Driving an F1 car at Magny Cours with LRS Formula

[murphyaj]

I remember searching for advice on an F1 driving experience with LRS Formula at Magny Cours when I was thinking of booking it, but couldn't find anything on Pistonheads. So, for posterity and to perhaps help the next person who is in the same boat, here are my thoughts having just done it.

The short version:-
Do it, it's awesome. If you're sitting on the fence and wondering if it's worth it, stop dithering and book.

The long version:-
I drove a 1998 Prost GP car at Magny Cours GP circuit. The whole experience was great from start to finish. The company were very accommodating with a difficult Englishman who can't speak a word of French, even putting on a 2nd drivers briefing in English. The track tuition was very good, explaining all the lines and braking points very well, both at slow and high speed on a passenger ride. We had two 20 minute sessions in a Formula Renault which gave some good familiarity with driving a single seater on track, along with feedback on your driving during each session based on notes returned by the marshals. The food and drink provided were also very good.

The actual F1 drive itself was breathtaking. I've driven some fast cars on road and track; Ferraris, Lambos, Porsches, and several single seaters, including the aforementioned 450 bhp/tonne Formula Renault, but the F1 is an entirely different animal altogether. The other drivers and I all agreed, the F1 car not just met but exceeded our expectations. Just pulling out of the pits at low speed, knowing that I'm sat in a car that lined up on the grid alongside Villeneuve, Hill and Schumacher was simply magical. Once on track driving a car with over 1000 bph/tonne that changes direction better than an Elise is exactly as amazing as it sounds, I may have sworn loudly inside my helmet more than once. This was a once in a lifetime experience, ticking a box on my bucket list, except it turns out driving an F1 car is like a drug, I came home wondering how easily I can justify going and doing it again.

So, for what it is worth, that's my honest assessment of the experience, in case anyone finds it useful. Since I booked it another company has sprung up offering an F1 drive on an airfield track for considerably less money. I'm sure it's great and worth the money, but having driven the car on a proper GP track that has hosted an F1 race, I can't imagine that it would be quite the same.

[murphyaj]

LukeBrown66 said:

Great but you must be minted, how much was it?

Haha, wish I was minted. It was a lot but this was years in the planning so I saved up. I drove the cheapest car but did it on the full GP track rather than the club circuit, which was worth the extra IMO. It was booked over 2 years ago but delayed due to covid, I think I paid just over 2300 Euros for 4 laps, so whatever that was in GBP at the end of 2019. It appears to be a bit more now.

The newer F1 cars are quite a bit more money, but when I went out I was limited entirely by my own ability and bravery rather than the car. I think I'd need to be a lot more talented behind the wheel to appreciate that Williams.

As others have mentioned, some experience days stick you behind a pace car or don't let you out of 3rd gear. There was none of that here, just the car and a nearly empty track - once the F1 cars go out they only have two of you on track at once.

[murphyaj]

dunc_sx said:

That's not even as expensive as I thought it would be, it's a massive risk for the organisers putting Joe public in control of a F1 car.

Did you get the data logs home with you?

Dunc.

The company has been running for over a decade, so I guess they've settled on a price that covers their own insurance. The newer F1 cars are significantly more expensive, and there is a sizeable insurance excess in case of damage; several thousand Euros even if you take the extra cover. Plus the tracks they take them to tend to have big wide run-off areas anywhere you are likely to overdo things, a spin into the grass or gravel is more likely than a serious crash. They also reserve the right to refuse to let you drive the F1 car if you can't handle the Formula Renault.

No data logs unfortunately, although I'm sure it would just show I was doing all the wrong things all the time.

[murphyaj]

Muzzer79 said:

Fascinating experience. I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

Are there restrictions on height/weight? One assumes so. If I were ever in the financial position, the fact I'm 6'3 has always made me think I'd simply not fit.

Everyone who does this says it's always the brakes that impress them the most - was it challenging getting heat into them, etc or....?

It was a very hot day, 28 degrees and sunny, with scorching track temperatures, which helped with the tyre temps. On their recommendation I did a couple of very hard stops on the long flat-out section in the first half of the first lap, that seemed to do the trick as after that the brakes were shockingly powerful, I had to re-adjust my idea of what was possible in terms of brake distances several times over. Even though they had cones out to mark the braking points I chickened out and started braking far too early for almost every corner, because my mind just didn't accept that I could stop in time.

I'm only 5'10 and I had to have three pads behind me so that I was moved forward far enough, so I think they intentionally have the seat set up for larger drivers. Their website gives a maximum height of 1.91m, so I imagine you'd just about fit.

