Billard ‘always pushing’ as she reflects on promising pace in F1 ACADEMY Rookie Test

Lisa Billard was pleased by her progress in the F1 ACADEMY Rookie Test, but the French driver believes there was more time for her to find around the Circuito de Navarra.

The 16-year-old was never far from the top of the timesheets throughout the six hours of running. Laying down a 1:47.013, she finished just 0.092s off pacesetter Ella Stevens in the faster morning session and followed it up with a P4 finish in the afternoon.

Reflecting on the experience, Billard relished the chance to learn first-hand from an F1 ACADEMY team and gain a better understanding of the skills needed to compete in the series.

“This morning I needed to adapt myself to the car and to a different team with a different engineer,” she explained. “It was cool to learn a new car. P2 this morning was a good result and then P4 this afternoon. For sure (this test) will help me for the future and it’s a good opportunity to make a step in my career.”

Billard is currently undertaking her first full season in French F4, which uses a different chassis and engine to F1 ACADEMY, and recorded a best finish of ninth at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps earlier this year. Driving the Tatuus T-421-F1A car for the first time in Navarra, she admitted it took some time to find the limit.

READ MORE: Stevens delighted to make a big step forward after topping F1 ACADEMY Rookie Test

“The most challenging thing was to adapt myself to the car,” said Billard. “It had more oversteer in the high speed corners and more understeer in the other corners. I had to adapt with the car because I drive in French F4 and it’s a bigger car, so it’s very different.”

Asked whether she felt there was more pace left in the car, she replied: “Yeah, in Turns 5 and 6 because I was always pushing myself to the limit and pushed too much.”