Driving simulators: thirty seconds to change your mind

Thirty seconds to change your mind

The quickest way to understand how hard it really is

On television Formula 1 looks smooth, clean, almost easy. Thirty seconds in the simulator is enough to know that's a lie. The wheel fights back harder than you expect, the braking point always arrives too late, and the kerb that looks like decoration on TV throws you off without warning. It isn't a video game: for anyone who isn't a driver, it is the most direct way to get close to what holding a car on the limit actually means. And to gain, in a few seconds, a respect for the real ones that no commentator will ever manage to convey.

That's why the simulators at FuoriGP aren't a sideshow, but the point where the public stops watching and starts taking part. They're spread across several points in the centre and pitched at different levels: from the more technical rigs, where people who come prepared chase a lap time, to immersive and augmented-reality experiences for anyone who has never driven anything more aggressive than a hatchback. Next to them, the pit stop area tells the other half of the story — in Formula 1 you also win in the few seconds the car is standing still.

The most direct way to understand what high-performance driving really involves.

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