Edited by murphyaj on Tuesday 17th May 13:29

[murphyaj]

gl20 said:

Thanks for posting. I turn 50 next year and was going to start searching for threads like this one, so well timed. I'd been interested in trying the Williams but your point on any of these cars being far beyond anything else out there has made me rethink - more laps in one of the older cars for the same cost.

How did you get on with the clutch?!

Obviously I can only talk about my own experience, and I didn't get the chance to drive the Williams, so that's a pretty big caveat here. However, as a novice driver who has very limited experience driving on track, I found the adjustment to driving something with the performance and capabilities of even the Prost GP to be so huge that I think it would be very hard for me to get the most out of the Williams. I'm sure the thrill of being in such a modern, high-tech F1 car would be awesome, I saw them preparing the Williams for someone else and it was clearly a significant step up from what I drove in terms of technology and complexity. If money was no object I would have loved to drive the 2011 car, no doubt about it. But in the real world where money IS an object, if I was given the choice between 4 laps in the Williams or 9 laps in the Jaguar R2 for the same money, I'd chose the Jag. Unless you are a much more talented driver than me (not hard, to be fair) the extra time in the car means you'd have more time to adjust, and would be able to get much closer to the limits of the car.

Regarding the clutch, it wasn't a problem. My car had a foot clutch, rather than the hand clutch of the Williams. You don't do a full bore start, it's a very gentle start from the pits. They start you in second gear, then get you to hold a target revs on the throttle for a few seconds with the clutch down, getting you to increase of decrease in tiny increments until they are happy. Then you keep the throttle steady and very gently bring out the clutch to get it rolling, hold that for a hundred meters or so up to about 30 MPH, then they'll instruct you to release the clutch fully and you are on your way. After that you don't touch it again until you get back to the pits, when you drop the clutch to come to a stop.

[murphyaj]

P.S.

In the two and a half years between booking my experience and doing it (thanks Covid!) they added the option for a passenger ride in a specially modified 3-seater F1 car. Sadly I didn't get the chance to do that, but it looked absolutely amazing. If I could change anything about my experience it would be to get a ride in that thing.

[murphyaj]

LukeBrown66 said:

Yes they are F1 cars, but if you are expecting to do what Hammond did and jump into a full spec F1 car I would think not, they will likely be restricted, still very quick obviously, but I doubt very much they are full spec versions of the cars, a Prost never ran with a V8. So they are sort of bitza cars.

Takes nothing away, but your best bet to experience it unrestricted is to buy one or be in the Ferrari club stuff which is the reserve of very very rich people with more money than sense!

But for a couple of grand it's not bad.

They are quite upfront that they aren't running the original engines, to my knowledge you won't find anywhere in the world that will be running an F1 car with an original spec engine outside the teams themselves from the historical collection. F1 engines of this vintage had a lifespan measured in hours, and literally nobody in the world makes them if it blows up.

Not sure about the Williams, but the Prost V8s are using Cosworth supplied racing engines with a comparable power and weight to the original units. However in terms of using the actual drivetrain that they give you it didn't feel restricted at all, you were free to drive the car as hard as you wanted. Maybe if you're a professional racing driver you'd be able to tell the difference between the original engine and this one, but I most certainly wouldn't.

-- edited --
Just spotted that for the Jag R2 and Prost V10 it says "Chassis and engine are in their original configurations, just as its livery. " so maybe I am wrong there. Certainly the one I drove was a Cosworth V8. I also saw the Jag with the engine cover off and it was also a Cosworth unit. Perhaps they have a deal with Cosworth to maintain the original V10.

Edited by murphyaj on Wednesday 18th May 12:22

Edited by murphyaj on Wednesday 18th May 12:27

[murphyaj]

350Matt said:

as someone with a bit of inside knowledge here I can vouch for the fact that LRS bought all the LK v10's and CK v10s that were used in the jaguar R1 and R2 cars
they rebuild and maintain them themselves with some parts supply from Cosworth and whilst they are restricted in revs compared to 'back in the day' they are otherwise the full spec

the r2 v10 in full race trim was capable of 850Bhp and 18,000rpm so I suspect then are probably 'only' running it to 16,000 or so to extend its life

Very interesting, thanks
Impressive that they are maintaining the original engines, I didn't expect that was feasible. That probably goes a long was to explaining the large cost difference between the car I drove and the next step up.

[murphyaj]

stef1808 said:

Is the company LRS formula still operating? I’ve emailed them to enquire about booking with no reply and their phone number doesn’t work

They posted a photo of their latest experience day in Dijon just 15 hours ago to their facebook page, so I'd say yes.
Their communication was very good when i dealt with them last year.