Correa: Support is incredible but nice to get behind the wheel

The Ecuadorian-American driver sustained two broken legs and was put into an induced coma following the tragic crash at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019 that saw fellow F2 driver Anthoine Hubert killed, but vowed to return to racing and will drive for ART Grand Prix in F3 this season.

Correa is still rehabilitating following his injuries and continues to wear a leg brace, but was able to complete 158 laps in total across the two-day test, setting the 18th fastest time.

“The first feelings were really good,” said Correa, as reported by Formula 1. “I could immediately feel that it is quite similar to how the F2 car drives – it has quite a lot of downforce.

"I think that throughout the two days I was actually a bit closer to the pace than I was expecting to be, so that was a positive, although there are still quite a lot of things to work on.

“We did some tests, which we were not expecting to do because we thought that it would take a bit longer for me to get back into a rhythm with the car and learn the car. But we have already been able to make some changes to the car because my feedback was pretty good.”

While Correa admitted that the support he has received since the accident has been "incredible", he said that it was nice to remove "distractions" and get back "behind the wheel".

“I have loved the media attention that I have been getting,” he added.

“Usually, I am not really a big media guy, but the support from everyone has been incredible. I was looking at the messages on Friday when we released the video of my helmet and it was crazy. I feel that people are genuinely happy for me and that’s a great feeling,

“It was nice to get behind the wheel, do what I need to do and take away all of the distractions and start finally working on the season. It has been a long time coming for me, so it was a great feeling to be out there.”