Drove a 2012 Formula 1 Car!

Very cool and great for you. I have driven several F1 cars over the years but nothing as recent as your 2012 car.

I take it you got the drive because you are a journalist/spokesperson? I'm asking as it is probably not an experience mere mortals like the rest of us could just buy their way into.

And I agree, driving a F1 is unlike anything else and I have driven my fair share of Ferraris, sports and race cars.

 

http://winfieldracingschool.com/driving-experiences/

 

That is not cheap...
In the same region (South-East of France) there is the less expensive proposition from AGS, with older cars on a short track:
https://www.agsformule1.com/en/driving-courses/formula1/

 

Ah, thanks, didn't know this one.

 

Yeah, I have done two sessions with these guys (including the Prost F1).

 

Grande Marco! Sei veloce! Did a better job than Richard Hammond!

 

That is awesome! I like watching the videos of Martin Brundle or Jackie Stewart driving the modern cars, even they get a rush from it.

 

Very cool (and significantly newer than either of the F1 cars I've driven)- thanks for sharing!

 

Very cool! I would probably get emotional too because it would be a dream realized

 

My ultimate dream would be to drive a Ferrari F1 but I have never managed to get to that. The Prost (which at the time was Ferrari powered) was the closest for me.

 

Awesome!!!! Thanks for sharing.

 

It still had the Ferrari engine in it when you drove it?

How was your experience with that school? Honestly their prices dont seem bad at all

 

I did Winfield back in 1990 - raced against Richie Hearn in the Pilot Elf.... that is where I learned that an Pro Driver I'm not!

 

I can only dream of driving a F1 car. If I did manage to shoehorn myself into 1 that, chassis would be written off instantly as they would need the jaws of life to extract my fat butt back out.

 

Bang! There goes my bubble.

Nah, it didn't have the Ferrari engine anymore. Most of these F1 experiences use more run-of-the-mill engines like Cossies and detune them for longevity. Not that it really matters to you as a driver, just saying this was not the Ferrari rebranded (forgot as what) engine. But the chassis was real as pretty much everything else on the car. They added a gopro camera on the roll hoop and I also had my own helmet camera.

AGS Le Luc is doing a terrific job and I'm sure I have posted/bragged about it on here some time ago. They use the old AGS test circuit in Le Luc, which is super small, just under a mile (which gave me headaches when I was programming the track for GP3, where the minimum length is a mile, but that's another story). The day starts out with a trip around the circuit in a van where they explain to you the turns, brake points, apexes etc. But you will forget all that in a nano second, so they place cones around the track, which makes it pretty much bullet proof not to be on the perfect line or to miss your braking points. Then into the class room for some techno updates on the track and on F3. Then you get to drive a real F3 for about 20 laps around the track and you'll get a pretty good sense of the track and also of some decent power/weight ratio. Meanwhile the atmosphere is very relaxed as they have an old English double decker bus at the pits for creature comfort. The mechanics are very relaxed and there are instructors around the track. They wave you in occasionally for some one on one chat to give you pointers, but it is never negative. Just good feedback to go faster. I could sense it as I was catching up on other participants. They wave you through on the long S/F line so you don't have to slow down.
Then they break for a nice French lunch. After there is more classroom theory about the differences to the F1 and then a visit to the garage where you get to see all the cars, some of them being restored or maintained. Over lunch the mechanics have warmed up the F1 and there they are. It's heartbeat raising just to see them and to think you'll be driving them next. You wait your turn. Unlike with the F3 they don't want anybody on track with the F1 other than the one car. The number of laps depends on how much you paid in advance. Timing is taboo (to avoid red mist) but you figure out your laptop based on video footage. Once everybody has driven, it's time for a flute of Champagne for the newly minted F1 drivers.

The event is very well organized. They have several cars, some real F1 (Arrows, Prost, AGS) and some "made up" ones like McLaren, Ferrari: Those were made by AGS in the 2000s (long after the AGS racing team ceased to exist) based on the F1 cars of that time. They are very much like the real deal, just never raced in F1 for real. Originally they had McLaren and Ferrari livery but a lawsuit caused them to take that down and now they are "just" silver and red. Which car you ultimately will get you can't determine as they group everybody by size and weight (so they don't have to constantly readjust the pedals etc). I was hoping and egging them on to get the Prost and luck or not I got it.

All in all a fantastic experience, very well run and worth the $ for the superfans. Tricky part is to find accomodation. Le Luc is too small. So you have to settle for St. Tropez or one of the other jet set places. While that is cool and all, the drive to Le Luc can take a while and you have to show up early in the morning.

AGS offers these experiences all summer long. One of the dates is always close to the Monaco GP, so you could combine the two events and have a really great and expensive time at the Cote d'Azur. I'm sure with the new French GP they will also offer an experience close to those dates. In fact they used (maybe they still do) to offer the experience with a Le Mans at Le Castellet.

PS: Of cours they give you helmets and racing overalls but it freaks the other participants out if you show up with your own gear...

 

I've seen a number of YouTube videos with these Renault F1 cars...wonder if they're offering free rides to some of them (Mr Jww for instance) to help advertise. Seems cool.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the rundown

 

My pleasure. I should post some pics with the story. Something to do over the coming holidays.

If I ever do Le Luc again, I would love to have a go at their Arrows or their Jordan.

 

What year Jordan do they have? And yeah if I did the school I would definitely hint hard that I wanted the Prost or Arrows haha

 

Richie was quite the rapid driver back in the day. I had the pleasure of being involved in sponsoring him in Pro Atlantic and CART (Champ Cars). He even finished 3rd in the 1996 Indy 500.

 

Yep he won pilote elf that year I dropped out in round 1


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Cograts on your icredible experience!

There was an f1 experience at Monticello long time ago that i passed on bc some thing with clutch made it easy to stall and would over heat if stalled 2x and that would end your day. Was too $$$ for me to risk stalling problems.

How difficult was it to drive the f1 in france?

 

How do you keep heat in the tires and the brakes?

 

IIRC the guys who did Monticello were doing also a tour across the US. I got their Arrows (ex Damon Hill) at the Autobahnclub in Joliet, IL. They did a push/rolling start to make sure you wouldn't fry the clutch and that worked well. Unfortunately they did a poor job with setting the car up to one's height and my driving position wasn't ideal. They had only one car and three different drivers. That's why they take extra care of that in France.

Driving the F1 in Le Luc relatively easy, particularly if you chose the pedal shifter. They have a late eighties real AGS F1 with a stick. I drove that first and didn't have problems with it but you have to focus when downshifting from
5 to 4 so that you don't end up in 2nd or you'll spin at which point they end your ride. The clutch at start is tricky so they want you to leave the pitlane in 2nd. They practice finding the clutch point in pitlane. It's not easy but you'll get the hang. Once the car is rolling everything else falls into place. The steering, brakes and shifter is so insanely precise and well done, you can't fail. Other than going too slow which everybody does.