Here’s your chance to drive a Formula 1 car on the Spanish Grand Prix circuit. No co-driving, no being a passenger, no speed restrictions – you’ll need to tame a 650 horsepower V8 Cosworth engine to complete six laps of the iconic Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
There won’t be a DRS zone and you won’t actually race – let’s save crashing multi-million dollar F1 cars to Nikita Mazepin and Nicholas Latifi.
You’ll be driving the Prost Formula 1 car that raced from 1997 to 2001, fitted with a 3.5-litre engine capable of doing 12,000 rpm.
It’s the car that won second place in the 1997 Spanish Grand Prix, from the team owned by legendary driver Alain Prost. And before you’re let loose in such a vehicle this experience has some prerequisites.
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First a detailed briefing on driving techniques. Then a tour of the circuit. Sure you’ve probably seen a lap from Max Verstappen’s cockpit camera before, but it’s very different when you’re on the asphalt.
After a second driving brief you’ll dress in racing overalls and be ready to drive…in a Formula Renault 2.0 car. Surely you don’t think you could drive a legendary F1 car without any practice?
Two 15-minute sessions in a Formula Renault are invaluable. It’s not quite as powerful or manoeuvrable, but it has a much lower insurance premium. You need to improve your skills, understand the circuit, test your boundaries and importantly, build your confidence.
Driving a Formula 1 car on a Formula 1 circuit is a lot of fun. It’s also very challenging – there are good reasons why Formula 1 drivers are among the world’s best paid sports stars.
So first you’ll learn and test. After lunch you’ll leave the pit lane in a Prost Formula 1 car. In total you’ll drive six laps of the 4.675-kilometre circuit. It’s not a race but you’ll know your lap times. And feel the thrill of this all-day intensive course driving racing cars.
Realistically this Spanish experience requires a minimum of three days and two nights. Arrive in Barcelona and spend the night, then have a full track day, before flying out on day three. There are two options:
- Join a group with a maximum eight participants doing the experience on 3rd November 2022.
- Book a private experience for your own group, with dates dependent on circuit availability.
Obviously you can’t drive Barcelona’s Formula 1 circuit on May 22nd when Red Bull and Mercedes are in town. Nor when the World Superbikes is on. But our Formula 1 partners have a contract with the circuit and can arrange the experience on a variety of dates.
So who is ready to put their driving to the ultimate test?
