incident-packed Monaco Grand Prix, triple world champion Sebastian Vettel was back on track at the famous Paul Ricard circuit - now a full-time test facility - in the south of France in his role as director of performance for Infiniti, evaluating the latest Infiniti road cars against their competitors.
Infiniti engineers spent several hours with Vettel driving a number of the latest premium performance road cars, and talking to Vettel about intangibles such as handling, steering feel and response, agility and ride comfort.
CONSISTENT DRIVING STYLE
Vettel said later: “As new Infiniti cars are built, we need to develop a consistent driving style, so it has been really useful to be able to drive so many cars hard and back-to-back on the same track.
“Similar to Formula One cars, it's interesting to feel how different cars are configured for steering response and braking as well as driver assistance features such as traction control. Getting these things right is what makes a good car great.”
Vettel has already played a significant role in developing Infiniti's line-up, starting with the exclusive Infiniti FX Vettel Edition and the new Infiniti Q50.
“UNCANNY SENSITIVITY”
Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen said: “Sebastian's uncanny sensitivity to chassis set-up has made him very popular with our development engineers, who enjoy the opportunity for precise suspension, braking and steering calibration. “
Vettel spent time with Infiniti engineers in Japan early in the development of the Q50, testing early prototypes alongside reserve driver Sebastien Buemi in Japan, at the Nurburgring and at the Formula One pre-season test at Catalunya in March 2012.
This week's testing session at Paul Ricard was of upcoming models, including a premium compact sedan - the company's first - scheduled for production in Europe from 2015.