Video: Tom Cruise turns laps in Formula One car

UPDATE

08/23/11 Tom Cruise may have made a name in motorsports as NASCAR driver Cole Trickle from the 1990 film ‘Days of Thunder’, but last week the actor turned laps in a very different racecar as he got behind the wheel of a Red Bull Racing F1 car at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park in California.

Cruise spent last Monday driving the car under the guidance of former Formula One driver David Coulthard of Great Britain.

“Tom’s the real deal. I was surprised that he picked it up so quickly and is such an accomplished driver," Coulthard told RedBull.com. “His recall was incredible considering how complicated driving an F1 car is."

On the heels of finishing his latest film ‘Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol’, the session marked the first time Cruise had been behind the wheel on an F1 car. After a shakedown and some instruction by Coulthard, Cruise was turned loose turning laps of over 180 miles per hour.

“He’s a guy who really pushes the envelope in real life," Coulthard said. “This day was not green screened. And he thoroughly impressed me."

Coulthard was in the States has part of a demonstration of the Red Bull show car which took place in Texas over the weekend ahead of next year’s inaugural US Grand Prix in Austin. Coulthard took the car for a spin not only at a ranch owned by Circuit of the Americas backer Red McCombs but also in front of the Texas State Capitol Building and on the new Circuit which is still under construction and has yet to have any pavement put down.