‘The most realistic driving simulator ever’

It was just a quick flick of the wrists. The tiniest steering input to catch a sudden slide. Nothing unusual about that, except I’m driving a racing simulator and I did it without thinking – it was entirely unconscious. This sim is so realistic my instinctive reactions still function as they would in a real car, on a real circuit.

Spa-Francorchamps is dry, for now. I’m sharply reclined in the carbon fibre tub of a Formula 4 racing car, my legs way out in front of me, feet pressing against a pedal apiece. The enormous wraparound screen extends beyond my field of vision, so all I can see is the steering wheel I’m holding, the tub I’m sitting in and a digital representation of the world’s best Formula 1 track beyond them.

I start in what is essentially a very fast road car. They told me to take it easy for the first couple of laps to get my eye in, but I’ll manage just fine. When I find myself facing the wrong way even before I’ve reached La Source, I realise I should have paid more attention. Over the next few laps I spin some more and run off the circuit time and again, but gradually it starts to come together. I string together a couple of clean laps without falling off or thudding into a tyre wall.