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It’s the brakes that truly blow the mind, as I slam on the anchors at the end of the Hungaroring’s straight and 270 kph becomes 80 kph. My eyeballs make a leap for my visor, my internal organs try to meet the six-point harness and the g-force tries to snap my neck before I hit the apex, and the 700 bhp V10 seemingly strapped to my back fires me towards the next bend.
This is madness, pure violence, and it genuinely hurts. But inside the helmet, I am laughing like a maniac, swearing like a lunatic and sucking up the most immense driving experience known to man. I’m really behind the wheel of Renault Formula One car, and you can do it too.
Renault’s ‘Feel It’ experience is now in its fifth year. The cars are prepped by ex-F1 team mechanics, telemetry experts are on hand and a physio violently pushes and pulls my head to ensure I can handle up to 5.5g under heavy braking and, if I get it right, 4.5g in the corners. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sports manages 1.4g, by the way – we’re in fighter jet territory here.
This day is not cheap at € 5500, but then this is a unique experience that includes passenger laps in a three-seater F1 car and racing Meganes, classroom tuition and a night in the The Four Seasons hotel in Budapest. As for the people attending, inevitably most are men, but women drive too and on our day I am joined by a guest of Renault F1 team sponsor TW Steel, a Brazilian mobile phone executive and an Australian internal auditor who all had the burning desire to drive the cars they follow with a passion on TV. That and a clean licence is all it really takes.
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